So which one is it?
Americans should not be concerned that the Taliban has declared a prisoner swap freeing five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for captured U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a victory, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.
“I caution anyone against buying the propaganda of terrorists,” Carney said during an interview with NBC’s Today Show.
The White House spokesman said the administration believed the release of five Guantanamo detainees was “not a security threat to the United States” and that efforts had been made to mitigate any security risk they might pose.
According to White House officials, the five Taliban detainees, which included a pair of senior militant commanders, will be subject to security restrictions, including a one-year travel ban.
HAGEL: First of all, we didn’t negotiate with terrorists. As I said and explained before, Sergeant Bergdahl is a prisoner of war. That’s a normal process in getting your prisoners back, that’s first. Second, we are dealing with terrorism and hostage taking all the time everywhere. I think America’s record is pretty clear on going after terrorists, especially those who take hostages, and I don’t think what we did in getting our prisoner of war released in any way would somehow encourage terrorists to take our American service men prisoner or hostage.