Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to raise an issue that has been of growing concern to the American people: the exchange of the so- called Taliban five--five terrorist detainees from Guantanamo--in exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Let me say from the outset, this is not about Sergeant Bergdahl. The circumstances under which he became a prisoner of the Taliban is an issue for the Army. There was an investigation into this matter in 2010, and hopefully the Army will be able to bring clarity to that situation soon. What I wish to speak about today is keeping the American people safe from the terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001, resulting in the deaths of 2,977 innocent people. The Taliban five are among the worst of the worst. They were all high-level officials in the Taliban regime who gave aid and support to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the period leading up to the 9/11 attacks. These five were designated ``high'' risk by the Guantanamo Review Task Force convened in 2009 on the orders of President Obama, whose report was published on January 22, 2010. Two of the five are wanted by the United Nations for war crimes against Afghan civilians. Khairullah Khairkhwa, for example, was described in his GTMO case file as ``a hard-liner in Taliban philosophy'' with ``close ties to Osama bin Laden.'' Mohammad Fazl was second in command of the Taliban army in 2001. These were not junior-level players.…”