See
The incomprehensible booty for a military deserter by Tammy Swofford, who writes for the
Daily Times Pakistan. Excerpt:
Here is the real question. Who benefits from this deal? The United States military does not benefit. This eviscerates morale within the ranks. There are no yellow ribbons tied around the old oak tree, no veterans clamouring to line up and shake Bergdahl’s hand
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is in Germany. Rejoice not, America.
A man who deserted his military post in Afghanistan crawled through the bushes into the waiting arms of the enemy. He now emerges from the shadows five years later. The posture he exhibited in the limited-release videos after his capture put the meat on the bone of this matter. Lil’ Bowe preached an anti-West message while filling his belly with a lovely feast. He appeared in a second propaganda video wearing his uniform and practicing karate kicks. The whole thing was surreal and the venue was definitely vaudeville. Lil’ Bowe made a final, brief appearance in a video in which he was not paraded about like prize livestock. The still image from the video is one with which we are all familiar. He looks gaunt, like someone who had fallen out of favour with his captors. When viewing the final video with the stumble-across glimpse of Bowe Bergdahl, I did not feel any sense of empathy. This man is not a kindred spirit. I kept my military oath. Mr Bergdahl walked away from his and toward individuals harbouring intent and will to kill American soldiers and citizens....
Read the rest
HERE.
See The incomprehensible booty for a military deserter by Tammy Swofford, who writes for the Daily Times Pakistan. Excerpt:
I respectfully disagree. Bergdahl is American, heis innocent until proven guilty. That means he has the right to face his accusers, stand trial, and be found innocent or guilty based on a full accounting of the evidence. If found guilty sentenced and punished under American law.
ReplyDeleteEvery American has this right. Putting that aside it has long been American military policy to leave no man behind (I presume today that includes women as well).
If we assume that Bergdahl is in fact a turncoat why wouldn't we want him home to ultimately face disgrace and American justice? Why would we want him in enemy hands? And lastly, as a point of clarification, the Taliban is not classified as a terrorist organizations. Therefore Obama did not negotiate with terrorists.
Lastly, if it was any of our sons or daughters would we want anything less? This is America, the most just nation on earth. Let's keep it that way.
If you had quit at the end of the second paragraph, you would have deserved applause.
DeleteIt's too bad you didn't resist the impulse to use strained logic and legalistic thinking after that, because it blunts the effect of the excellent point you raised earlier.
A, Magus
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DeleteRN is correct, the Quetta Shura Taliban are not a designated FTO, as they are a localized insurgency. Although his point of negotiation is muddied, since we [the public] are't quite certain if we interfaces with the QST or Haqqani [which is an FTO].
DeleteCI,
DeleteQuestions:
1. Is it true or false that Congress had previously objected to releasing those five Taliban commanders?
2. Is there any way of ever knowing if Obama negotiated with Haqqani for Bergdahl's release?
3. If Obama did indeed negotiate with Haqqani, what would that mean in terms of violating U.S. law?
AOW -
Delete1 - From what I understand, some members of Congress, DNI and DoD did object to these five in the past.
2 - I fear we'll have to rely on WikiLeaks.
3 - "Not negotiating with terrorists" [although we have during every Administration in recent memory] is not law, but policy. Policy can [and does] change frequently, usually when convenient.
Isn't it time we repented and reformed the good reputation of Benedict Arnold, too? He was simply misunderstood!
ReplyDeleteRead Kenneth Roberts on Arnold.
DeleteA Magus
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ReplyDeleteI can tell you one book that I WON'T be buying or reading . Hilliary's Pack of Lies!
ReplyDeleteEven Hilliary cant name one achievement she made as Secretary of state, except pile up lots of Air Miles. .
I would say that the thing she is best at is blaming others!
Never deviate from the score provided the choir by the conductor(s). Especially since the "wingers" were for Bergdahl's return to the states before they were against his return to the states. Nothing like consistency eh?
