During a tense hearing, Chuck Hagel says the exchange was the
"last, best opportunity" to ensure the soldier's freedom.
22:38, UK, Wednesday 11 June 2014  Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel
has robustly defended the prisoner swap of Sergeant Bowe
Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders at Guantanamo Bay.  He faced
tough questioning from the House Armed Services Committee about
the decision not to notify Congress of last month's deal to free
the US prisoner of war.   During Wednesday's tense hearing, Mr
Hagel said President Barack Obama had to act swiftly
because Sgt Bergdahl was in poor health.  The exchange had
represented the "last, best opportunity" to ensure the soldier's
freedom, he testified.  The five men released in exchange for
Sergeant Bergdahl.  The panel's Republican chairman, Howard
"Buck" McKeon, said administration briefings in the past week
had been "misleading and oftentimes blatantly false".  He also
said the deal - under which the Taliban five must remain in
Qatar for a year - "sets a dangerous prece