Jim Lincoln wrote: Sen. Claire McCaskill wrote: This was not a hostage; this was a prisoner of war,...“It is much different when you are negotiating with the enemy for a prisoner of war. We have done prisoner swaps many times in our nation’s history.
Hey Jimmy boyo; Definition of Hostage:- "a person given or held as security for the fulfillment of certain conditions or terms, promises, etc., by another."
The deal in this case (viz certain conditions) was to release five Taliban murderers in exchange for the one soldier. Thus the POW became a hostage.