Exactly one year ago this month, the President ordered the release of five Taliban commanders -- one a deputy defense minister, another head of intelligence-- from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held hostage by the Taliban since 2009. Sgt. Bergdahl has now been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered his unit; he faces a preliminary hearing on those charges on September 17th. The Taliban detainees, all deemed "high risk' in a 2008 Pentagon report, have been under the supervision of the government of Qatar and subject to a one-year travel ban. This travel ban was due to expire this past Monday.
However, U.S. officials confirmed on Monday that Qatar has agreed to temporarily extend the travel ban on the five Taliban leaders, while discussions for a longer term solution continue. This news comes in the aftermath of reports, which U.S. officials substantiated in January, that one of the five commanders was suspected of re-engaging in terrorist or insurgent activities. More recently, media reports have circulated that three of the five Taliban members have tried to make contact with terrorist networks.
During the last Congress, the House passed a bipartisan resolution formally condemning the President's actions exchanging Sgt. Bergdahl for the five Taliban commanders without providing Congress with the required 30-day notice before transferring detainees out of Guantanamo Bay.