ReplyDeleteTranslation, the "wingers" were for bringing him home stateside until Obama did. For far too many this has become just another opportunity for scandal allegations
RN,
DeleteI'm not sure that many people ever imagined the unevenness of the trade. Five Taliban commanders for one PFC? Yes, I'm saying "PFC" because that was his rank at the time of his disappearance.
"Wingers" do not have to create Obama scandals. He does so himself.
Is another scandal on the boil? Indeed, the word "scandal" may not even begin to fit this:
DeletePHOENIX — A surge in unaccompanied minors from Central America crossing the border illegally into Texas has so overwhelmed the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley that officials have transported more than 750 children since last week to Border Patrol facilities in Arizona — with plans to bring hundreds more, if necessary.
Calling the situation "a humanitarian crisis," President Barack Obama has sent federal officials scrambling to ramp up temporary housing in three other states for about 3,000 more migrant children.
Here are the key questions and answers about what is happening and why....
This illegal immigration problem preceeded Obama by many years and spanned both republican and democrat administrations. Reasons why it ha not been resolved is the lack of political will. This lack of will has been shared by both parties.
DeleteRN,
DeleteNo argument with your statements.
But what's happening right now appears to be unprecedented.
"The Wingers"?
ReplyDeleteWho is this POS?
Whenever I make contact with the blogosphere one question comes most frequently to mind :
ReplyDeleteAnd CHRIST DIED for THIS?
A. Magus
Amen.
DeleteThe most interesting aspect of this case so far has been Private Bergdahl's adamant refusal to make contact with either of his parents.
ReplyDeleteAccording to at least one authority on US Military History heard yesterday in TV that makes Bergdahl's case unique.
At this point intense CURIOSITY should overcome any temptation to give way to self-righteous wrath and the primitive lust to wreak vengeance on Private Bergdahl, any member of his family, or any of his fellow combatants who have for the most part calmly testified to their uniform certainty that he did, indeed, desert them in the combat zone they shared.
Aside from their disappointment and standard, rather dispassionate disapproval at the apparent defection of a friend and comrade-at-arms, their dominant concern was to learn WHY he did what he did. One would think that would be OUR major concern in this matter too.
These vehemently bigotted views of the current administration are no more helpful than the thousands of examples of Bush and Clinton Derangement Syndrome that came before.
A steady diet of bile could never produce a healthful effect on anyone, or don't you agree?
Post Script: the Belle of Amherst comes to the rescue once again with her uniquely distilled blend of keen insight and profound wisdom:
ReplyDeleteThe Brain, within its Groove
Runs evenly –– and true ––
But let a Splinter swerve ––
'Twere easier for You ––
To put a Current back ––
When Floods have slit the Hills ––
And scooped a Turnpike for Themselves ––
And trodden out the Mills.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
She might very well have been making a reference what probably happened in the mind of Bowe Bergdahl, mightn't she?
What may come out of this is a revelation of how corrupt the mission in Afghanistan became.
ReplyDeleteAre we also so corrupt that we wouldn't work to free an American despite the fact that he came to a separate peace with an effort so badly planned it did nothing but turn Afghanistan into a huge heroin factory?
Oh yes Tammy, let's start singing the patriotic hymns and yapping about freedom and democracy.
The reaction to this has been nothing more than the knee jerk right wing need to castigate Obama at every opportunity. Plus the need to spark up anti-Muslim hysteria at an opportunity.
Bergdahl may be one of the most honest among us and we don't have the collective courage to admit it. Justify a corrupt mission at all cost.
Sure, if honesty means breaking your oath to your country and the solemn trust to your Brothers-in-arms.
DeleteSome of us have known the detriment of the AFG endeavor for years now, but that doesn't justify desertion.
Duck,
DeleteWhat may come out of this is a revelation of how corrupt the mission in Afghanistan became.
Even if true, that doesn't excuse a member of the military breaking his oath.
Which dooms the military to being part of the corruption if they have no way to protest.
DeleteIt's a Catch-22, indeed.
