Hillary: I Knew Taliban Negotiation Would Be ‘Hard To Swallow’ For Americans

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks as she delivers the keynote address at the launch of the U.S. Global Development Lab, an initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on... Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks as she delivers the keynote address at the launch of the U.S. Global Development Lab, an initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), on Thursday April 3, 2014 in New York. Congress and USAID are headed for a showdown over the Obama administration's creation of a Cuban Twitter communications network to undermine the communist government in Cuba. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah is expected to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations State Department and foreign operations subcommittee. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) MORE LESS
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Hillary Clinton described in her new book her participation in the discussions about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release, knowing that any swap would be difficult for the public to accept.

“I acknowledged, as I had many times before, that opening the door to negotiations with the Taliban would be hard to swallow for many Americans after so many years of war,” she wrote, according to a copy of “Hard Choices” obtained by CBS.

Clinton explained that the U.S. always insisted on bringing Bergdahl home if they were to free Guantanamo detainees sought by the Taliban.

“The Taliban’s top concern seemed to be the fate of its fighters being held at Guantanamo Bay and other prisons. In every discussion about prisoners, we demanded the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been captured in 2009. There would not be any agreement about prisoners without the sergeant coming home,” she wrote.

Read more excerpts from Clinton’s book here.

The publisher of Clinton’s book, Simon & Schuster, is owned by CBS.

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