It is completely predictable that many Republicans are screeching about the Administration’s swap of five former Taliban guys from the prison at Guantanamo for the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl after five years of captivity in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

I would merely remind those Republicans that Israel, the nation they reflexively support no matter what morally objectionable thing it does, has long made it a practice of exchanging Palestinian prisoners for Israeli ones. CSIS and Brookings Institution Fellow (and ex-CIA analyst and onetime Deputy Director) Paul Pillar makes that point:

In the meantime, members of Congress might ask themselves, as they habitually do on some other issues, “What would Israel do?” The Israeli government makes a big deal about not doing business with certain groups it does not like such as Hamas, but when it comes to prisoner exchanges it actually has a long record of extensive dealings. Two and a half years ago Israel struck a deal with Hamas in which in exchange for freeing a single Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli officials stated that the released prisoners were collectively responsible for the deaths of 569 Israelis. By that standard, with the Bergdahl trade the United States got a pretty good deal.