When we become so desperate to hide the truth it is a tragedy that goes well beyond one soldier.
Duck,
DeletePerhaps I am mistaken, but I am under the impression that there is a way to go through channels to obtain a discharge, then to speak out about the matters of concern.
Let us also remember that our military today is an all-volunteer force.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYes, AOW there are channels.
DeleteI don't think anyone is arguing that what Bergdahl did does not warrants charges.
However, I also believe he is not the villain that many seem to have a vested interest in painting him.
Ducky, there are a number of Democrats who are also upset with Obama's unlawful freeing of the Taliban five, and no, it is not a "knee-jerk reaction," but simply the willingness to confront a rogue president who is one of the most law-breaking chief executives in history. And if we are looking for excuses to "spark up anti-Muslim hysteria," we need look no further than the daily death toll around the world, thanks to the greatest murder machine in history, Islam. I don't see intellectual dishonesty on our side, I see it on yours -- an almost fanatical attempt to rationalize every ill deed that Obama perpetrates on Americans, and a willful blindness to the evil that is Islam.
DeleteYa' just know the Right is going to come out of this looking really bad. Whenever the Obama administration just sits back and lets the Right bury themselves, the Right promptly buries themselves. They just look God awful sh!##y on this one.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
That is EXACTLY the point I have tried desperately to make for several days, Jersey.
DeleteEven when they ARE right, which happens to be most of the time, deny it though you will, their understanding of public relations and intelligent use of political psychology is so embarrassingly poor that inevitably the Right rarely fails to snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory.
Apparently, the famous old saw "I'd rather be RIGHT than PRESIDENT" was coined in reference to this hogh-spirited-but-earnestly-inept faction.
About appearances....We have become a nation obsessed with perceptions instead of a nation concerned about and thinking about ideas.
DeleteIs if often lose-lose for conservatives, for the GOP? Probably so. But tacitly agreeing by not voicing concerns isn't the way to go, either. We see that often enough on the part of MSNBC (one example), and the result is an ignorant electorate.
The above said according to my own observations and convictions, I do often wish that FNC wouldn't harp on things over and over again. Report it as objectively as possible.
I often think of what is sometimes cited as the writer's mantra: "Be bold, be brief, be gone." Not that I always do so, mind you.
Oh, and one thing....Will the Right come out of this looking really bad? Maybe, maybe not. Too soon to tell, IMO. November 2014 could be the barometer that does the measuring. In the meantime, I will try to tell the truth as I know it at any given point in time. Isn't telling the truth the right thing to do?
I think, AOW, the reason it "looks bad" is that it's sort of beating a dead horse. Everyone knows Bergdahls story as far as we know it so far. It's kind of an uncomfortable tale, with no one coming out looking good no matter how you look at it. And here's the GOP, just taking a shi##y story and sh!##ing all over it some more, yelling "I'm right! I'm right!" You know what I mean?
DeleteJMJ
FT,
ReplyDeleteI have my doubts that the Ministry of Truth will actually allow the truth to be revealed.
Whether or not it introduced evidence on the issue of guilt or innocence, the defense may, after findings of guilty are announced, and before the court closes to vote on the sentence, introduce matters of extenuation or mitigation. In this regard, the court may relax the rules of evidence to the extent of receiving affidavit, certificates of military and civil officers, and other writings of similar apparent authenticity and reliability. Whether or not the accused testified on the issue of guilty or innocence or as to matters of extenuation or mitigation, the accused make tender an unsworn statement to the court in mitigation or extenuation of the offense of which he stands convicted, but the right to make such an unsworn statement does not permit the filing of the affidavit of the accused. An unsworn statement is not evidence and the accused may not be cross-examined upon it—but the prosecution may rebut statements of fact presented therein. This statement may be given orally or in writing.
ReplyDeleteIf Bergdahl wishes to explain “why” he committed these offenses, he may do so after a finding of guilt. Why he did these things will not change the fact of his guilt, but it may serve to lessen the sentence imposed. What this all proves is that FT doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does and that maybe he should refrain from lecturing others. The facts are that FT has no claim on superior intellect in this group of comments but he does seem to deserve the title boring ass.
Jack,
DeleteYou know what?
Very rarely do any of us in the blogosphere change the minds of those who disagree with a particular position on any given topic? We are all cemented within our own viewpoints.
Sometimes it does make one say, "Why do I bother to blog at all?"
So, what should we do? Within certain parameters, allow for freedom of expression -- even as the noose of preventing freedom of expression continues to tighten.
What I think -- and have always thought -- of Mr. Whyte and several others who shall remain nameless is unprintable. Suffice it to say that if his mother should ever escape from her cage in that infamous kennel for rabid and vicious canines she currently inhabits while awaiting execution. I hope she bites him and infects him with the deadly disease she carries.
DeleteI respect you a great deal, AOW. I only wish I could say the same for much of the company you keep, but that's quite impossible. My tolerance for bigoted Yahoos diminishes with each passing day.
I have learned one valuable lesson after 14 years of Net Combat: Left and Right are MIRrOR IMAGES of each other. Both are equally ugly, equally stupid, equally vicious, and equally wrong.
Neither is worth so much as a tinker's dam or a hoot in hell.
FT,
DeleteI wouldn't call every commenter here the company I keep. But I do like to see and typically welcome differing opinions. I also read a lot of information and opinions before I form my own opinions.
Are we all equally ugly, equally stupid, equally vicious, and equally wrong? Maybe, maybe not -- for each of those adjectives, I mean.
Truth does indeed exist, IMO. Whether or not we each find each truth in this life is a matter of great dispute. In my view, the good fight is the honest search for truth.
I do have a problem with saying that how we are perceived should strongly determine what position we take on any matter -- not only with regard to the Bergdahl-Taliban trade. I say this because of something personal: I've seen too many teachers back down from doing what they are certain is the right thing because they are afraid how doing the right thing will look. Life is not quite a stage, after all -- never mind Shakespeare's words in As You Like It.
Uh oh:
ReplyDeleteJim Miklaszewski, chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News, revealed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s life was never in danger while he was held in captivity by the Taliban.
Refuting the Obama administrations claims that the Taliban had previously threatened to kill Bowe Bergdahl, Miklaszewski told the panel, “We are told categorically by senior defense officials that is absolutely not true. The Taliban did not threaten to kill Bowe Bergdahl. They did say, however, that there was concern, as the war dragged on and winded down, actually, and American troops started to withdraw, that they felt that Bowe Bergdahl just didn’t have the cache anymore and they might be driven to kill him.”
The NBC correspondent also reacted to claims made by the White House that Bergdahl’s rescue was deemed urgent because of his ailing health. The Obama Administration has cited a video of Bergdahl being held by the Taliban in which they allege there is visible proof that the sergeant’s health was quickly deteriorating and was “on the verge of death.” At the time of the video, sources gave reports contrary to those of the administration.
The sources said that while it appeared his health was failing, he did not look to be in danger. “We’ve been subsequently told that medical teams who studied that tape said ‘Yeah, he’s probably not eating as well as he should, but he does not appear to be in grave danger. It does not appear that his life is threatened by his condition’…Categorically, again, across the board, people…are saying that tape did not show that his life was in danger.”
RELAX, everyone. Today the word is HEGEL DID IT. (while Hegel on Friday says Obama did it). And those six soldiers who were intimately involved are now "psychopaths" and "Swiftboaters" (As if that's a pejorative?)....
ReplyDeleteIf I had a shred of respect for Hegel, I'd be signing off now to try to pull himself out from under the bus, but...
And, the docs are apparently saying Bergdahl's in fine shape. And, the shrinks today are saying that it's VERY unusual for someone gone that long to deny the chance to speak to his folks. The other day, we'd been led to believe that's normal....apparently, it's very abnormal.
