1 of 1- forsberg_us
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Bowe Bergdahl
Have I watched one too many episodes of Homeland, or is there something about this whole situation that sort of stinks?
On one hand, I'm happy that an American POW was returned home. I'm not thrilled that we had to release 5 senior Taliban leaders to get this done, but prisoner exchanges aren't anything new, so I'm not as troubled about this as some seem to be.
That said, the emerging stories of his "capture" are somewhat troubling. There are several troubling emails and a lot of facts suggesting that perhaps he deserted. There are stories suggesting that several American soldiers were wounded or killed either in attempts to find/rescue Bergdahl or under circumstances suggesting that the Afghans had significant information about US troop activities. There's a Wikileaks email suggesting that a captured US soldier (Berdahl was the only one) was teaching bomb making to the Taliban and had converted to Islam during his captivity. Then, during the press conference regarding the release, Bergdahl's father speaks in Arabic and praises Allah, and later posts on Twitter that he's "working to free all Afghan prisoners at Gitmo and that "God will repay for the death of Afghan children."
This will be portrayed as partisan politics, and undoubtedly in many cases, the questions raised will be for partisan reasons. But, party politics aside, I think there are a lot of questions that should be answered in this situation.
Last edited by forsberg_us (6/02/2014 11:10 am)
- artie_fufkin
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
I just hope the father can put all this behind him and re-join ZZ Top.
- alz
- Larry Walker
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
Glad you brought this up....
Giving up 5 taliban leaders to get a man who apparently seemed to hate his country when he was captured doesn't sit well with me either... Surely there's someone more worthy? At one point it was mentioned he was ashamed of being American, considering desertion, etc etc... Any chance there are 5 GPS signal chips blipping over in the middle east somewhere letting a predator drone know where to go?
- forsberg_us
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
alz wrote:
Any chance there are 5 GPS signal chips blipping over in the middle east somewhere letting a predator drone know where to go?
Wouldn't that be awesome?
I don't really agree with the "the US doesn't negotiate with terrorists" angle some want to put on this. The Taliban were the reigning leaders of Afghanistan before the war started. They may have harbored Al Qaeda, but so has Pakistan. I view them more as a nation with whom we are at war. When the war end, prisoners of war will need to be released, including the Taliban. With the conflict nearing an end, I think we have to let the Taliban go, don't we?
But something about this guy's story just doesn't sit right. The Taliban executed every prisoner/contractor they captured except the guys who bad mouthed America before walking off an Army base for no apparent reason. They keep him for 5 years, now his dad has learned Arabic and Pashto and we're supposed to believe it's all a coincidence. And now his former unit members are speaking out, and not in anonymous internet rants, but actually giving their names. Something smells.
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Thread Starter- alz
- Larry Walker
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
Well a lot of them are saying he left. And six other dudes died in search efforts looking for him. Apparently enemy fighting and efficiency went way up after he was taken, so it is suspected he talked at length about what our defenses were like...
I have no idea. Get him back? Fine. But someone from the DoD already said he'd almost certainly be commuted if found guilty, five years captivity is enough....
Tell that to the six who died trying to find him....
Last edited by alz (6/02/2014 10:04 pm)
- forsberg_us
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
He's being charged with desertion.
I'm sorry, but this really makes the decision to release 5 pretty significant bad guys look like a really bad call.
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Thread Starter- alz
- Larry Walker
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Re: Bowe Bergdahl
Indeed it does... They said the trial will be public and there's a lot that we don't know about how his "captivity" went. Apparently the death penalty isn't in the equation, but 25 to life is still there.
The decision could look monumentally worse depending on what comes out. I've heard his captivity was basically staged in most senses. He "cooked" for his captors, and played badminton with them... I have no idea what all to believe yet. That's for the trial, but if this guy is guilty.... Shoot him.
