(Newser)
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The US has been considering a prisoner swap with the Taliban that would free the only American prisoner of war in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. The negotiations have apparently stalled, however, and Bowe Bergdahl's father is so fed up with the lack of progress that he's going public about them to raise pressure on the White House. He thinks the Obama administration is afraid of looking weak in an election year.
“The rhetoric is that ‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists,’" says Robert Bergdahl, whose son was captured in 2009. “And therefore what do we do? Well, you push it hard with everything you have.” Under the deal, the Taliban would have released Bergdahl in exchange for five prisoners at Gitmo. The Times says it has known about the secret negotiations since last year but agreed to keep the news under wraps temporarily. That changed when Richard and Jani Bergdahl gave an interview to the local Idaho Mountain Express this week.
