Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZsi66kWfO0
Copyright: TVB Pearl News, Ms. Sonya Artero
{O/C} To the United States where a political firestorm continues to take a toll on the Obama administration over the release of five Taliban commanders in return for one American soldier.
Critics insist the deal was illegal, irresponsible and will cost American lives.
{SOT}
Securing the release of the only American prisoner of war, Bowe Bergdahl, was supposed to be the icing on the cake as Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
But that blew up in his face, say Republicans in Congress.
{Soundbite} LINDSEY GRAHAM, Republican Senator: I think the White House was looking at a two-fer. To announce in one week we are going to withdraw from Afghanistan ending the longest war in U.S. history and oh by the way, as Commander in Chief I secured the last captive of that war, the only captive of that war.
{Soundbite} MARCO RUBIO, Republican Senator: In my opinion, there is no question that the President violated the law by not notifying Congress.
{Soundbite} JOHN McCAIN, Republican Senator: But the exchange of five hardcore, hardest of the hardcore Al Qaeda/Taliban will pose a threat to the United States of America, and the men and women who are serving.
Equally disconcerting are comments by Bergdahl's Army comrades that he deliberately deserted his post in Afghanistan.
Even the State Department side-stepped questions about Bergdahl's mysterious disappearance.
{Soundbite} MARIE HARF, U.S. State Department Spokeswoman: How he ended up in Taliban captivity is wholly unrelated to whether or not we should have brought him home.
But the controversy proved too much for Bergdahl's hometown in Idaho, where they cancelled his welcome home party.
As it turns out, Bergdahl wasn't the only U.S. citizen begging to be freed from Taliban captivity.
{Soundbite} CAITLAN COLEMAN, Reported Taliban Prisoner: And I would ask that my family and my government do everything that they can to bring my husband, child and I to safety and freedom.
Coleman's parents are crushed their daughter and her family weren't included in the Bergdahl release deal. They say she was pregnant when the couple were travelling in Afghanistan in 2012 when for reasons still unknown, the Taliban captured them.
Sonya Artero TVB news.
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