--- title: Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap | TIME description: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Bergdahl Swap canonical: https://time.com/video/nr21G8Br/ og:title: Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap og:description: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Bergdahl Swap og:url: https://time.com/video/nr21G8Br/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nr21G8Br/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap twitter:description: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Bergdahl Swap twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nr21G8Br/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Hagel on Bergdahl Swap](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nr21G8Br.m3u8) (3:21)  _Published 2014-06-11. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Bergdahl Swap_ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:48 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Chuck Hagel On Sending Troops To Fight ISIS](/video/sRW1G3Xr/) ### Chuck Hagel On Sending Troops To Fight ISIS [Defense Secretary Hagel Steps Down](/video/eOb0fc77/) ### Defense Secretary Hagel Steps Down [Bowe Bergdahl, Taliban Prisoner Swap Under Fire](/video/1QtQIZ7U/) ### Bowe Bergdahl, Taliban Prisoner Swap Under Fire --- ## Transcript I wanna make one fundamental point. I would never sign any document, or make any agreement, agree to any decision that I did not feel was in the best interest of this country. Nor would the President of the United States. Who made the final decision with the full support of his national security team. And I'll present to this committee within the limits of an open unclassified hearing, and in more detail in the classified hearing, everything I can to answer your questions and ensure you, this committee, the American people, that this prisoner exchange was done legally. It was substantial mitigation of risk to our country. And in the national interest of this country. Our entire national security apparatus, the military, the intelligence community and the state department pursued every avenue to recover Sergeant Bergdahl just as the American people and this Congress, and the Congress as before you, expected us to do. We never stopped trying to get him back. As the Congress knows that, because he is a soldier in the United States Army. Like any American, Sergeant Bergdahl has rights. And his conduct will be judged on the facts. Not political heresay, posturing charges or innuendo. We do owe that to any American and, especially, those who are members of our military and their families. Like most Americans, I've been offended and disappointed in how the Bergdahl family has been treated, by some, in this country. [ NOISE ] No family deserves this. I hope there will be some sober reflection on people's conduct regarding this issue and how it relates to the Bergdahl family. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and a transfer of five detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar. And I appreciate having the Department of Defense's general counsel Steve Preston here with me. This morning, Mr. Preston was one of our negotiators throughout this process in Qatar and signed, on behalf of the United States, the memorandum of understanding between the governments of Qatar and the United States. Also, here representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sitting behind me is Brigadier General Pat White, who is a director of the Joint Staff's Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination cell. General White helped coordinate the Bergdahl recovery on behalf of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey. If any of these detainees ever try to rejoin the fight, they would be doing so at their own peril. There's also always, always some risk associated with the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo. This is not a risk- free business, we get that. The U. S. government has transferred 620 detainees. 620 detainees in Guantanamo since May 2002. 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