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Bob Henley, former pastor at the(ir) Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood, recalled how friends periodically would ask Bergdahl if he hadn’t crossed some line, if he hadn’t succumbed to some form of the captive-bonding Stockholm syndrome. But Bergdahl assured his friends he was just doing whatever he could to ensure his son’s release. “I guess you really had to be in his shoes,” Henley said. The five-year waittook a toll on both of his parents, according to friends and others . Bergdahl is fiercely intelligent, friends said, yet he dropped out of college, going to Idaho with his wife...

@daqeqa Agree! "Democracy" is a cult in the West. I think most of afgs see law in terms of sharia not secular democracy, man centric laws.

"When the men pull up in a convoy of black SUVs, they receive a warm reception, with lots of hugs from the awaiting supporters The release of the video comes after the Taliban declared 'victory' And President Barack Obama was accused of endangering Western lives by exchanging the five 'hardened terrorists' At least one detainee is accused of presiding over a mass killing

HAILEY - Mayor Fritz Haemmerle says Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown and a planned celebration for the released soldier are coming under fire. Hailey has received a flood of emails and calls since it was announced Saturday that Bergdahl had been released after almost five years as prisoner of the Taliban. US officials negotiated the exchange of Bergdahl for five Guantanamo Bay detainees. Many of the comments the town has received come from "extreme polar sides," Haemmerle wrote in a Monday release. As the town celebrates the return of one of their own, he urged those with a dim view of...

Bergdahl celebration set for June 28 Event is now themed "Bowe is Back" By :GREGORY FOLEY The Wood River Valley will celebrate the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in an event called "Bowe is Back" on Saturday, June 28, from 1-5 p.m. at Hop Porter Park in Hailey. The event was going to be called "Bring Bowe Back" but the name and the theme were changed after the soldier from Hailey was released from captivity in Afghanistan on Saturday. Event co-organizer Debbie Oneill said Bergdahl's parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, will speak at the event. In addition, singer-songwriter...

E-mails reported by the late Michael Hastings in Rolling Stone in 2012 reveal what Bergdahl's fellow infantrymen learned within days of his disappearance: He told people that he no longer supported the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. "The future is too good to waste on lies," he wrote to his parents. "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....

HAILEY, Idaho — It looked as if it was going to be a big weekend here in the Wood River Valley in Central Idaho But when news began to spread Saturday that Bowe Bergdahl was finally free it became a far more momentous weekend than anyone could have imagined in a community where Sergeant Bergdahl’s fate has been a central fact of life since his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2009. “It’s really, really amazing and incredible, fantastic news,” said Molly Goodyear, who was getting lunches at Atkinson’s Market for children playing soccer with Sawtooth United under-13 girls’...

My prayers are with the family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier seen on the Taliban abduction video released this weekend. The Jawa Report has the full clip. All Americans should hope and pray for his release from jihadi custody. There’s one question I have, though, about strange details initially reported on the case — details which have been deleted from later wire dispatches.

U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, held for nearly five years by the Taliban, is now in U.S. custody, President Barack Obama said on Saturday. As part of Bergdahl's release, the United States is turning over five Taliban detainees at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo, Cuba, to the custody of Qatar, U.S. officials said. Bergdahl's freedom follows months of indirect U.S.-Taliban talks with Qatar acting as intermediary, the officials said.

According to recent reports, GM just recalled another 2.4 million vehicles this week, bringing the total number of recalled GM vehicles this year to a record 13.6 million. USA Today got right to the point when it asked, “Are there any GM cars that haven’t been recalled?” ... GM knew about serious problems with the ignition switch for years, going back to at least 2007. At that time, GM had hard data from multiple crashes showing that some of its ignition switches had failed to function properly. The U.S. government officially bailed out the automaker in December of 2008. Throughout...

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To win the Idaho Republican Party primary and secure his position as the favorite to retain the state's top job, Gov. Butch Otter had to overcome a challenge from the far right — and the far out — that had the state GOP calling for unity Wednesday. State Sen. Russ Fulcher came "surprisingly close" to defeating the two-term incumbent by courting conservative voters who thought their principles were being compromised.... SNIP Brown shunned political correctness as "bondage" and bragged about his love of insensitive jokes that "hit everybody." Bayes, for his part, called the federal government, "a bunch of Eastern...

It was suggested that one be started so I'll take the lead!

BOISE, Idaho, May 18 (Reuters) - On a recent Saturday, foot soldiers in the Republican Party's civil war fanned out across a neighborhood of winding streets and manicured lawns to beat back the Tea Party. They did not meet much resistance. Over the course of two hours, dozens of residents said they planned to vote in the May 20 primary election for Idaho Representative Mike Simpson, a veteran lawmaker with a reputation for pragmatism. None said they would back his Tea Party challenger Bryan Smith. As he heads for a likely victory on Tuesday, Simpson has plenty of help. The...

Former Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) appears to be making good on his vows to "crush" the Tea Party. A longtime ally of Speaker John Boehner, LaTourette is a driving force behind the outside national groups that have spent more than $2 million to help incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID) stave off Tea Party-backed challenger Bryan Smith in Tuesday's Republican primary in Idaho's 2nd Congressional District. LaTourette parlayed huge contributions from labor unions and at least one Native American tribe (the Chickasaw Nation) to build a powerful political operation intervening in primaries on behalf of GOP Establishment candidates. Reports filed...

A Hailey man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man who has been missing since January told police he killed 47-year-old Steven Romanchuk in self-defense, according to court records. Keith Eric Blankenship, 49, was arrested Wednesday after voluntarily going to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office. Police reported finding human remains in Blankenship’s backyard Thursday. Deputies’ report gives this account: Romanchuk’s wife, Lauraine Phillips, reported her husband missing Jan. 15. In the report, she said her husband lent $40 to a neighbor whom he later confronted over the principle of the money. The next day, police spoke to...

On a recent Saturday, foot soldiers in the Republican Party's civil war fanned out across a neighborhood of winding streets and manicured lawns to beat back the Tea Party. They did not meet much resistance. Over the course of two hours, dozens of residents said they planned to vote in the May 20 primary election for Idaho Representative Mike Simpson, a veteran lawmaker with a reputation for pragmatism. None said they would back his Tea Party challenger Bryan Smith. As he heads for a likely victory on Tuesday, Simpson has plenty of help. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, former Republican...

A U.S. federal judge struck down Idaho's ban on gay marriage on Tuesday, saying it relegated same-sex couples to a second-class status in violation of constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale was the latest in a string of decisions by federal judges against state bans on same-sex matrimony that, if upheld by higher courts, would sharply broaden access to marriage for U.S. gay couples. Dale said her decision would go into effect on Friday at 9 a.m. local time, unless put on hold by a higher court. Marriage rights have...

U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale has denied Gov. Butch Otter's motion for a stay on her decision overturning Idaho's ban on same-sex marriages. After Dale's ruling on Tuesday, Otter requested that an emergency hearing before Judge Dale take place before noon Wednesday on his request for a stay. Otter asked that no marriages be permitted until "completion of all appeals." Dale denied both of Otter's requests. “Judge Dale’s denial of the state’s request for a stay of her decision on same-sex marriage is regrettable in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to stay a similar case, but not surprising....

BOISE — Same-sex couples could flood county courthouses Friday morning, seeking to exercise a newly declared right to marry in Idaho. A Tuesday evening ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale striking down Idaho’s 2006 constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage takes effect at 9 a.m. Friday. Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/05/13/3183291/judge-rules-idaho-gay-marriage.html?sp=/99/1687/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy