Ok, this was posted publicly on Facebook, so I am cutting and pasting. This is who and what I know. Take it for what it is worth. I believe we all agree that we want the truth to come out.
“Glenn was the pastor of the Bergdahls when their son was taken captive. I am posting this with his permission.
Glenn: Now, supposedly, Bowe is a traitor, Bob is a “Muslim sleeper,” and terrorists have been released to threaten the USA.
Let me point out:
1) Only Bowe Bergdahl knows the exact circumstances of his capture. Though it may have been foolish for him to walk a few yards away from his bunker in Eastern Afghanistan, he hardly had the liberty to return the next morning. So, could he be charged or convicted of desertion? If it was a foolish act, he has paid a heavy price for his his actions. The military will sort out these matters. Bowe may prove an invaluable source of intelligence of Taliban activities over the last five years.
2) At the dissolution of Sovereign Redeemer Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Boise last year, Bob and Janil were members in good standing. Though Bob tends toward Libertarian political views, reads Calvin and Rushdoony, questions some aspects of US Middle-eastern foreign and military policy, isn’t that what being an American is about... the right to question our government and its actions, and to hold strange views, even to be a Calvinist or Theonomist or Libertarian? To the best of my knowledge, Bob has been a desperate father trying to learn as much about his son’s captors in a time when he never knew if he’d see him alive again.
If Bob were a Muslim, would we rejoice any less in the return of a son and brother from five years captivity, when whether he was alive or dead, and how he was treated, was unknown?
I remember Bob’s concern for the salvation of his son when he was captured. He told me, “I pray as much for his conversion to Christ as I do for his life to be spared.”
3) Are the Guantanamo detainees POWs or criminals? If criminals, give them fair trials and if convicted impose a just sentence. If POWs, there will come a time when they will all be released; which is normal in the cessation of hostilities. So, if they are going to eventually be released, didn’t it make sense to get something for five of them. Prisoner exchanges are often part of most wars. Israel, a few years ago, released a thousand Palestinian prisoners to obtain the release of one of their soldiers. I given the president some credit for taking bold and potentially controversial action to save Bowe’s life and return him home.
Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up for a week or two and let the Bergdahls enjoy having their son, who once seemed dead and is yet alive, safe in American hands?”
So, basically, your friend has nothing.
Sorry, pastor or no, he sounds deceived. He wants to believe the best when there appears a mountain of evidence to the contrary. I believe the deserter’s comrades-in-arms, who are in a far better position to know.
The statements of the men who served with him count for far more than this liberal leftist pablum below.
Bergdahl can make up any story he pleases, and apparently there are a lot of people who want everyone to leave him alone, let him live in peace, and go his own way.
The worthless POS deliberately cost the lives of men who left widows, orphans, and grieving parents, relatives and friends.
What a bunch of liberal BS.
When I was in the military, there were two ways a person is declared a deserter. One - he leaves and is marked down as AWOL for 30 days. On day 31, he is declared a deserter. Two - he leaves and leaves behind him signs that he has no intention of returning. Like cutting up his ID card and leaving it behind. OR BY PUTTING HIS UNIFORMS IN A BOX AND SHIPPING THEM OFF TO HIS PARENTS!
Do you get that? Do you you understand that? He discarded his uniforms with no intention of wearing them again. He is a deserter.
Getting to this pastors ramblings. He states "...isn’t that what being an American is about... the right to question our government and its actions, and to hold strange views..." Than he states "Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up for a week or two and let the Bergdahls enjoy having their son..." Sorry pastor, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot say we as Americans have the right to question the actions of others and then tell us to shut up. This is typical liberal thinking.
] Now you Persevero - if you want to believe the best of this guy, more power to you. I think you have your head in the clouds and eventually you will be proven wrong.
Res ipsa loquitur
Taliban claim captured U.S. solider has converted to Islam and is teaching its fighters bomb-making skills
By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
UPDATED: 08:39 EST, 22 August 2010
A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials.
Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only U.S. serviceman in captivity.
The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors told The Sunday Times.
A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem, told the newspaper that Bergdahl taught him how to dismantle a mobile phone and turn it into a remote control for a roadside bomb.
