Poll: Almost 70% of Veterans Say Obama Made Wrong Call on Bergdahl Exchange

10 Jun, 2014 by Duane Lester

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For any Democrats reading, that’s 7 out of 10 vets, or a lot:

Public opposition to the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for captive Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has less to do with Bergdahl himself and more with how President Obama handled the transfer, according to a new USA TODAY/Pew Research Center poll.

The poll shows 43% of Americans say it was wrong for Obama to make the deal, compared with 34% who say it was the right thing to do.

Veterans are much more harsh in their assessment of the 28-year-old sergeant. Only 6% of veterans who responded say they sympathized with him, while 33% say they were angry. By 68%-16%, veterans say Obama made the wrong decision.

“If he was a captured prisoner of war, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” says Joe Davis, the director of public affairs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “He put his teammates in jeopardy, and you absolutely don’t do that in a combat zone.”

Veterans are worried about the precedent set by the transfer, Davis says. “We have a long history in this country of not negotiating with terrorists,” he says. “And we just did.”

Oh, but they’re not terrorists, we’re told. Sec. Chuck Hagel said so.

Just because “the ‘Taliban was added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) by executive order in July 2002′” doesn’t mean they’re terrorists.

The fact is, this whole thing has the whole Obama administration “desperate like a rat backed into a corner.”

And from what I can see, for good reason.

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

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