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Tags: Alan Dershowitz | Hamas | soft

Dershowitz: Obama Should Have Told Congress of Prisoner Swap

By    |   Wednesday, 04 June 2014 07:15 PM EDT

President Barack Obama was wrong not to have notified Congress about the swap of five terrorists for an Army sergeant, but he should not be vilified for brokering the deal in apparent violation of the law, renowned civil rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz says.

"He should have notified Congress. There's no question in my mind that he should have done it,'' Dershowitz, a veteran Harvard Law professor, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"But a law which tells the president that he can't act in emergency situations, when he sees a window of opportunity as the commander in chief, [that it] would be unconstitutional, he has the right to interpret the law in a manner that makes it constitutional,'' he said Wednesday.

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Dershowitz says too much is being made of the swap of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five high-ranking Taliban officers who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay — a deal made more controversial because of allegations that Bergdahl was a deserter.

"I don't think we should be politicizing this issue. There's enough fault to go around. The problem of releasing prisoners in exchange with terrorists goes back to every president practically,'' Dershowitz said.

"It goes back to what the Germans did when they released killers of the Israeli athletes, what the British did, what the French did. If we could go back to square one and really agree with all Western nations [to] never, ever negotiate with terrorists . . . we could have put an end to terrorism.

"But you have to look at the broader context. Why are the Palestinians so popular in Europe today and at the United Nations? Because they use terrorism. Terrorism works . . .  Terrorism works because we give in to terrorists. If we could start from scratch, I would say not an inch.''

Dershowitz, author of "Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law,'' published by Crown, said he has "absolutely no doubt'' that the price of an American captive has gone up "dramatically'' because of the terrorist deal.

But he added: "It's very hard for any government official to resist trading a prisoner. Look at [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, who is the toughest guy when it comes to this."

"He gave up 1,000 prisoners for [former Israel Defense Forces soldier] Gilad Shalit, [who was abducted by Hamas militants]. Why? I went to visit the prime minister. Before I could get into his house, you had to pass Gilad's family sitting there every single day with pictures of this young man saying, save our son, save our nephew, save our friend.

"You can't resist if you have any heart. That kind of pressure, that's why the rules have to be firm. That's why there should be no discretion to give up prisoners in exchange for other prisoners or to negotiate with terrorists.''

Dershowitz said that whether Bergdahl turns out to be a deserter, as some have alleged, it makes no difference to his release.

"Look, I don't like what I hear about this guy. On the other hand, you can't make judgments . . . You have to presume innocent. We can't make distinctions using the kinds of prisoners. Once he's back, we can ask him very hard questions,'' he said.

"What I'm worried about is the U.S. government is now dealing with terrorists, they're going to make a bad deal in Iran, it looks like. They're focusing the Israeli government to deal with Hamas.

"It's all part of the picture of a soft foreign policy. The Obama administration seems to today be more willing to talk to terrorists who are trying to kill us than to Israelis who are trying to help us.''

But Dershowitz said Obama is not alone in putting pressure on Israel.

"They've been stabbed in the back by many administrations, both Republican and Democrat, and they always bounce back,'' he said.

"Most Americans, individual Americans, understand that we have only one reliable ally, and we should be supporting Israel's security. We should be supporting their diplomatic possessions.

"The only way they can make peace is from a position of strength with strong American backing and support. The Obama administration's upset because they expected that they could pressure Israel into making a peace that wasn't in their interest, to help bring about the peace process. That didn't happen, and there's a little bit of score evening going on.''

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President Barack Obama was wrong not to have notified Congress about the swap of five terrorists for an Army sergeant, but he should not be vilified for brokering the deal in apparent violation of the law, renowned civil rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz says.
Alan Dershowitz, Hamas, soft
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2014-15-04
Wednesday, 04 June 2014 07:15 PM
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