<div dir="ltr"><div>Right now, public debate is joined on the following:</div><div><br></div><div>Should the Administration have negotiated with the Taliban?</div><div><br></div><div>Should the Administration have swapped five Gitmo detainees for Bergdahl?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Judging from the media, the pro-diplomacy, pro-ending the war side of the debate is losing the argument.</div><div><br></div><div>I understand that you find "thank Obama" offensive. But judging from my correspondence, many rank-and-file Democrats - which, substantially, are our target audience - are worse on these issues than the Obama Administration right now. If they would support the actions of the Administration to free Bergdahl, it would be an advance.</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">Robert Naiman<br>Policy Director<br>Just Foreign Policy<br><a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br><div><span style="text-align:left">(202) 448-2898 x1</span><br></div></div></div>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 11:27 AM, C. G. Estabrook <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cge@shout.net" target="_blank">cge@shout.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word">Isn't than rather like thanking Mussolini for making the trains run on time? <div><br></div><div>Of course "we want to end the war in Afghanistan, bring all of our troops home, and close the Guantanamo prison." That can't be done by lending critical support to an executive whose policy is to continue the war, keep 1,000 military bases abroad, and continue imprisonment, rendition, and drone strikes. </div>
<div><br></div><div>That's a policy of useful idiocy which the Obama administration is counting on, as popular opposition to its economic and military policies grows. As Chris Hughes and others point out, its last line of defense is the liberals. <br>
<div><br></div><div>--CGE</div><div><br><div><div>On Jun 4, 2014, at 10:40 AM, Robert Naiman <<a href="mailto:noreply@list.moveon.org" target="_blank">noreply@list.moveon.org</a>> wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite">
Dear C. G. Estabrook<br> <br>Some in Congress—including even some Democrats—have attacked the Obama Administration for using diplomacy and transferring prisoners from Guantanamo to bring home U.S. prisoner of war Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. <br>
<br>No critic of the Administration has explained how President Obama and Secretary of Defense Hagel were supposed to bring Bowe home without negotiating with the Taliban or agreeing to the prisoner transfer. None has explained why, if the prisoners at Guantanamo are "prisoners of war," they should not be treated like prisoners of war in other conflicts: exchanged for other prisoners of war, or released at the end of hostilities. <br>
<br>If we want to end the war in Afghanistan, bring all of our troops home, and close the Guantanamo prison, we can't be silent when the President is attacked for pursuing diplomatic solutions, because if those attacks go unchallenged, the pursuit of diplomacy will be chilled in the future. <br>
<br><strong>Show your support for diplomacy and for bringing our soldiers home by signing and sharing our petition at MoveOn to President Obama and Congress:</strong> <br><a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/welcome-home-bowe" target="_blank"><strong>http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/welcome-home-bowe</strong></a> <br>
<br>Thanks for all you do to help support diplomacy and end war, <br><br>Robert Naiman <br>Just Foreign Policy <br><br>P.S. I wrote about this campaign at Huffington Post. <strong>You can read and share that here:</strong><br>
<br><strong>If You're Not Cheering Bowe's Return, You Didn't Want to End the War</strong><br><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/bowe-berghdal-return_b_5440866.html" target="_blank"><strong>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/bowe-berghdal-return_b_5440866.html<br>
</strong></a><br> <br>
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