Go ahead and make fun of it if you will but do you seriously believe that what Obama did wasn't harmful? I'm guessing you're not LDS but there is a movie about 2 missionaries taken captive in Russia. In the movie, someone anonymously leaves a cashiers check (for enough money to pay the ransom) on the door of the parents of one of the missionaries. Their dilemma becomes whether to pay the money or not. If the don't, then there is a good chance their son dies. If they do, then they have effectively painted targets on every missionary. This is no different. Now that these terrorists know that they can get their brethren out of Gitmo (at a 5 to 1 ratio no less) I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these types of things.
You're putting yourself in a situation that didn't exist.
Look at the position we are in:
It's a matter of time before Gitmo gets shut down. Eventually, they were going to have to do something else with these prisoners, and I doubt the American people will want them on US Soil, and we'd be sending an "improper message" if we execute them(although this would have been my choice). Why not get something back in return?
Look at the position it puts us in externally and historically:
They no longer have a "hostage". We now have the one POW situation from this conflict resolved, and we don't need to have the media drum up horror stories.
It's not like we gave them money, weapons, nukes, gasoline, food, medical supplies, or a free pass to invade wherever the hell they want. We gave them 5 members that have long since been replaced. 5 members that are forever changed from the tortu--.. er... "enhanced interrogation techniques" and neglect provided them at an American POW camp. 3 of those members have been in custody for more than 10 years.
We gained more than we lost. That's all there is to it.
