Time for right to let go of Bowe Bergdahl political controversy (Must be hurting them)

Today, the Post published excerpts of Bowe Bergdahl’s journal, along with emails and other writings, giving us the most intimate, complex, and in many ways sad view we’ve yet had of the young man who had been held prisoner by the Taliban for five years.

What the journal ultimately shows suggests that as a partisan political issue, Bergdahl’s release is likely to fade before long. The right has gotten about as much as they can out of it, and now that we know how troubled Bergdahl was before he wandered off his base, they may just let it go.

The idea that Bergdahl wasn’t sufficiently deserving of rescue has been central to the conservative criticism of the deal to obtain his release. Even as they wildly exaggerate the danger of the five former Taliban we released (to hear Fox News tell it, you’d almost think the five not only planned and executed the September 11 attacks, they also have super-powers that will enable them to reduce our nation to ashes any day now), many on the right attacked Bergdahl and his family relentlessly, accusing him of being not just a deserter but an outright traitor. Some even mobilized a PR campaign to promote soldiers who would go in the media to criticize Bergdahl.

But his writings, which were shared with the Post by a close friend, tell a story that doesn’t fit into the kind of box that can be easily used for partisan purposes. Among other things, we now know that Bergdahl joined the Coast Guard in 2006 and was quickly discharged for psychological reasons, though he claimed to friends that he had faked mental illness in order to get released...

Getting back an American citizen is a top priority. But the price is significant. It is a simple matter of arithmetic. If one U.S. soldier dies as a consequence of Bergdahl’s release (assuming he is not a traitor) we are back to square one. Paul Waldman claims, “Bergdahl’s release is likely to fade before long.” That may be the case. However, (I do not have a crystal ball nor am I an expert on terrorism, but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night) the probability is that more than one U.S. soldier will pay for Bergdahl’s release with his life. Mullah Mohammad Fazl, former Taliban Deputy Defense Minister, is not a very nice person. He is extremely ambitious. His own mother reported that his goal in life was to get a head. Here you can see him posing with five of them. http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/fazl.asp
Waldman is in the class of pundits with Fareed Zakaria. After the death of Osama bin Laden, Zakaria stated, “The truth is this is a huge, devastating blow to al Qaeda, which had already been crippled by the Arab Spring. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the end of al Qaeda in any meaningful sense of the word.” A word of caution: if you planned on vacationing in Baghdad this summer you may want to reconsider.
Mubarak, Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein were not nice guys, nor were they genuinely pro-American, but they will be missed. Enjoy the Arab Spring. The leftist media will try to ignore the outcome of this exchange but if the consequences are severe enough they will be unable to suppress it.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.