BRUSSELS - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would make "no apologies" for agreeing to a deal that released Taliban detainee Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, despite controversy in Washington that Congress was not notified ahead of time.
"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."