Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned the Obama administration after the announcement of negotiations that resulted in the release of five Taliban terrorists for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a prisoner of war.
Cruz indicated that he was happy that Bergdahl was coming home, but he questioned the price of his release. “Well, for one thing, how many soldiers lost their lives to capture those five Taliban terrorists that we just released?” Cruz said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
Cruz criticized U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who defended the administration’s decision to act without Congress. Rice called it an “urgent and an acute situation.” He said, “You know, Ambassador Rice basically said to you, ‘Yes, U.S. policy has changed. Now we make deals with terrorists.'”
Cruz questioned whether the Obama administration had effectively put a price on a U.S. soldier serving abroad–one soldier for five terrorists. “The idea that we’re now making trades, what does that do for every single soldier stationed abroad?” he asked. He added, “The reason why the U.S. has had the policy for decades of not negotiating with terrorists is because once you start doing it, every other terrorist has an incentive to capture more soldiers.”
Host George Stephanopoulos asked Cruz whether he would make a similar deal if it was the only way to get Bergdahl back to the United States. Cruz refused to acknowledge the possibility. “It’s not the only way,” he said flatly. “We can go in and use military force, as needed, to rescue our fallen compatriots.”
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