The Obama administration has known for years that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl defected to the Taliban and has been trying to cover it up, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely said on Newsmax TV’s "America’s Forum."
"It has been confirmed, it's not alleged, that Bowe Bergdahl deserted his Army post and walked into the arms of the enemy. So he is a deserter, and now we have the president of the United States, for the first time in our history, traded five enemy combatants of the worst kind for him, and in the plainest terms, this is aiding and abetting the enemy," Vallely said.
Vallely accused President Barack Obama and National Security Adviser Susan Rice of operating a "continued spin cycle" that has supported radical Muslims in places such as Libya, Syria, and Egypt.
"His foreign policy is showing clear support for radical Islamic elements and the Muslim Brotherhood," Vallely said.
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Obama has endured scathing bipartisan criticism for his decision to swap Bergdahl, a 28-year-old from Idaho, for five senior Taliban officials being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The president conducted the trade without notifying Congress, despite a law that requires him to provide 30 days notice before releasing any detainees.
Obama and Rice "are not Americans first, they’re politicians first," he said, explaining to hosts J.D. Hayworth and John Bachman that he had never before heard of soldiers being directed to sign nondisclosure statements like the one members of Bergdahl’s platoon were directed to sign. He accused the president and his senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, of being behind the agreements.
"This is typical of the administration," he said, "just like they did with the CIA witnesses in Benghazi … requiring them to sign nondisclosure agreements or else they would be fired from their job. I’ve never seen in the military, even with a top secret clearance, where I ever or my troops ever had to sign a nondisclosure agreement."
Vallely pointedly accused the Obama administration of playing into the hands of American enemies.
"Obama is again placating the radical Islamists and trading five of the most very dangerous Taliban, who will be on the battlefield shortly, and you can bet that Qatar is not going to restrict them in any way because Qatar is the one that's funding the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaida around the world," according to Vallely.
Bergdahl, according to Vallely, should be treated the same way the military would treat any suspected traitor: an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing. If sufficient evidence exists, he should stand a court martial, he said.
Vallely predicted the five returned Taliban members will soon return to trying to kill Americans, "all for a defector and deserter."
"How this administration works is absolutely embarrassing," he said.
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