Lots to think about here............no judgments can be made, however, in my opinion, until the Pentagon has all the details they need to make their decisions regarding court martial, etc. It's up to them.
Let's hope they do the right thing.
And let's hope those courageous six who are speaking their truth stop getting called nasty names by the party which hates honesty if it gets in Obama's way.
Z,
DeleteToday the word is HEGEL DID IT.
WHAT?!?
He seems to be part of the solution.
Delete“To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.”
― Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Most individuals outside of the intelligence nest have not viewed the Bergdahl videos. As a journalist who has used access to jihad portals for several years as a means of checking emotional pulse, I have viewed the videos. The first two were fairly damning regarding the posture of the Haqqani network detainee.
ReplyDeleteThe two emotional flanks of thought we are discussing have merit.
*Does the United States military have a tradition of bringing POW's home?
Yes. Even the remains of our soldiers, their bones, are precious to us.
*Does our nation have a tradition of executing a highly unbalanced trade for one detainee?
No.
In my mind, Bergdahl was not a prisoner of war, but a detainee - moved into the custody of our enemy because of his desertion from his post. Semantics aside, yes I would have supported his return. Absolutely. It is the humane initiative of a professional standing army. That being said, I do not support the release of five highly dangerous and hardened operatives. What is the potential for future harm to civilians on American soil because of this release? Do we really think for a minute that the Gitmo Five are not already looking for an opportunity to strike on American soil? The symbolism of their release, will swell the ranks of the willing.
*Perhaps the Israeli's have a better grasp on this type ThreatCon in the manner in which they have a history of tracking, and then eliminating individual threats as they work their way across the globe and national borders.
Bergdahl? He suffered hardship by his own hand. That is far different than the hardship suffered by those who have borne up under the weight of their rate or rank in the military. And in light of prior Pentagon findings, can the man be considered a credible witness in his own defense? I doubt it.
There is no doubt that Bergdahl is a broken man. I pity his state. But I fear.... his state of mind.
Tammy Swofford
(Former LCDR, Fleet Hospital Dallas, USNR)
"Do we really think for a minute that the Gitmo Five are not already looking for an opportunity to strike on American soil?"
DeleteWhile I concur of the characterization of Bergdahl's 'captivity'......This is the only part I would quibble with. The QST [at least to this point] has not the goals or motivations to strike transnationally. That's not the endstate they've been pursuing.
Looking for an opportunity to strike on American soil? Are you thinking straight?
DeleteWhen has the Taliban ever attacked us?
These guys were Taliban who were turned in by political opponents and American allies like grotesque human rights violator Abdul Dostum. No American life was lost capturing them. In fact America made no particular effort. They weren't that important.
Again, when have the Taliban ever struck on American soil?
What capabilities do these five have that aren't already abundant?
Do they command any extensive following?
It's an important issue that deserves so much more than the Fox Snooze noise machine. It deserves some real answers.
As I've said several times, I rarely watch Fox News.
DeleteJust to clarify for those that don't particularly follow violent extremist organizations, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] was behind the failed Times Square bombing. We've been fighting the Quetta Shura Taliban [QST] insurgency in Afghanistan.
DeleteThe TTP took credit for the Camp Chapman suicide IED which took the lives of seven CIA officers and contractors, but that was about the only credited attack within AFG.
From the Daily Beast:
ReplyDeleteObama’s top intelligence officers warned that four out of the five Taliban prisoners swapped for Bowe Bergdahl would return to the battlefield.
A top intelligence official told lawmakers in a classified Senate briefing last week that he expected four out of the five Taliban leaders released by the Obama administration to eventually return to the battlefield....
Much more at the above link.
Ducky's right....it DOES deserve more than FOX covering it honestly. They ALL should be covering it as media, not Obama-bots.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you all think about when Obama said that those allowed to get out might get back into terrorism but if they hurt us again, we'll find and get them? Who believes that they're going to be any easier to find than bin Laden, which took 10 years? And how badly does he think we can allow ourselves to be hurt before we do something?
