"five top-level terrorists"
"five top-level terrorists"...actually, no. According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor:
Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sought in recent years to find a reconciliation deal with the Taliban, and the release of the "Guantanamo Five" has been a part of those efforts.(emphasis mine)
Who are they? Khairullah Khairkhwa was governor of Herat during Taliban rule and is a founder of the group. Fazl Mazlum was head of their army. Nurullah Nuri was the Taliban's governor of Balkh province, and Abdul Haq Wasiq was the deputy head of Taliban intelligence. Mohammad Nabi Omeri is the most junior of the five, alleged by the US to have been the Taliban governments head of communications and has claimed that he had assisted the US in efforts to track down Mullah Omar, the titular head of the Taliban.
As best as can be made out, none of the released men were ever directly involved in efforts to mount terrorist attacks on the US or any other foreign country.
The article goes on to make clear that even though they're not terrorists, they are five "nasty" men--corrupt and brutal officials of the Taliban regime. Government officials of a country we've conquered and are now leaving, but not terrorists. The article's basic point of view is that, now that we're scheduled to leave Afghanistan, we can stop punishing their former government. We're not returning terrorists, we're clearing up unfinished business, and the deal is actually to our advantage.
You really shouldn't listen to Ted Cruz or the other members of the American Taliban. This swap would be an even better deal for America if we could get rid of five tea bagger Congressmen.