Bergdahl’s hometown cancels celebration amid furor over desertion claims

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds — both for and against the former prisoner of war. The decision came hours before President Barack Obama made "no apologies" for the efforts taken to secure Bergdahl's release. 

Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban after leaving his unit, unarmed, in 2009. He was released Saturday in a prisoner swap that freed five top Taliban officials from the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Organizers of the canceled homecoming event in Hailey, Idaho, said they lacked the resources to safely manage the thousands of supporters and protesters who were expected to converge on the small mountain community.

The town of 8,000 has been swamped with hate mail and angry calls over Bergdahl, whose release after five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan has touched off a debate over whether the 28-year-old should be given a hero's welcome or punished as a deserter.

Meanwhile, congressional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the Obama administration told senators it didn’t notify Congress about the Bergdahl swap because the Taliban threaded to kill the American if the deal was made public. 

Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, disputed the characterization of what the administration had told senators but did not provide details on what the briefing entailed.

"Our judgment is that every day Sgt. Bergdahl was a prisoner his life was at risk, and in the video we received in January he did not look well,” Hayden said. “So when presented with a near-term opportunity to recover Sgt. Bergdahl and save his life, the president chose to act."

President Barack Obama has defended the swap, citing a "sacred" obligation to not leave men and women in uniform behind.

"I make absolutely no apologies" for making sure we get back a young man to his parents, Obama said Thursday during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels following the G-7 summit. 

"We saw an opportunity and we seized it, and I make no apologies for that," Obama said, adding that he owed it to Bergdahl's parents to try to return their son to America. "This is not some abstraction, this is not some political football," he told a news conference. "As Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, I am responsible for those kids." 

On Wednesday the Taliban published a 17-minute video of Bergdahl's release to U.S. military forces. Two Taliban members, one waving a stick with a white cloth, apparently lead Bergdahl to his rescuers. The video could not be immediately verified by Al Jazeeera. 

Just before he was turned over, one of Bergdahl’s Taliban captors leaned in and warned him: "Don't come back to Afghanistan. You won't make it out alive next time," he said according to the AP. His captors waved goodbye as he was led away.

In Hailey, organizers of a celebration that had been scheduled for June 28 issued a statement saying the town doesn't have the means to handle such an event.

"If you had 10,000 people, 5,000 on one side and 5,000 on the other, then just due to the national attention, we don't know what to expect," Police Chief Jeff Gunter said.

The small town has hosted an event called "Bring Bowe Back" for several years. When news broke over the weekend of Bergdahl's release in exchange for five Taliban detainees at Guantánamo Bay, organizers announced it would be a welcome-home party instead.

Hailey Chamber of Commerce President Jane Drussel said she and the organization have received hate mail and calls from people lambasting the town and branding Bergdahl un-American and a traitor.

"The joy has all of a sudden become not so joyful," she said.

Lee Ann Ferris, a neighbor of the Bergdahl family in Hailey, said the town is trying not to pay attention to the criticism of the soldier and the talk about how he fell into Taliban hands.

"It's like a modern-day lynching. He hasn't even been able to give his side of the story yet. This community will welcome him back no matter what," she said.

U.S. lawmakers have also complained about the deal, saying it would embolden the Taliban to snatch more American soldiers and that the released Afghans will filter back to the battlefield.

In Washington, Rob Williams, the U.S. national intelligence officer for South Asia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that four of the men are expected to resume activities with the Taliban, according to two senior congressional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was classified.

The five include the former Taliban interior minister, who was described in a U.S. case file leaked by WikiLeaks as having had close ties to Osama bin Laden; the Taliban's former deputy chief of intelligence; and a former member of a joint Taliban-Al-Qaeda cell.

Back in the U.S., Sue Martin, a friend of the Bergdahl family and owner of Zaney's Coffee Shop in Hailey, said Bergdahl's appearance in the video of his release that was published Wednesday shocked her. She said he looked frail, tired and damaged.

"That's not the Bowe who left here and lived here," Martin said.

Bergdahl was reported to be in stable condition at a military hospital in Germany.

A Taliban statement, also distributed to the media, quoted leader Mullah Mohammad Omar as saying the release of the five Taliban leaders was a significant achievement for the movement.

On Capitol Hill, Obama's goal of closing the Guantánamo Bay prison faced re-energized opposition from Republicans and increased questioning from fellow Democrats in reaction to the trade.

Hoping to ease mounting criticism, officials from the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies briefed senators behind closed doors Wednesday evening. They showed the lawmakers a 90-second video provided by the Taliban that had proved Bergdahl was alive and indicated to the administration that his deteriorating health required quick action.

"He didn't look good," said Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.

U.S. negotiations with the Taliban to secure Bergdahl's release have gathered steam since April. Besides the chance that his health was in decline, administration officials also wanted to make a deal because they knew that the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would decrease resources on the ground and reduce the amount and quality of intelligence from the area.

The administration is required to notify Congress 30 days before transferring Guantánamo detainees, but the White House thought waiting that long was too risky — so it went forward with the fast-moving negotiations.

Bergdahl was released less than 30 days after the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar that gave the White House assurances that the detainees, after being transferred to Doha, the Qatari capital, would adhere to a one-year travel ban and other restrictions. Bergdahl was freed just one day after the White House received a green light from the military that the operation was a go.

Some of Bergdahl's former comrades have complained that U.S. soldiers died during the search for him after he walked away. The military has not confirmed such a link.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the Army will review the case, and he cautioned against drawing conclusions until then.

"We don't do that in the United States. We rely on facts," he said at a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels.

Al Jazeera and wire services