Bergdahl To Be Charged With Desertion, Misbehavior Before The Enemy

OK, then I'll be more blunt. I can agree with the question raised and I try to be objective. I agree with the question no matter who posted it. I apparently am not the prisoner of dogma that you are. I posted why I agree that the question was reasonable and appropriate to this issue. If Bergdahl defected into the situation he was in and if anyone died trying to pull him out or because of anything he revealed/did while in voluntary defection (or subsequently at the hands of anyone he was traded for) or the United States was disadvantaged by his action (which it was if he defected), I think he should be held accountable for the damage he caused.
 
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The 5 Taliban released are already back in the field against us

State Department’s Jen Psaki On Bowe Bergdahl Being Charged With Desertion: Swap Was Still “Absolutely” Worth It…


Tell that to the families of the eight American soldiers killed looking for him.
 
We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl, a Guy Who Walked Off in the Dead of Night

For five years, soldiers have been forced to stay silent about the disappearance and search for Bergdahl. Now we can talk about what really happened.

It was June 30, 2009, and I was in the city of Sharana, the capitol of Paktika province in Afghanistan. As I stepped out of a decrepit office building into a perfect sunny day, a member of my team started talking into his radio. “Say that again,” he said. “There’s an American soldier missing?”

There was. His name was Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, the only prisoner of war in the Afghan theater of operations. His release from Taliban custody on May 31 marks the end of a nearly five-year-old story for the soldiers of his unit, the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. I served in the same battalion in Afghanistan and participated in the attempts to retrieve him throughout the summer of 2009. After we redeployed, every member of my brigade combat team received an order that we were not allowed to discuss what happened to Bergdahl for fear of endangering him. He is safe, and now it is time to speak the truth.

And that the truth is: Bergdahl was a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down.




For five years, soldiers have been forced to stay silent about the disappearance and search for Bergdahl. Now we can talk about what really happened. 


Nathan Bradley Bethea joins CNN to elaborate on Bowe Bergdahl's desertion.

On the night prior to his capture, Bergdahl pulled guard duty at OP Mest, a small outpost about two hours south of the provincial capitol. The base resembled a wagon circle of armored vehicles with some razor wire strung around them. A guard tower sat high up on a nearby hill, but the outpost itself was no fortress. Besides the tower, the only hard structure that I saw in July 2009 was a plywood shed filled with bottled water. Soldiers either slept in poncho tents or inside their vehicles.

The next morning, Bergdahl failed to show for the morning roll call. The soldiers in 2nd Platoon, Blackfoot Company discovered his rifle, helmet, body armor and web gear in a neat stack. He had, however, taken his compass. His fellow soldiers later mentioned his stated desire to walk from Afghanistan to India.

The Daily Beast’s Christopher Dickey later wrote that "[w]hether Bergdahl…just walked away from his base or was lagging behind on a patrol at the time of his capture remains an open and fiercely debated question.” Not to me and the members of my unit. Make no mistake: Bergdahl did not "lag behind on a patrol,” as was cited in news reports at the time. There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s platoon—including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened.



Our deployment was hectic and intense in the initial months, but no one could have predicted that a soldier would simply wander off. Looking back on those first 12 weeks, our slice of the war in the vicinity of Sharana resembles a perfectly still snow-globe—a diorama in miniature of all the dust-coated outposts, treeless brown mountains and adobe castles in Paktika province—and between June 25 and June 30, all the forces of nature conspired to turn it over and shake it. On June 25, we suffered our battalion’s first fatality, a platoon leader named First Lieutenant Brian Bradshaw. Five days later, Bergdahl walked away.

His disappearance translated into daily search missions across the entire Afghanistan theater of operations, particularly ours. The combat platoons in our battalion spent the next month on daily helicopter-insertion search missions (called "air assaults”) trying to scour villages for signs of him. Each operations would send multiple platoons and every enabler available in pursuit: radio intercept teams, military working dogs, professional anthropologists used as intelligence gathering teams, Afghan sources in disguise. They would be out for at least 24 hours. I know of some who were on mission for 10 days at a stretch. In July, the temperature was well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit each day.

These cobbled-together units’ task was to search villages one after another. They often took rifle and mortar fire from insurgents, or perhaps just angry locals. They intermittently received resupply from soot-coated Mi-17s piloted by Russian contractors, many of whom were Soviet veterans of Afghanistan. It was hard, dirty and dangerous work. The searches enraged the local civilian population and derailed the counterinsurgency operations taking place at the time. At every juncture I remember the soldiers involved asking why we were burning so much gasoline trying to find a guy who had abandoned his unit in the first place. The war was already absurd and quixotic, but the hunt for Bergdahl was even more infuriating because it was all the result of some kid doing something unnecessary by his own volition.

On July 4, 2009, a human wave of insurgents attacked the joint U.S./Afghan outpost at Zerok. It was in east Paktika province, the domain of our sister infantry battalion (3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry). Two Americans died and many more received wounds. Hundreds of insurgents attacked and were only repelled by teams of Apache helicopters. Zerok was very close to the Pakistan border, which put it into the same category as outposts now infamous—places like COP Keating or Wanat, places where insurgents could mass on the Pakistani side and then try to overwhelm the outnumbered defenders.

