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Army sergeant and rescued Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl has been caught up in a web of conspiracy theories and political noise since his handover in Afghanistan early last month, but those who know him are rejecting suggestions that he was a "a calculating deserter." The Washington Post today published excerpts from Bergdahl's journal, which he mailed along with a laptop and his copy of Atlas Shrugged, to his close friend Kim Harrison just before leaving his post and getting captured in the summer of 2009. "Trying to keep my self togeather," he wrote, mixing philosophical musings and misspellings. "I'm so...

Or.. Democratrina. Far more destructive than any bomb or hurricane, Democrat locusts destroy lay waste to Detroit. This is the 'progress' they want for the rest of America.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could be entitled to about $300,000 in back pay and special compensation following his release as a Taliban prisoner, experts say. Service members designated by the Defense Department as "captive, missing or missing in action" are entitled to receive back pay and allowances, officials said. Any additional pay and allowances earned such as promotions or special entitlements are not issued until they are officially recovered or classified as deceased. However, questions remain over how much Bergdahl will receive and how much he is able to keep as he faces potential charges following allegations from his former unit...

The mother and father sit at the kitchen table in their Idaho farmhouse, watching their son on YouTube plead for his life. The Taliban captured 26-year-old Bowe Bergdahl almost three years ago, on June 30th, 2009, and since that day, his parents, Jani and Bob, have had no contact with him. Like the rest of the world, their lone glimpses of Bowe – the only American prisoner of war left in either Iraq or Afghanistan – have come through a series of propaganda videos, filmed while he's been in captivity. Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607#ixzz34APXclT2 Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone...

(CNN) -- As the controversy surrounding Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl release gains growing attention, Bergdahl's family is now the target of recent threats, according to an FBI spokesman. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl family have received threats following his release after five years in captivity at the hands of the Taliban, an FBI spokesman told CNN on Saturday. "We are working jointly with our state and local partners and taking each threat seriously," FBI Special Agent William Facer said in an e-mail. Facer declined to detail the nature and severity of the threats. Additionally, the military spokesperson for the Bergdahl family...

In a 2010 speech, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's father, Robert Bergdahl, reportedly said, "The man who we believe holds Bowe grew up on the lap of his mother learning the Koran. He is a powerful man. We pray for him. He recently lost a son to a CIA missile drone strike. The fact that he didn't kill Bowe right then is incredible. So we pray for him." The statement would coincide with a time period during which there were US drone strikes in and around that region. The comments were made during an Idaho Republican Party fundraiser....

Reuters reporter Mark Felsenthal reports that Sgt. Bergdahl's hometown in Idaho is cancelling its planned celebration. "Bergdahl's home town in Idaho has canceled plans for a celebration, city administrator says," reports Felsenthal on Twitter.

Sen. Mike Crapo talks to media in November 2010 on the night he was elected to his third six-year term. DARIN OSWALD — Darin Oswald / Idaho Statesman |Buy Photo The senator has 'significant concerns' about Saturday's trading five Taliban leaders for the Idaho soldier. GOP Sen. Mike Crapo said Thursday that he earlier objected to an Obama administration proposal to free six Taliban prisoners in exchange for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Congress was informed about the plan to exchange prisoners at Guantanamo for Bergdahl and Crapo was among those who “pushed back very strongly,” he told the Statesman....

Fox News reporter James Rosen claimed intelligence sources have told him not only that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl willingly collaborated with the Taliban, but that his involvement with the terrorist group may be “as serious as you can imagine.” Rosen spoke with Bill O’Reilly Wednesday night about his ongoing conversations with intelligence and Pentagon officials regarding both old and new investigations into Bergdahl’s likely desertion and possibly treasonous activities. “My reporting has shown that the intelligence community also undertook a separate [from the Army] investigation of Sgt. Bergdahl,” Rosen explained, “both his final period of active duty that culminated in...

A public welcome home celebration featuring Grammy-winning singer Carole King in honor of freed POW Bowe Bergdahl in the tiny town of Hailey, Idaho was abruptly cancelled today. The official reason given was a concern for public safety, but MailOnline has learned that it was not the only reason the party was scrubbed. Today's decision follows a row that erupted in Hailey between Mayor Fritz Haemmerle and US Army Platoon Commander Jonathan Kennedy, who lives in Hailey. And Kennedy wasn't the only towns person who voiced disapproval of a celebration for the soldier under fire. Mayor Haemmerle wanted to throw...

