Shock U.S. Army admission: Obama freed Taliban ‘psychopath’ in Bergdahl trade

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/4/taliban-prisoner-traded-for-bowe-bergdahl-a-danger/

In a pointed assessment, an Army colonel advising the National Security Council says one of the Taliban prisoners released in the Obama administration’s deal to free Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdal is a “psychopath” who poses a “danger to fellow Afghans.”

Army Col. Mark Mitchell, director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, is a Green Beret who helped capture Mullah Mohammad Fazl in the early days of the war in Afghanistan.


In an interview with The Washington Times, Col. Mitchell offered a frank description of Fazl, calling him “a petty tyrant who justified his psychopathic behavior using a veneer of religion” who lost his stature and influence after his 2001 capture.

“Stripped of his power and authority, he was pathetic and contemptible. I have no doubt that he remains a psychopath, and he’s probably a danger to fellow Afghans,” he said.

But Col. Mitchell downplayed the likely impact of Fazl and the other Taliban leaders returning to Afghanistan, noting that they “have been off the battlefield for 12 years. In that time, Afghanistan has changed, the Taliban has changed and other leaders have risen through the ranks while he’s been enjoying a comfortable, if highly structured, life at Guantanamo Bay.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Max Bowers (back, center) called Mullah Mohammad Fazl "one of the hardest-looking people I had ever seen in my life." Col. Bowers was the ground commander of the three special operations teams who secretly rode on horseback in Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to root out the Taliban and al Qaeda. (USASOC)


“So, it won’t be as simple as simply walking back through the door and picking up where he left off,” the colonel said. “There’s lots of Afghans, probably even a few Talibs, that have no desire to see him back in Afghanistan, much less in any kind of position of authority.”

The Obama administration released Fazl and four other Taliban commanders May 31 from the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl, who had been a Taliban prisoner since 2009. The Taliban leaders were taken to the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, where they are to remain under supervision for one year.