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As a former aircrew member Berghdal's return reaffirms the fact my country will never cease recovery efforts. In that regard I'm glad he's on his way home. I'll take Gen Dempsey's remarks at face value that they felt this was the best 'last chance' opportunity to get him back.
If it were me, I'd hope all hostilities had ended and anyone exchanged for me no longer had an opportunity or desire to harm other Americans. However even if/when we leave Afghanistan entirely I doubt we have seen our last fight with the Taliban and certainly haven't with Al Qaeda. Without a definitive ceasefire I'm really not sure what to think of any prisoner exchange. Would we think any different of the exchange if instead of Berghdal the TB had captured Marcus Luttrell (or any soldier clearly captured following a fight) and held him in captivity?
Is it possible to differentiate between his actions leading to his disappearance/desertion and his conduct during captivity? Can they be considered two separate acts? Should they be considered separate? I doubt he's the first soldier in history captured by the other side after deserting. I realize it's a long shot, but what if his conduct and actions after capture are substantiated as honorable? Those are a couple big 'what ifs' and debatable he's returning with honor. He has a lot of convincing to do.
Let's see how long the five Taliban remain in Qatar. If they're picked up off the battlefield again and even one additional death is attributed to them I'd opinion this prisoner exchange a failure.
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