One of my close friends was the company executive officer for the unit at Zerok. He is a mild-mannered and generous guy, not the kind of person prone to fits of pique or rage. But, in his opinion, the attack would not have happened had his company received its normal complement of intelligence aircraft: drones, planes, and the like. Instead, every intelligence aircraft available in theater had received new instructions: find Bergdahl. My friend blames Bergdahl for his soldiers’ deaths. I know that he is not alone, and that this was not the only instance of it. His soldiers’ names were Private First Class Aaron Fairbairn and Private First Class Justin Casillas.

Though the 2009 Afghan presidential election slowed the search for Bergdahl, it did not stop it. Our battalion suffered six fatalities in a three-week period. On August 18, an IED killed Private First Class Morris Walker and Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen during a reconnaissance mission. On August 26, while conducting a search for a Taliban shadow sub-governor supposedly affiliated with Bergdahl’s captors, Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss was shot in the face and killed. On September 4, during a patrol to a village near the area in which Bergdahl vanished, an insurgent ambush killed Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews and gravely wounded Private First Class Matthew Martinek, who died of his wounds a week later. On September 5, while conducting a foot movement toward a village also thought affiliated with Bergdahl’s captors, Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey stepped on an improvised land mine. He died the next day.


It is important to name all these names. For the veterans of the units that lost these men, Bergdahl’s capture and the subsequent hunt for him will forever tie to their memories, and to a time in their lives that will define them as people. He has finally returned. Those men will never have the opportunity.

Bergdahl was not the first American soldier in modern history to walk away blindly. As I write this in Seoul, I'm about 40 miles from where an American sergeant defected to North Korea in 1965. Charles Robert Jenkins later admitted that he was terrified of being sent to Vietnam, so he got drunk and wandered off on a patrol. He was finally released in 2004, after almost 40 hellish years of brutal internment. The Army court-martialed him, sentencing him to 30 days' confinement and a dishonorable discharge. He now lives peacefully with his wife in Japan—they met in captivity in North Korea, where they were both forced to teach foreign languages to DPRK agents. His desertion barely warranted a comment, but he was not hailed as a hero. He was met with sympathy and humanity, and he was allowed to live his life, but he had to answer for what he did.




The war was already absurd and quixotic, but the hunt for Bergdahl was even more infuriating because it was the result of some kid doing something unnecessary by his own volition.

I believe that Bergdahl also deserves sympathy, but he has much to answer for, some of which is far more damning than simply having walked off. Many have suffered because of his actions: his fellow soldiers, their families, his family, the Afghan military, the unaffiliated Afghan civilians in Paktika, and none of this suffering was inevitable. None of it had to happen. Therefore, while I’m pleased that he’s safe, I believe there is an explanation due. Reprimanding him might yield horrible press for the Army, making our longest war even less popular than it is today. Retrieving him at least reminds soldiers that we will never abandon them to their fates, right or wrong. In light of the propaganda value, I do not expect the Department of Defense to punish Bergdahl.

He’s lucky to have survived. I once saw an insurgent cellphone video of an Afghan National Police enlistee. They had young boys hold him down, boys between the ages of 10 and 15, all of whom giggled like they were jumping on a trampoline. The prisoner screamed and pleaded for his life. The captors cut this poor man’s head off. That’s what the Taliban and their allies do to their captives who don’t have the bargaining value of an American soldier. That’s what they do to their fellow Afghans on a regular basis. No human being deserves that treatment, or to face the threat of that treatment every day for nearly five years.

But that certainly doesn’t make Bergdahl a hero, and that doesn’t mean that the soldiers he left behind have an obligation to forgive him. I just hope that, with this news, it marks a turning point for the veterans of that mad rescue attempt. It’s done. Many of the soldiers from our unit have left the Army, as I have. Many have struggled greatly with life on the outside, and the implicit threat of prosecution if they spoke about Bergdahl made it much harder to explain the absurdity of it all. Our families and friends wanted to understand what we had experienced, but the Army denied us that.

I forgave Bergdahl because it was the only way to move on. I wouldn’t wish his fate on anyone. I hope that, in time, my comrades can make peace with him, too. That peace will look different for every person. We may have all come home, but learning to leave the war behind is not a quick or easy thing. Some will struggle with it for the rest of their lives. Some will never have the opportunity.

And Bergdahl, all I can say is this: Welcome back. I’m glad it's over. There was a spot reserved for you on the return flight, but we had to leave without you, man. You’re probably going to have to find your own way home
 
Nothing ever is. Seriously, sr71plt, please don't ever quote miles. Just iggy the useless worthless creature, it's never even funny. And I say that as one who regularly and willingly engages with such a worthless useless creature as vetteman. miles is not even in that minor league.

I keep you on iggy much of the time.
 
I retired from government, and right wrong or whatever, there's always a political part to every event and action. Ofttimes the political goal is absurd and impossible but its there.

