By now there is little doubt that Bowe Bergdahl was AWOL from his unit when he was captured by Taliban forces in Afghanistan. It has also been revealed that prior to walking away from his post, he had sent messages indicating that he was ashamed to be an American as well as other negative screeds against his country. To make matters worse, at least six of his fellow soldiers lost their lives trying to find him. Below is who they were.
http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/
To add insult to injury, Bergdahl has twice been promoted during his absence and is now a staff sergeant. When he went AWOL, he was a private.
Now after five years, the Obama administration entered into secret negotiation with the Taliban terrorists and released five top-tier Taliban commanders-the worst of the worst they were holding at GITMO.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/02/look-at-five-taliban-commanders-set-free-in-prisoner-exchange/
And it was all done without adhering to the law and advising select members of Congress.
Then Obama brings Bergdahl's family to the White House for a photo op where his now Pashto-speaking father, sporting a Taliban-style beard gives thanks to Allah for his son's release with a passage out of the Koran. The only one missing from that scene was Mullah Omar himself, but he was too busy celebrating the "great victory" back in Afghanistan-or Pakistan, whichever one of those piss-pot countries he is hiding in.
And you ask why those who were serving with Bergdahl are outraged?
Beyond that, this action only encourages Islamic terrorists to go after more American hostages be they military or civilian because that will ensure the ransoming of more GITMO detainees.
As I wrote yesterday, it is good that the Bergdahl family has their son back. We should, indeed, do what we can to retrieve American soldiers even those who walk away from their posts. However, before we confer hero status on Bergdahl and give him an honorable discharge with full benefits, there must be a full investigation into the the manner in which he came into Taliban hands. Beyond his debriefing, one assumes that there was already an investigation into how he left his unit. If a court martial is appropriate, then let it proceed. I could care less whether he goes to the stockade; He has already suffered enough unless he actually joined the Taliban, which should also be investigated.
It is one thing to pay this steep price for an honorably-serving POW; it is quite another for a deserter-if that is what Bergdahl in fact is. All in all, this represents just another Carteresque humiliation that Obama has subjected this country to.
4 comments:
I wouldn't expect a fair examination based on the P.C. nature of the Ft Hood investigation. Obama can still select who leads any potential court martial as he selects like minded people throughout the administration. Normally this would be acceptable but we are now "led" by an internationalist, socialist type president who is pro Muslim in his core.
Don't expect any true justice or any pro American resolution.
To make matters worse, at least six of his fellow soldiers lost their lives trying to find him.
Subsequent research of military records does not sustain that allegation.
Perhaps President Obama was anxious to make the exchange because Republicans in congress were urging them to get this American serviceman back... until Obama did so, at which point the Party Line shifted faster than that of the Soviet Union did on June 22, 1941.
Siarlys,
Congrats. You are now aligned by Sgt Hagel and Marie Harf and against the words of multiple soldiers who were in his unit.
"Soldiers who were in his unit" may have all kinds of opinions not sustained by facts -- or they may know something. Other soldiers in the unit are now offering new and different perspectives, confirming what I thought you had agree on more or less... that we need to let formal inquiries assemble all the data before jumping to conclusions.
Multiple soldiers who served with Dreyfuss gave their word too...
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