Parents urge renewed efforts to secure release of US hostage
In a bid to refocus attention on the plight of their son Sgt Bowe Bergdhal, who was taken hostage while serving with the US army in Afghanistan nearly three years back, Bob and Jani Bergdhal have gone public with the information that the US had strived for his release through swap with Taliban prisoners.
Unfortunately in March this year talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Qatar failed as the Taliban leadership reportedly refused to accept the American demand of a cease-fire before swapping prisoners, the parents told Idaho Mountain Express in an interview.
Sources in the Taliban claimed that their leaders wanted to negotiate the release of five top commanders held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002 in exchange for freeing the lone American soldier.
Bergdahl said he and his wife have worried extensively that Bowe has been in danger of being harmed as a pawn of the ongoing war.
"Bowe's been (living) under the drone program the entire time," he said, referring to U.S. military initiatives to use unmanned drones to bomb enemy posts. "It scares the hell out of us."
Bob claimed that the U.S. government hasn't done enough to secure the release of their 26-year-old son.
"Everybody is frustrated with how slowly the process has evolved," he said.
Hailey-area resident Bowe was captured in June 2009 while on patrol in Paktika province, in eastern Afghanistan, and is believed to be held by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group affiliated with the Taliban.
The Obama administration had reportedly worked out a framework deal to send the five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo to Qatar, where they would be kept under house arrest or supervision, while Bergdahl would be returned to the U.S. military.
The proposed deal has been in limbo for months and is likely to face serious opposition in Congress if it ever gets off the ground.
The Taliban walked away from talks in March, saying the U.S. had reneged on several promises.
The Obama administration is trying several gambits to restart talks, including proposing looser terms for the detention or monitoring of at least one of the Guantanamo prisoners upon their release, the Associated Press reported quoting two unidentified U.S. officials.
The Associated Press news agency claims that it had last year agreed not to report on the proposed prisoner swap and ongoing negotiations at the request of the Pentagon and White House, on the grounds that public discussion would endanger Bergdahl's life.
It is only after Bowe's went public with their frustration at the delay that AP and other news organizations reported the proposed swap.
Bob and Jani told Idaho that they believe Bowe is alive and could be brought home through aggressive negotiations or, possibly, a prisoner exchange.
They said they are now vocally supporting grassroots efforts to bring their son's case into the spotlight, in part because of mounting frustration over the inability of the U.S. government to negotiate Bowe's release.
Thanking activists across the globe who have initiated petitions and awareness campaigns to recognize Bowe and plead for his safe return to the United States, Bergdahls said they are advocating that the Pentagon and the White House consider swapping one or more U.S. prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for their son.
"I'm pushing it hard," Bob told Idaho. "We started out by trying to encourage the Taliban to take care of our son. ... Now, we're worried that the government isn't concerned enough to put him on the (negotiating) table."
Bob emphasized that he and his wife want to see a peaceful resolution to the standoff, preferably one that doesn't put other American soldiers in harm's way in order to secure Bowe's freedom.
"We don't want to see Americans killed," he said, adding that a deal to swap Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo for Bowe would be a "win-win" for the United Stateshis son could be returned safely to Idaho and the government could foster goodwill with the Afghan people.
The ongoing imprisonment of suspected war criminals at the Cuba compound and reports of mistreatment of prisoners there encourages anti-American sentiment and might be helping some organizations to recruit soldiers to fight against the United States, he said.
Source: The Asia News.Net
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