The release of America’s only prisoner of war in Afghanistan in a trade for five senior Taliban commanders in U.S. custody was over in minutes Saturday. But it followed 31/2 years of secret on-and-off negotiations that produced far less than the White House had hoped.

The idea of swapping prisoners emerged in early 2011, Obama administration and congressional officials said Tuesday, when U.S. officials still sought to convince Taliban political leaders to come to the negotiating table to end the grinding war in Afghanistan.

Additional Images

The Associated Press Bowe Bergdahl, left, is shown in Taliban captivity during 2010. The United States mentioned a possible prison swap to the Taliban as early as 2011. An unnamed source says the United States’ impending withdrawal from Afghanistan prompted the recent trade.

OFFICIAL SAYS CHARGES STILL POSSIBLE FOR BERGDAHl

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military officer said Tuesday the Army could still throw the book at Sgt. Bowe Bergdah.

Charges are still a possibility, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press as criticism mounted in Congress about releasing five high-level Taliban detainees in exchange for Bergdahl. The Army might still pursue an investigation, Dempsey said, and those results could conceivably lead to desertion or other charges.

Since Dempsey issued a statement Saturday welcoming Bergdahl home, troops who served with the soldier have expressed anger and resentment that his freedom – from a captivity that they say he brought upon himself – may have cost comrades’ lives.

Dempsey said he does not want to prejudge the outcome of any investigation or influence other commanders’ decisions. But he noted that U.S. military leaders “have been accused of looking away from misconduct” and said no one should assume they would do so in this case.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. John McHugh later said that after Bergdahl recovers physically and is “reintegrated,” the Army would “review the circumstances” of his case.

– The Associated Press

The peace talks never took place, and the prisoner exchange has now forced the White House to launch a fierce defense. President Obama and his top aides insist they did the right thing by making the trade to get Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl home from Afghanistan as the war winds down.

On a visit to Poland, the first stop of a three-nation trip to Europe, Obama said the United States “has a pretty sacred rule. … We don’t leave our men or women in uniform behind” on the field of battle.

“This is what happens at the end of wars,” he said, arguing that he had followed in the path of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.

more questions

The president’s assertive defense came as questions continued to swirl around the exchange that led to Bergdahl’s release: Does the swap make U.S. soldiers and civilians more likely to be taken hostage? How can the administration guarantee that the five Taliban commanders don’t return to the battlefield? Did the U.S. try all other options to free Bergdahl?

Obama dismissed as irrelevant the concerns about how Bergdahl had disappeared. An initial Army investigation concluded four years ago that the now 28-year-old Idaho native, who had written emails suggesting he was disillusioned with the Army and the war, had walked away from his unit’s base near the Pakistani border without authorization June 30, 2009.

“Whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity – period, full stop,” Obama said. “We don’t condition that. That’s what every mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent over into war theater should expect – not just from their commander in chief, but also from the United States of America.”

But top Republican defense hawks made it clear Tuesday that they were not about to allow the episode to come to a quiet close, ensuring highly charged scrutiny as classified briefings and public congressional hearings are scheduled in the run-up to the midterm elections this fall.

“We should have certainly made efforts to bring Bergdahl home, but this price is higher than any in history,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who called the swap a mistake.

Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, said the swap was illegal because Obama didn’t give Congress the required 30-day notice before transferring detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The requirement is in the 2014 Defense Authorization Act.

“The president has released, illegally, arguably the five most vicious, serious Taliban terrorists,” Inhofe said. “Sure they’re happy to have him home,” he said of Bergdahl’s family, but “you weigh that against the circumstances that will present themselves by five terrorists out killing Americans.”

Administration officials said Tuesday that they construe the law to allow a Guantanamo transfer without notice if the notice would “endanger the soldier’s life.”

Army investigators plan to question Bergdahl, who is in a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, about his capture. Pentagon officials familiar with the case said it wasn’t clear whether he would face charges or punishment. And it could be months before he is questioned.

“Our first priority is ensuring Sgt. Bergdahl’s health and beginning his reintegration process,” Army Secretary John McHugh said. “There is no timeline for this, and we will take as long as medically necessary to aid his recovery.”

The negotiations for Bergdahl’s release followed a tortuous path.

When the U.S. side demanded the sergeant’s return at the outset, Taliban negotiators demanded that the five detainees – plus another who later died – be transferred from Guantanamo.

But the administration wanted more than Bergdahl back. It viewed a prisoner exchange as a first step, a “confidence-building measure” that could pave the way for reconciliation talks between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban.

Whether that was realistic is arguable. The U.S. set conditions for the Taliban that would have amounted to a virtual surrender: recognizing the Afghan government, repudiating al-Qaida and renouncing violence in Afghanistan.

On Nov. 30, 2011, congressional officials said, the White House offered a highly classified briefing led by then-special envoy Marc Grossman and seven military and intelligence officials to ranking members of Congress to discuss the nascent diplomatic effort.

Among those attending, officials said, was House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and chairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Armed Services Committee and House Intelligence Committee, among others. The briefing included the proposed trade of Bergdahl for the five Taliban prisoners.

classified briefings

The lawmakers were told the briefing was classified to ensure Bergdahl’s safety and because it involved sensitive diplomatic negotiations as well as intelligence sources and methods.

The House members responded with two classified letters to the White House expressing concerns about the potential release of so many senior Taliban commanders, among other questions. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton responded Jan. 13, 2012, officials said, and Grossman led a follow-up briefing for the same group Jan. 31.

A Republican aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing sensitive material, said Tuesday that the concerns raised then were the same as those now roiling the GOP.

The briefings ended when the back-channel talks with the Taliban bogged down in 2012. The only sign of progress was that the insurgent group had been allowed to open a political office in Qatar.

That office proved crucial when talks came to life again last fall. Taliban officials, speaking through Qatari intermediaries, expressed an interest in a prisoner exchange. They still showed no interest in peace talks or renouncing terrorism, however.

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