US soldier Bowe Bergdahl freed by Taliban in Afghanistan, page 1

A US soldier who has been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly five years has been freed in deal that includes the release of five Afghan detainees, US officials say.

......

Officials said the Taliban had handed him over on Saturday evening, local time, in eastern Afghanistan. Several dozen US special forces were involved in the exchange, they said, which took place near the Pakistani border.

A senior official told the BBC that, once aboard the US helicopter, Sgt Bergdahl wrote the letters SF - meaning special operations forces - followed by a question mark on a paper plate and showed them to the pilots, who replied: "Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time."

US soldier Bowe Bergdahl freed by Taliban in Afghanistan

Whatever the conspiracy slant is, and it's certainly there, I'm very glad that after long last this young man is coming home. Kudos to the people that made it happen. Almost certainly there will be some controversy over the release of Afghan detainees, but whatever the cost, I'd wager it was worth it.

Kind of amazing to think that this young man survived for so long in the hands of those barbarians. I suppose he was their most important bargaining chip and therefor he was worth a whole lot more alive than dead.

I've read some about a controversy surrounding how he was initially captured, whether he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be or not, but I must confess to not knowing a whole lot about the particulars.

Certainly welcome news.