Background on Taliban Five Traded for Bergdahl; Release of Gitmo Detainees
BANFIELD: There are questions still swirling around the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Now a lot of the focus is aimed squarely at the very heavy price that at United States paid for his release, the true cost of releasing these five detainees from the United States navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So far, it's really not clear what that price will be, if anything, at this point. But there is definitely something that we've had to give away here. All of them have strong ties to the Taliban, the organization, the government, that gave safe harbor to Osama bin Laden's terrorist group al Qaeda leading up to the 9/11 attacks. During his trip to Poland this morning, President Obama admitted that the men could resume activities detrimental to our country.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Is there the possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are detrimental to us? Absolutely. That's been true of all the prisoners that were released from Guantanamo. There's a certain recidivism rate that takes place. I wouldn't be doing it if I thought that it was contrary to American national security, and we have confidence that we will be in a position to go after them if, in fact, they are engaging in activities that threaten our defenses.</s>BANFIELD: The danger that these former detainees pose is becoming a hot-button issue in Washington. On CNN's "NEW DAY" this morning, Senator John McCain expressed concern about the intentions of these men.</s>SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There's overwhelming evidence and testimony coming forward that Sergeant Bergdahl left of his own free will, and that will be the subject of investigation. That does not mean he shouldn't have been brought home. The problem that I have and many of the others have is what we paid for that release, and that is releasing five of the most hardened anti-American killers. If the past proves true, they'll be back in the battlefield, putting the lives of Americans in danger in the future.</s>BANFIELD: And joining me to talk about the danger these men pose and whether they have ties to terrorist organizations is the "Miami Herald" military affairs correspondent, Carol Rosenberg. Ms. Rosenberg knows probably more than anyone about this issue. She's been to Guantanamo so many times I can't tell you the actual number. I'm not sure that Carol can. But for more than 13 years, she's been there. She never left. They tried to get rid of her, but she never left. Carol, day one, these five guys arrive. They are some of the first prisoners who arrive here, and for our audiences who maybe don't recognize their faces, I'm going to give a real fast bio on what the background is on some of these guys. One them was an interior minister during the Taliban's rule; another one, an army chief commander. Another one was a governor under the Taliban regime. Another was a deputy chief of the Taliban's intelligence service. And another one was the Taliban's chief of communications. Carol, the Taliban gave safe harbor to Osama bin Laden so that he could carry out 9/11 against America. Tell me again why these guys could go free.</s>CAROL ROSENBERG, MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, "MIAMI HERALD": So three of these men arrived on that first day, as the suspected worst of the worst. If you remember, 20 men came in and were captured on their knees in orange jump suits, in a photo released, quite infamous photo, released by the Pentagon. And as we've learned since then, you know, among other things the military has let many of those worst of the worst go in these negotiated deals. Twenty men came in that day. With these fellows gone, they're down to eight who came in the first day with four also approved for release. So the real issue is, who are they? They're definitely Taliban. They've never said they weren't Taliban. And the Taliban asked for them back. They were definitely part of the organization that did allow al Qaeda to come and set up shop in Afghanistan, and from where the 9/11 attacks were plotted. But there's never been a whiff of a suggestion that these five men, political military intelligence types, and they bleed in -- in the Taliban, those responsibilities from one to the next. There's never been a whiff of a suggest they had knowledge or a hand in the 9/11 attacks, the reason we invited Afghanistan in the first place.</s>BANFIELD: So this is my concern, Carol, is that we're still chasing after Mullah Omar, and I believe he might have been number two in the Taliban, because of his complicity in helping bin Laden to effectuate his evil scheme. So I'm just not clear, since so little is shared with us about "cases," and I'm giving dog ears here on television, or bunny ears, "cases" against these people and evidence collected against these people in 13 years what kind of role they played. I mean, why are we even chasing Mullah Omar if his compatriots are on their way home?</s>ROSENBERG: They never were charged with a crime. There's never been an allegation that they did anything. They were captured very early, Ashleigh. So, you know, the opportunity for them to have acted against the American invasion was limited. The pursuit -- when they brought people to Guantanamo was to get Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, in part to get -- in part to get Mullah Omar to help lead the Americans to Osama bin Laden. That chapter is over. It is not clear that these men, when they - well, first of all, they're going to spend a year in Qatar. And, yes, they are part of a political entity called the Taliban, which we, the American -- our American military was not able to eradicate. They did send al Qaeda running. But now this president has decided that we're getting out of this war in Afghanistan. And part of the price of ending a war in Afghanistan is making, if not peace, making, you know, your own set of peace with the fact that we are not going to destroy the Taliban.</s>BANFIELD: I hear you.</s>ROSENBERG: They're going to Qatar. They're going to spend a year there. The president says he's getting out.</s>BANFIELD: What - I just -</s>ROSENBERG: What's interesting about these men is --</s>BANFIELD: The only thing - it drives me crazy, and your reporting has been so stellar in this -</s>ROSENBERG: Go ahead.</s>BANFIELD: It drives me crazy that, in criminal law, and I don't know what the heck is going on in Gitmo, but under American law there is something called conspiracy. And I don't understand how these guys can't be part of the conspiracy for -- the chief actor, 9/11, who got a safe haven and a place to actually craft his crime, how these guys aren't part of the conspiracy. You know, you and I could talk a lot more about this and hopefully we'll get a chance to do this, but I have to save some time to congratulate you on your First Amendment Award from the Reporter's Committee for the Freedom of the Press. You worked very hard for it and everyone should know about that. Good job.</s>ROSENBERG: Thank you. Thank you, Ashleigh.</s>BANFIELD: You're welcome. And I hope to speak to you again at some point. We've got another story that we're working on after the break. And this one - well, by the way, I should let you know that the outgoing press secretary, Jay Carney, is going to join Wolf Blitzer for more on this story. And that's next hour. So make sure you stick around for that, another 13 minutes or so. That there is this - there's this story coming out of a courtroom that you have to actually see to believe. You know the judges lay down the law all the time, but I'm not sure you've ever heard them laying down the law quite like this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to stand and represent my client.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said sit down. Let's go out back and I'll just beat your</s>BANFIELD: Yes, they actually went out back. Uh-huh. The attorney and the judge. How did that end up? We're going to let you know, next.