Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered cautious defense of the White House decision to swap Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban members at Guantanamo Bay, saying President Obama was handed a “tough” decision and critics should hold back their opinions.
She also said she hoped the Qatar government wouldn’t renege on its promise to keep close tabs on the freed militants.
“We have a long way to go before we really know how this is going to play out,” Mrs. Clinton said, NBC News reported.
She made the comments in response to questions thrown her way during a scheduled lecture on her book, “Hard Choices,” at a spot near Denver, Colorado.
“This young man, whatever the circumstances, was an American citizen — is an American citizen, was serving in our military,” Mrs. Clinton said, NBC News reported. “I don’t believe in second guessing people who have to make these hard choices. We do have a tradition — I ascribe to it. It’s a tradition that’s not only embedded in our military but in our country — and that is we try not to leave any of our soldiers on the field. We try to make sure that, insofar as possible … we bring them home.”
Mrs. Clinton called on the Qatar government to keep their end of the bargain and refuse to let the released Taliban members out of the country.
“I certainly hope they follow through on the assurance that they provided,” she said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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