So Sergeant Birddog escapes with his life, and maybe escapes with little or no hard time. Sending him home with slick sleeves and no money is likely the outcome though he may opt to return to the battle as a raghead. We may come to wish we had hanged him.
 
Originally Posted by KingOrfeo View Post
Nothing ever is. Seriously, sr71plt, please don't ever quote miles. Just iggy the useless worthless creature, it's never even funny. And I say that as one who regularly and willingly engages with such a worthless useless creature as vetteman. miles is not even in that minor league.


LMAO!

This from someone who lies about being a lawyer and Mensa member in an attempt to elevate himself in the eyes of others. The fact is he has neither the mental capacity or the ability to understand basic English to be either. He's simply a little man who hides behind the cloak of socialism hoping to get a free ride from the system because he's incapable of accomplishing anything himself. He's a phony, and not a very bright one at that.
 
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OK, then I'll be more blunt. I can agree with the question raised and I try to be objective. I agree with the question no matter who posted it. I apparently am not the prisoner of dogma that you are. I posted why I agree that the question was reasonable and appropriate to this issue. If Bergdahl defected into the situation he was in and if anyone died trying to pull him out or because of anything he revealed/did while in voluntary defection (or subsequently at the hands of anyone he was traded for) or the United States was disadvantaged by his action (which it was if he defected), I think he should be held accountable for the damage he caused.

I don't disagree with your conclusion, and I'm quite content to let the military justice system have the final word on his fate.

Insofar as your "prisoner of dogma" comment, you may choose to take miles' situational outrage at face value, my opinion is that if you choose to enable his behavior, that's a failing on your part.

I keep him on iggy all the time. Thanks for quoting him though....it was good for a chuckle.

Bragging about your legendary ignore list again, judenazi?
News flash: nobody cares.
 
OK, then I'll be more blunt. I can agree with the question raised and I try to be objective. I agree with the question no matter who posted it. I apparently am not the prisoner of dogma that you are. I posted why I agree that the question was reasonable and appropriate to this issue. If Bergdahl defected into the situation he was in and if anyone died trying to pull him out or because of anything he revealed/did while in voluntary defection (or subsequently at the hands of anyone he was traded for) or the United States was disadvantaged by his action (which it was if he defected), I think he should be held accountable for the damage he caused.

Still, if he is a defector, then it was worth some effort and sacrifice to get him back, just so he can be interrogated about what beans he spilled; any such intel is now compromised.
 
Still, if he is a defector, then it was worth some effort and sacrifice to get him back, just so he can be interrogated about what beans he spilled; any such intel is now compromised.

He's and E5, I assure you they know exactly what he was privy to and all that has already been marked as compromised.

So this whole being with something? Nah...he's only worth the political value his prosecution provides. If we really wanted to fuck him we would have let him stay with the LOVELY people of Afghanistan.

But you're going to try and garner this as the best thing ever at any fucking cost.....because (D) supports it ....so carry on.
 
Still, if he is a defector, then it was worth some effort and sacrifice to get him back, just so he can be interrogated about what beans he spilled; any such intel is now compromised.

I don't disagree with getting him back. If the government didn't try to do that there would always be those twisting the thorn in the government's side for not doing so. There will always be those who hold him as innocent--or justified in his actions--no matter what the legal outcome might be. (And there might never be a legal outcome. A military trial process isn't the same as one in the public courts).

That doesn't really change on registering whatever losses he caused against him in the judgment process.

I'm not even sure how I feel about trading him for prisoners at Guantanamo, especially as sticky as the Guantanamo situation is (which Obama inherited. He didn't have anything to do with having Guantanamo or with who was sent there--some of them sent under questionable circumstances). The Republicans, who created the Guantanamo mess, aren't letting the current administration do anything about it, so it continues to be a black eye situation for those not responsible for it being there and the loose conditions under which someone would be sent and detained there without any form of due process.

Probably no one would publicly like what I'd do about the prisoners exchanged for Bergdahl if this were my mess. I would be happy to have five more from Guantanamo off my hands, but I would have ascertained which of the five really had been a real threat and would continue to be and I'd use resources available to me to ensure they didn't do much more after they relocated.
 
How many Americans died trying to rescue this POS?

The New York Times said:
...according to Sergeant Bergdahl’s defense team, the Army’s own investigating officer found no evidence that any soldiers were killed searching for him.

LINK

srplt71, I'd appreciate it if you would quote me (miles has me on ignore, as he does virtually everyone who disagrees with his toxic worldview).

I suspect this issue is keeping miles awake at night....he has a deep abiding respect for the American military, y'know, and that is what has made him so very, very irritable as of late.
 
How cute

The SUITS at the PENTAGON have gone to bat for the traitor
 
LINK

srplt71, I'd appreciate it if you would quote me (miles has me on ignore, as he does virtually everyone who disagrees with his toxic worldview).

I suspect this issue is keeping miles awake at night....he has a deep abiding respect for the American military, y'know, and that is what has made him so very, very irritable as of late.

the LINK doesn't say that at all

if it did....show me

I must have missed that
 
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