Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, imprisoned by Taliban in Afghanistan since 2009, is freed

[Lief 🗽]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/us/only-american-pow-from-afghan-war-is-freed.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&referrer=

[badgate]

benghazi

[King]

benghazi

First our Muslim Atheist President shows he doesn't care about our troops by not trying to free Bowe Bergdahl and then he NEGOTIATES WITH TERRORISTS (OPENING PANDORA'S BOX!!) to free Bowe Bergdahl.

SHAMEFUL SHAMEFUL.

[Joe Republic]

Correct, King.

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[politicus]

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This is actually true.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

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This is actually true.

Yep.^^

Apparently those who served with him aren't too happy he's freed and are calling him a deserter.  Six soldiers lost their lives searching for him.

The story is far from over......

http://www.ibtimes.com/bowe-bergdahl-no-hero-fellow-soldiers-1592946

[CatoMinor]

Why are people making such a negative fuss about this? We have a pow home and just commuted 5 people sentences from indefinite detention to death by drone strike.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Why are people making such a negative fuss about this? We have a pow home and just commuted 5 people sentences from indefinite detention to death by drone strike.

Did you read the article in my preceeding posts where member of his own unit have commented on this?  The truth will come out, but there are plenty, it seems, who want to label  him a traitor rather than a POW.

[Boris]

What a mess. Just arrest the hijackers at the airports and none of this ever happens.

[7,052,770]

Why are people making such a negative fuss about this? We have a pow home and just commuted 5 people sentences from indefinite detention to death by drone strike.

Did you read the article in my preceeding posts where member of his own unit have commented on this?  The truth will come out, but there are plenty, it seems, who want to label  him a traitor rather than a POW.

Oh well in that case we should have just let them torture him for decades...

(That's sarcasm for those who can't pick up on the obvious.)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

War is hell; regardless if he deserted or not, it really doesn't make him a bad person or a traitor. He panicked, fled into the wilderness, and was captured. If he wasn’t psychologically damaged when he deserted, he certainly is now. It's a sad story for everyone involved.

[Brittain33]

I don't know what Bergdahl did or didn't do before he was captured... but could you even *IMAGINE* the response if Bush had secured his release and Democratic senators, editorialists, and former VP candidates attacked the soldier and the President? 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I don't know what Bergdahl did or didn't do before he was captured... but could you even *IMAGINE* the response if Bush had secured his release and Democratic senators, editorialists, and former VP candidates attacked the soldier and the President? 

The outcry from the guys in his own unit is what's interesting here.  The rest is noise, indeed.

[7,052,770]

Also, the idea that this single incident shows the terrorists that we'll negotiate and swap is ridiculous. Of course we will, and they've known it for years. Israel on occasion has swapped hundreds of terrorists for the return of a single soldier.

[Likely Voter]

Was this guy a little messed up? Maybe. Why does that matter. The USA trained him and put him at that outpost. If he was messed up then the guys in his unit should have got the chain of command to pull him out before he wandered off (if that is what happened). Regardless, it is our collective responsibility to get him back and that is what we did. We exchanged prisoners with Communists and Nazis in the past, we can do it with Taliban. And I find it a bit distasteful that some are trying to say this guy wasn't good enough to trade back.

[Brewer]

This gives terrorists no more of an incentive than they already had. In war, opposing sides will oftentimes take hostages -- period. That's how it works, that's how it's always worked. It's difficult for me to see how all of a sudden, because of this incident, terrorist groups are going to get all perked up and decide to capture Americans...as if they hadn't already been trying to do so.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

Because those who served with him are calling him that.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

Because those who served with him are calling him that.

I hate war, and I hate what war brings. But you don't go around calling a POW a deserter. Ever.

[King]

This is just a theory to toss out: it wouldn't surprise me if this were an elaborate intelligence scheme.

Usually you don't see the military highly interested in getting back a soldier they labeled as a deserter. We've had desertion before.

Hell, they promoted his rank a year after the official investigation concluded he deserted. That makes no sense unless there's something else going on here.

This guy could have been approached by CIA. All reports by his unit before he left was that (A) he was a cold loner and (B) he spoke the language better than the rest of them.  So, the plan is to have him drop away from his unit, get caught, and spend an indeterminate amount of time trying to collect intelligence and turn sources until he's exchanged for a group of Haqqani members the CIA would strategically be comfortable with trading. For all we know, the men we traded could have tracking chips we believe will lead us to 5 separate Haqqani grounds.

Or not. It's a thought I've been having though and I think it makes sense.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

Because those who served with him are calling him that.

I hate war, and I hate what war brings. But you don't go around calling a POW a deserter. Ever.

Unless he is one.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

Because those who served with him are calling him that.

I hate war, and I hate what war brings. But you don't go around calling a POW a deserter. Ever.

Unless he is one.

If he was one, why did they promote his rank?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Now the right-wing media is calling him a deserter.

Because those who served with him are calling him that.

I hate war, and I hate what war brings. But you don't go around calling a POW a deserter. Ever.

Unless he is one.

If he was one, why did they promote his rank?

I don't know. I'm not making the claim. His OWN UNIT MEMBERS are. Ask them.

[patrick1]

Glad he is home.  These whsiperings about Bergdahl have been out for years. By the accounts I read years ago he was a  poor soldier- who if he did desert, AWOL, get drunk and caught or whatever risked and perhaps cost the lives of the fellow soldiers who dropped everything to look for him.   That doesnt mean we shouldnt have done everything in our power to secure his release and make sure he didnt get his head lopped off.  Fortunate for Bowe that he didnt get caught in Iraq at the height of the war there.

[dead0man]

This is just a theory to toss out: it wouldn't surprise me if this were an elaborate intelligence scheme.

Usually you don't see the military highly interested in getting back a soldier they labeled as a deserter. We've had desertion before.

Hell, they promoted his rank a year after the official investigation concluded he deserted. That makes no sense unless there's something else going on here.

This guy could have been approached by CIA. All reports by his unit before he left was that (A) he was a cold loner and (B) he spoke the language better than the rest of them.  So, the plan is to have him drop away from his unit, get caught, and spend an indeterminate amount of time trying to collect intelligence and turn sources until he's exchanged for a group of Haqqani members the CIA would strategically be comfortable with trading. For all we know, the men we traded could have tracking chips we believe will lead us to 5 separate Haqqani grounds.

Or not. It's a thought I've been having though and I think it makes sense.

I've read several things along this train of thought and think it's quite likely somewhere close to the truth.  It's the only way the sh**t adds up and makes sense.