Also, when he compares this 'swap' with the ends of ALL WARS and the way prisoners of war WERE exchanged, when does he think this war is over, when we leave Afghanistan? So the war on terror is over then, too?
This naivite is just a tad alarming.
Rather than indulging in pearl clutching please answer the questions:
DeleteAgain, when have the Taliban ever struck on American soil?
What capabilities do these five have that aren't already abundant?
Do they command any extensive following?
I do take notice of CI's point about an attempted NYC bombing.
DeleteHowever, he's going to have to move in mysterious ways to show that the release of these five strengthens the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan.
Not an organized attack and the release of the five seems highly unlikely to generate an attack after this length of time.
Why attack when what they want most is for America to just leave Afghanistan?
Perpetual war. You a Trotskyite, z?
Ducky - I'm not sure how you completely missed my point. I have never argued that the fab 5 pose any serious threat. I have gone to lengths to counter the willful misconceptions that equate the QST to al Qaeda....with such breathless exhortations like Arthel Neville's claim that they were "five of the most dangerous terrorists IN THE WORLD!!!"
DeleteI was pointing out earlier the difference between QST and TTP....one poses a transnational terror threat and is duly designated as such. The other is an insurgency.
Point taken, CI.
DeleteThe point helps build the case that these five are hardly the most dangerous out there.
rankly, I don't see how members of an insugency that have been imprisoned for 10 years or so can still play a significant role in the organization.
Depends on your definition of 'significant'. I have no doubt that these bubbas are part of the future cabinet, for whatever size portion of Afghanistan the QST will rule fater we depart. These five obviously had leadership and managerial skillsets that made them successful before their incarceration.
DeleteOf course, we're talking about the pre-invasion Kabul Taliban regime, so not exactly ISO 9000 certified guys here.
Hegel did it?
ReplyDeleteFrom THE DAILY CALLER:
"Did Hagel know he was being set up as the patsy? I wonder how he feels about that? He’s the perfect fall guy: white, male and Republican. Now he’s going to pay for the incompetence and dishonesty of his boss, and he can’t hide behind accusations of racism, sexism or any other -ism.
Have fun in the barrel, Chuck.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/10/latest-white-house-excuse-the-bergdahltaliban-swap-is-chuck-hagels-fault/#ixzz34GoUROFN
Hegel and B.O.; these POS deserve each other, WE DON'T!
AMEN to that, Jon.
ReplyDeleteI do understand Commander Swofford’s lament, but there is nothing about the Bergdahl fiasco that flies in the face of Obama foreign policy. It is utterly consistent. If America mourns, it should be in selecting (twice) a complete moron as Commander in Chief.
ReplyDeleteSam,
DeleteIndeed. Elections have consequences, and during this second term of Obama's administration, we are seeing serious consequences.
Batten down the hatches. It ain't over -- not by a long shot.
The spin on the story changes every day. We were drawn to the pool of sympathy that Bergdahl's medical condition was critical. He walked, to the awaiting aircraft. I noted that immediately. We do know now that he had infected gums and skin. Poor dental hygiene and scabies? The first describes many Americans and the latter, more than a few....
ReplyDeleteSecDef Chuck Hagel as the fall guy? His call might have been the final phone call to release the Gitmo Five. It is a military prison. But he moved under chain of command and by direction. This was not done entirely of his own volition. He functioned under the Commander in Chief.
Now comes the hard question. Why did high-ranking officers within the Pentagon follow through with an unlawful order? Were they afraid that their own careers would be burned? This is a breach of trust in a system which is meant to work, and work well, for the benefit and safety of the individual soldier. What is the message sent to the rank and file when there are no longer checks and balances against the overreach of the Commander in Chief? Congress was not notified thirty days in advance. The execution of the order was unlawful.
Remember this. True patriots are not those who whitewash the misdeeds of government. True patriotism involves a willingness to debrief within corridors of freedom of expression, and to discuss what went wrong.
We are diminished in the eyes of the world because of this action. My opinion.
