June 6 - US soldier exchange raises questions about the future of Guantanamo Bay

The exchange of U.S. soldier Bowe Berghdal for five detainees has raised questions about the future of the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Obama administration continues to defend its decision to bring Bowe Bergdahl out of Taliban custody in return for five Taliban fighters.

Our Washington correspondent Priscilla Huff reports:

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U.S. President Barack Obama has repeatedly defended his order to exchange U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Berghdal for five prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Cuba detention center.

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Bowe Berghdahl has been called a traitor and a deserter by his fellow soldiers
The U.S. military confirms he did walk off his base in Afghanistan at least once before his capture...but further investigation is on hold, pending his recovery from five years in captivity.
Former Private First Class Kenneth Wortham, served in the same platoon
He told Baltimore Maryland television station WJZ
he rejects claims Bowe Berddahl is a hero and a prisoner of war.

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In an interview with CNN at the D-Day commemorations in Normany France,
U.S National Security Adviser Susan Rice repeated American policy that no one is left behind on the battlefield.

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American lawmakers are angry, in part because the U-S Congress was not formally notified of the plans to exchange Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban held at Guantanamo Bay Cuba.
U-S Senator Marco Rubio after a closed door briefing.

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149 prisoners remain at the detention center
78 are cleared for release...but despite President Obama's promises to shutter the facility, the five exchanged for Bowe Berghdahl are the only ones who have left.
Margaret Huang is with Amnesty International:

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As for the five Taliban now transferred to Qatar, travel restrictions have been imposed on them, in part to ensure that they do not immediately return to fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
But campaigners point out...those five were probably actually guilty...whereas 78 remain at Guantanamo Bay, cleared of any offences, and yet with little prospect of leaving the detention center.
Priscilla Huff, Washington

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