The U.S. releases high-level insurgents

"Give peace a chance." -Random idealist destined for failure 

According to a report from the Washington Post, U.S. officials have released high-profile insurgents being kept at the only American military prison in Afghanistan.

The "strategic release" program allows the U.S. military to negotiate with the Taliban by trading prisoners for peace.

The bold move by the military seems like a deal almost too good to be true, but officials speaking on anonymity confirm its reality. But they would not specify whether insurgents who were granted permission to return home were found later fighting U.S. personnel, an obvious violation of the conditions upon which they would be released.

The program has existed for years and officials have admitted the high risk of their quiet operation.

Risk? You can say that again.

After all, aren't we still fighting a war after we've supposedly traded some prisoners for peace?

Well yes, but the way the program works is for officials to bargain for peace in a given area.

It helps to think of a war like a sheet of those air filled plastic bubbles that protect our shipments. A swelled pocket is an unpeaceful place and by popping the bubble, you have created peace in that given area. As we all know, it's difficult to pop ALL those bubbles and we often don't. Especially when the bubbles can break their agreement and swell up again.

Our military personnel deserve more credit than we can give them in this fight. Peace had it's chance before we were drawn into the war on terror, but as we saw demonstrated more than 10 years ago, peace wouldn't last.

So now we're stuck fighting for peace in what feels like a never ending battle.

In this program that continues the releasement of our would-be, might-be, and gonna-be enemies, it seems we found something else to try. Not fighting, and not peace - yet.

It is a real person-to-person, let's talk face-to-face and try to find some middle ground interaction. The program allows the officials to keep wheelin' an' dealin' for peace.

So move over peace, you've had plenty of chances. Now it's time to try something else. Who knows how effective this has been since its implementation? Nobody commenting can say for sure. But as we continue to learn the ways of the Taliban and the Afghan culture, here's to hoping this sort of bargaining is a step in the right direction.