White House Spin: President Obama says he only freed the Taliban Five to free an alleged POW. But that's not true. Two years ago, he was trying to spring the same Taliban leaders without any bargaining chip.

The original deal was a straight release, naked any "patriotic" trade for a U.S. soldier allegedly taken hostage by the Taliban.

According to reports in the Afghan, British and American press in the summer of 2012, the White House was working out a "peace-building" deal with the Taliban that involved cutting loose their entire leadership from Gitmo.

Reportedly, Obama had been negotiating behind the scenes with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was the key broker. The release — which included the Taliban's deputy intelligence chief, interior minister, defense chief and military commander — hinged only on Karzai certifying they no longer posed a threat.

They had to disavow terrorism and any allegiance to al-Qaida, even though such promises have proved meaningless in the past.

Karzai claimed his government obtained assurances in an earlier trip to Gitmo, where his aides met with the Taliban commanders to help secure their release.

"We actually sent a delegation three months ago to Guantanamo prison where Taliban prisoners were interviewed," Karzai told reporters in July 2012 following talks with other Taliban representatives in Japan.

"We want the release of those Taliban figures," he asserted, "and we want them to have the freedom to settle where they want."

Obama agreed to their release as part of his Afghan withdrawal strategy. He and Karzai thought it would buy good faith and peace among the Taliban — an insurance policy against a Taliban takeover as American troops exit Afghanistan. The release, in fact, was part of a larger amnesty program for Taliban fighters, known locally as the Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program.

The original Taliban Five deal fell apart as Obama met stiff resistance from the U.S. intelligence community. And it proved too politically radioactive to sell to Congress.

So in the intervening years, our illustrious commander in chief came up with the swap for Traitor Bowe.

Trading senior Taliban for a "POW" provided a shiny object to wave in front of the media, and it worked at least for the first couple of days. Now the evidence shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl ran into the arms of the Taliban and collaborated with the enemy at every turn.

Doubling down on his spin, however, Obama now claims he worried about Bergdahl's health and treatment by his captors.

But the timeline still doesn't hold up. Neither Bergdahl nor his health was an issue in 2012 when he first pushed for release of the Taliban commanders.

Even Democrats are left unswayed by the latest excuse. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the new concerns raised by the administration over Bergdahl's health "did not sell me at all."

Don't be fooled: Bergdahl was merely a pretext for brokering a bad deal for America.

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