The safe return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will continue to play out as factual details of his 2009 Afghanistan capture–and the resultant search mission–become clear. That will have a major bearing on the appropriateness and context of the “we thought we didn’t negotiate with terrorists” criticism over the swap of Bergdahl for five hardened al Qaeda detainees.
This much seems clear. It’s not a good sign to see the Administration finding ways to plant reminders of Ronald Reagan’s worst hour, the Iran-Contra scandal, as a relevant precedent.