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown in Idaho on Wednesday canceled an event to celebrate his release after city officials were bombarded with angry phone calls and emails. *SNIP* The city said the June 28 event was canceled "in the interest of public safety."

What if the White House had chosen a low-key announcement of the Bowe Bergdahl swap?The best measure of whether President Obama cut a smart deal to free Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is what happens to the five Guantanamo Bay terrorists he traded away. Do they go (a) into retirement; (b) into battle against the United States; (c) or into five cold graves? The rest of what you're hearing about the swap is politics – thinly disguised as a legal and foreign policy debate. Unless you can predict the future, the smart move on such a complex story is to avoid an...

Controversy over the prisoner exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — and over allegations he abandoned his Afghanistan post — has brought blowback on businesses in Hailey, Bergdahl’s hometown. The Hailey Chamber of Commerce has received hundreds of phone calls from people angry that the community had planned a June 28 “Bowe is Back” celebration for a possible deserter, Chamber Membership Director Kristy Heitzman said. The Chamber wasn’t organizing or sponsoring “Bowe is Back” but promoted the event on its Facebook page, she said. Organizers cancelled the event midday Wednesday. Some of the angry callers are veterans, Heitzman said. One...

Controversy over the prisoner exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — and over allegations he abandoned his Afghanistan post — has brought blowback on businesses in Hailey, Bergdahl’s hometown. The Hailey Chamber of Commerce has received hundreds of phone calls from people angry that the community had planned a June 28 “Bowe is Back” celebration for a possible deserter, Chamber Membership Director Kristy Heitzman said. The Chamber wasn’t organizing or sponsoring “Bowe is Back” but promoted the event on its Facebook page, she said. Organizers cancelled the event midday Wednesday. Some of the angry callers are veterans, Heitzman said. One...

The town of Hailey, Idaho has canceled its June 28 event to celebrate the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl who was released from Taliban captivity nearly five years after he was reported missing in Afghanistan.The Idaho Statesman posted this news release from organizers saying the the event is canceled "in the interest of public safety." Since Bergdahl's release on May 31, the town of 8,000 has been inundated with negative emails and phone calls. "When the news of Bowe Bergdahl’s release was announced this past Saturday, the organizers joyfully declared that the event would be renamed Bowe is Back, and would...

Emails sent to Hailey City Hall asked the city not to celebrate Sergeant Bowe Bergadahl as a hero and called him a traitor and a deserter. A lot of the messages talked about remembering the soldiers they said died looking for Bergdahl while the rest of Hailey will celebrate. One email reads, 'I've an idea....send an invitation to the families of the six honorable soldiers killed trying to find him on his 'walk a bout'. Another email pointed out that with all the people claiming to be in Bergdahl's unit in the Army, there would be 4,000 soldiers in one...

A rally in U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s Idaho hometown celebrating his release after nearly five years of captivity has been canceled amid growing questions about the circumstances of the soldier’s capture. The joy over Bergdahl’s return among residents of the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho has been dampened by claims that he abandoned his post. Some have also claimed that the subsequent search for Bergdahl cost the lives of up to six soldiers, Reuters reports. Hailey’s city administrator, Heather Dawson said town officials called off the June 28 rally at the request of organizers. The town “will be...

The hometown of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has canceled a rally planned for later this month celebrating his release from five years of Taliban captivity, a municipal official told Reuters on Wednesday, amid allegations that he was a deserter.

Bergdahl's hometown is carrying on with a celebration for the returned sergeant at the end of the month, despite a rising backlash A rally in U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s Idaho hometown celebrating his release after nearly five years of captivity will go on as planned, despite growing questions about the circumstances of the soldier’s capture. The joy over the soldier’s return among residents of the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho has been dampened by claims that he abandoned his post. Some have also claimed that the subsequent search for Bergdahl cost the lives of up to six soldiers,...

Controversy has surrounded newly freed Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl since his release from Taliban captivity, with some in the military, including members of his own unit, claiming he is a deserter, not a war hero. But Sherry Horton knows a different Bergdahl than the one the world has come to see in the chilling proof of life videos the Taliban released. "He's a very interesting guy, he was very quiet, he was an observer," Horton said. Horton, the artistic director of Sun Valley Ballet in Idaho, said she was Bergdahl's ballet teacher and later, she became his roommate in his...