Tammy Swofford
Tammy,
DeleteInteresting point about an unlawful order.
Tammy,
DeleteI also want to thank you for pointing out those medical details. As a nurse, you full well know such things.
We are greatly diminished. In the Muslim world, and particularly among Arabs, PRIDE is EVERYTHING. And we gave in. The Taliban has reason to celebrate. As does the whole Jihadist world. The GREAT SATAN fell quite a few miles down in this transaction.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious; When this first happened, therapists said Bergdahl is not seeking to speak to his parents but this is typical of captives. Shrinks today and yesterday are saying it's highly odd, that most can't wait to speak to their folks, loved ones, etc. Is he in debriefing and they don't want him slipping up even to them? Have they gone to Landstuhl, where most parents and spouses go to see the injured or hurt?
You do realize we are trying to leave Afghanistan and we already lost.
DeleteYes, we are leaving Afghanistan. You certainly won't hear any objection from me about that departure.
DeleteZ,
DeleteShrinks today and yesterday are saying it's highly odd, that most can't wait to speak to their folks, loved ones
Interesting, huh?
I could speculate as to why, but won't do so because my doing so would be pure speculation. Furthermore, psychology and psychiatry are not exact sciences.
I wonder if his parents have even asked to go to see their son?
Tammy,
ReplyDelete"Why did high-ranking officers within the Pentagon follow through with an unlawful order? Were they afraid that their own careers would be burned? "
YES! It's sad, indeed, when our "Top Brass" must be subordinated to such a devious wimp!
I want to call everyone's attention to a particular sentence that Tammy typed in above:
ReplyDeleteThe spin on the story changes every day.
Now, why is that happening? Doesn't it indicate something?
“The Spin changes every day ...”
DeleteThere can be no greater indication of the disdain the Obama White House holds the American people. Do they think we are too stupid to notice these “shifting sands” of official press releases? Well, it’s like Sam said ... you reap what you sow.
As AOW knows, I am presently handicapped and can read and type only with great difficulty, but I want to ask one question:
ReplyDeleteIf Bowe Bergdahl hates his country so much, and has so closely allied himself with the Jihadists, why in God's name would he WANT to return to the USA?
Surely he must have known that as a defector-traiitor he would be coming back only to find himself shackled to a post and facing a firing squad at the end of an ugly media circus, and hideously protracted punitive legal ordeal?
OY! What a homecoming! I'm sure the enemy would be treating him more kindly than we.
I can only imagine the agony his poor parents must be going through. I feel most sorry for them in all this wretched mess.
Whatever Ovomit may be he has certainly been no friend to Bowe Bergdahl. All Obie Baby has done is dump Bowe out of the frying pan into the fire.
FT,
DeleteI'm sure the enemy would be treating him more kindly than we.
Not too sure about that.
If Bowe Bergdahl hates his country so much, and has so closely allied himself with the Jihadists, why in God's name would he WANT to return to the USA?
Good question.
Do we know that Bergdahl wants to return? I didn't see anything on his face indicating joy, relief, etc.
Speculation....He could have joined the jihadists -- only to rue the day because they didn't fully accept him or because the jihad life wasn't what he "idealistically" thought life with the jihadists would be.
At some point, he did try to escape.
I doubt that he'll face a firing squad. Perhaps one of the military or former/retired military here can speak to that matter.
FT,
DeleteI forgot to say that I appreciate all the efforts you are making to participate in this discussion. I know that under your present circumstances your participation here is a Herculean task.
We obviously do not agree on the matter of the Bergdahl-Taliban exchange.
I do hope that, in time, the murkiness as to what really happened will clear. A lot of speculation will continue, I'm sure. I think that we all want answers!
Given he has been charged and tried in the court of public opinion and founf guilty you're probably right.
ReplyDeleteCheap Philadelphia lawyers.
Ducky, you DO realize the war on terrorists is not over, right? Or do you think our leaving Afghanistan will make that 5 and the rest of the jihadists all over the world roll over and smoke their hookas with joy???
