Cornyn: Bergdahl deal ‘makes me worry’ on Iran talks

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Thursday said he was concerned about the Obama administration’s negotiating skills in Iran nuclear talks after seeing how it handled a prisoner exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

{mosads}“5 Taliban for a deserter deal makes me worry about WH negotiation skills on Iranian nukes,” Cornyn tweeted.

Cornyn was referencing the Army’s decision Wednesday to charge Bergdahl with desertion. That announcement rekindled controversy over President Obama’s trade last year freeing the soldier from the Taliban.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday defended the 2014 deal as “absolutely” worthwhile. Bergdahl’s freedom, she argued, was an obligation the White House was sworn to protect.

“We have a commitment to our men and women serving overseas, or in our military, defending our national security every day, that we will do everything we can to bring them home, and that’s what we did in this case,” Psaki said on Fox News’s “The Kelly File” Wednesday night.

Bergdahl, 28, disappeared from a base in Afghanistan while on duty in 2009. He would then spend five years as a Taliban prisoner of war.

President Obama authorized a deal last year exchanging five Taliban commandos from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba for the soldier.

The trade has since drawn fierce criticism from lawmakers over concerns Bergdahl’s service record did not justify the sacrifice.

“I have no doubt that, in the future, the ‘Taliban 5’ will return to fight against the United States,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday.

The White House is betting that Iran will slow or stop its nuclear weapons research if sanctions on it are lowered. Secretary of State John Kerry returned to Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday to resume talks.

Many lawmakers charge that President Obama is too trusting of Iran’s government. A group of 47 GOP senators earlier this month sent Tehran an open letter vowing it would void any nuclear deal it believes hurts American interests.

The Obama administration has set a March 31 deadline for a tentative bargain with Iran. It is targeting June 30 for a final, binding agreement.