C. Edmund Wright: Bergdahl Deal An 'Exploding Cigar'

A Newsmax panel is split on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's insistence on Wednesday that the swap of five terrorists for a U.S. Army sergeant was imperfect deal, but it was right.

At a congressional hearing on the exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban militants being held at Guantanamo Bay, Hagel said: "We made the right decision, and we did it for the right reasons.''

Rick Ungar, the co-host of "Steele & Ungar" on SiriusXM, agreed.

"This was a judgment call. I can't be upset with people who thought it was a terrible deal, I can't be upset with people who thought it was a good deal to get an American back,'' Ungar said on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"It's all how you come down on the deal. I get the deal. I actually thought Hagel did fine under the circumstances.''

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But C. Edmund Wright, a columnist for Breitbart.com and American Thinker, wasn't convinced.

"This is a terrible decision. It's one of the biggest exploding cigars of the last five-and-a-half years and Hagel's being thrown out there now as the fall guy,'' Wright said.

"It was a terrible decision, it was politically devastating, and Hagel's just being backed under the bus.''

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