article_snippet.sent: A plan was developed in the Pentagon to secure the release of U.S. hostage Warren Weinstein, according to a staff member on U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter committee.
article_snippet.sent: A plan was to release Haji Bashir Noorzai, a prominent and influential member of the Taliban who is in prison in the States on drug trafficking charges, in exchange for U.S. Army Sgt.
article_snippet.sent: It's not clear how far A plan went.
article_snippet.sent: The operation was instrumental in helping to topple the Taliban and to install Hamid Karzai as the new leader of Afghanistan.
article_snippet.sent: The CIA could have exercised more due diligence knowing that Weinstein was almost certainly being held in North Waziristan.
highlights_snippet.sent: Peter Bergen: U.S. should rethink hostage policy to increase chances of freeing those held .