ReplyDeleteI recommend that we go to where the terrorists who attacked us are.....and smoke them. We've been screwing around in Afghanistan and Iraq for far too long.
DeleteExactly CI.
ReplyDeleteAt the cost of many lives and Billions of wasted dollars.
For what it's worth:
ReplyDeleteOn June 27, 2009, according to Hastings, Bergdahl sent an e-mail to his parents before he was captured:
The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting. [...] one of the biggest shit bags is being put in charge of the team [...] [Bergdahl's battalion commander is a] conceited old fool [...] In the US army you are cut down for being honest [...] but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank. [...] The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools [...] The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. [...] The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, and they are telling us privates to do the same. [...] I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have nfo idea how to live. We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks [...] We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them [...] I am sorry for everything. The horror that is america is disgusting [...] There are a few more boxes coming to you guys. Feel free to open them, and use them.
I also note that Bowe Bergdahl was in a Buddhist monastery just before he enlisted. His parents were members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Since when is the OPC agreeable to pursuits that Bowe Bergdahl chose -- none of them for very long, it seems.
The OPC has this position regarding military service.
The response of the church is a good one; that of wielding the sword. The principle is based on the concept of national defense. We are blessed in America to have a strong, standing professional military which is currently robust enough in configuration and troop strength to be free of a need for conscription. People serve, because they want to serve!
ReplyDeleteAll scripture, taken in entirety, brings the balance. My own service was bound up in the concept of keeping an oath:
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts....Psalm 15
"...who keeps his oath even when it hurts...."
Even...when it hurts.
Even when it.... hurts.
Keeping the oath requires sacrifice. It means bending to the will of another for the greater good. When individual conscience makes a demand, the oath is still the taskmaster. So there are legal steps that can be taken to lay the oath to rest. But the oath is always put to rest within the environment of military oversight, not individual action. Only chain of command can release from chain of command. The individual lacks the authority to lay the oath to rest.
America is worth defending. Always. Forever.
Tammy Swofford
Tammy,
ReplyDeleteDo we know how Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bergdahl felt about the war in Afghanistan even before their son enlisted?
The OPC obviously supports a just war. The OPC also seems to oppose an unjust war and, of course, unjust orders. What did they communicate with their son about the war in Afghanistan?
CI...and where's that? Sadly, it could, right now, be in a warehouse in downtown Cleveland.
ReplyDeleteIt's where al Qaeda can be fixed in place long enough to eliminate. Not an easy question to answer, but we're not we're they are right now.
DeleteSome new information about Bowe Bergdahl:
ReplyDeleteBefore he became a Taliban prisoner, before he wrote in his journal “I am the lone wolf of deadly nothingness,” before he ever joined the Army, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard for psychological reasons, said close friends who were worried about his emotional health at the time.
The 2006 discharge and a trove of Bergdahl’s writing — the handwritten journal along with other essays, stories and e-mails provided to The Washington Post — paint a portrait of a deeply complicated and fragile young man who was by his own account struggling to maintain his mental stability from the start of basic training until the moment he walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan....
Full Veterans benefits to follow -- no matter what?
A bit more from the above link:
DeleteThe writing in Bergdahl’s journal, e-mails and laptop spans the year before he walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. Harrison has had custody of the material since a few days after that, except for a brief period when she provided them to U.S. government investigators for review. At present, none of the writing in the journal or computer files references the Taliban, or the politics of the Afghanistan war, although there are references to modern war generally.
“Really, how pathetic i feel as i listen to people talk of the hell I will be heading to …” he wrote in a computer file titled “my army memories.” “Compared to hell of the real wars of the past, we are nothing but camping boy scots. Hiding from children behind our heavy armored trucks and our c-wire and sand bagged operating post, we tell our selves that we are not cowards . . .”
You can draw your own conclusions, but my first thought was "Was he disappointed that he wasn't killing people -- or that he wasn't going to be killed?"