Andrew McCarthy just may be the most compellingly wise observer of contemporary Islamic-American political realities around. In this piece, he dissects Krauthammer's analysis of Obama's swap and explains its error. Since it's not a two-sentence post, I suppose most will not read it. But if you wish to encounter a truly wise, analytical mind at work, McCarthy's piece will prove a gem.
Excerpts:
. . . While combat is still raging — especially combat by terrorist methods that violate civilized norms — detainees should be held until the conclusion of hostilities unless there is some strategic advantage in releasing them. There can be no strategic advantage in replenishing the Taliban with five of its most capable commanders at a time when the Taliban, along with its al-Qaeda and Haqqani confederates, is still conducting offensive jihadist operations against both our troops in harm’s way and civilians. . .
, . . releasing enemy combatants while the war is still raging fortifies the enemy, incentivizes the enemy to extend the war, and causes more carnage. If we are going to talk about our values and the veneration of human life, it makes no sense to account for the marginal humanitarian benefit of obtaining the return of our captured troops while ignoring the humanitarian catastrophe of returning enemy detainees to a hot battlefield. That is especially so if the detainees in question are terrorists, who target civilians.
. . . The absurdity here is that President Obama seems to think he can bring a war to an end, abracadabra, by saying so. In reality, the war is not close to being over from the enemy’s point of view. (Much more . . .)
McCarthy is the author of the recently published, and much talked about book, Faithless Execution: Building the Case for Obama's Impeachment, which he introduces and talks about here.