Nadeem claimed he also received basic ambush training from the U.S. soldier.
‘Most of the skills he taught us we already knew,’ he said. ‘Some of my comrades think he’s pretending to be a Muslim to save himself so they wouldn’t behead him.’
Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is ‘cooperating with the Taliban’ and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan.
Nadeem also shed some light on how Bergdahl was captured.
After the serviceman left his post in Paktika’s Yahya Khel district with an Afghan soldier he was spotted entering a nearby village.
A group of eight Taliban gunman in a nearby field were alerted and ambushed the pair, killing the Afghan soldier.
Bergdahl was knocked to the ground and ordered to strip and put on Afghan clothing. His kidnappers disposed of all his clothing and belongings, fearing he may be bugged.
The American was initially terrified that he would be beheaded, Nadeem said, but has since become ‘very relaxed in our company’.
In April, a harrowing video of Bergdahl pleading for his freedom was released by the Taliban.
In the footage, Bergdahl said he wants to return to his family in Idaho and that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison.
It was the first he had been seen since the Taliban released a previous video of him at Christmas.
The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few press-ups to demonstrate he’s in good physical condition.
There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.
In the sometimes choppy video, Bergdahl talked about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing.
‘I’m a prisoner. I want to go home,’ he said.
‘This war isn’t worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It’s not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners.’
At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl - clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues - clasped his hands together and pleaded: ‘The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn’t get any smaller.
‘Release me. Please, I’m begging you, bring me home.’
I notice that you are from California.....the land of fruits and nuts.
No, he is a DESERTER. People died because of him.
There are basically 3 explanations here.
1. This is a CIA caper
2. He suffered a mental breakdown and wondered off the reservation. Doubtful since there is a history of weird behavior so no sudden breakdown
3. He is a nut job and went to collude with the Taliban because he hates America.
Whatever the case, he deserves the scrutiny.
Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up for a week or two and let the Bergdahls enjoy having their son, who once seemed dead and is yet alive, safe in American hands?”
There are numerous Soldiers who were there that night and that morning--in Bergdahl's fire team--who were part of the initial search for him. The Afghan kids who said they talked to an American Soldier who asked where he could find the Taliban--are they in on the conspiracy theory, too?
Don’t misunderstand...I agree that there are many, many unanswered questions, and I’ve been trying like hell to reserve judgement on this.
But for me, as a retired veteran, the details surrounding his abandonment of his post in wartime is a clear dereliction of duty. No quarter, he needs to be punished for that transgression as it put his whole unit in harm’s way.
As to whether he offered “aid and comfort” to the enemy, don’t know. I just don’t believe a simple rifleman has the savvy and technical know how to show those camel humpers anything besides the weak points in the defenses and to clue them in on the tactics so that they can be pre-empted to ensure a higher casualty count.
What I took issue with was your “valuable” assertion...
I have to say that Glenn’s line of thinking is somewhat tortured.
The supposition that he walked ‘a few yards from his bunker’ really is just not logical. The Taliban don’t typically camp out ‘a few yards’ from the US positions...Bergdahl travelled a fairly large distance that night. And there are reports that children in a nearby village saw him crawling through the grass. Frankly, what we know, and what is logical, does not mesh with the phrase ‘a few yards’...and Glenn is stretching believability, in his attempt to defend Bergdahl.
He then goes on to propose that Bowe could be an intelligence asset. I don’t even know how to respond to that...even if true, it doesn’t exonerate him from desertion.
This sentence is very legalistic: “he hardly had the liberty to return the next morning”. Having been in the Army, I know exactly what he is driving at. There are two ways to be away from your post - AWOL and Desertion. Desertion is very hard to prove, since you have to establish that there was intent to never come back. AWOL is a much more minor offense...not a whole lot different than showing up late for work. So Glenn is trying to build a case for Bowe, and establish that he may have wanted to come back, but couldn’t because the Taliban wouldn’t let him. The very fact that Glenn is trying to build his case points to what Glenn must know in his heart - Bergdahl got up and walked off. This is different that the claim by Bowe, that he fell behind in a patrol and was captured. In other words, even though Glenn is defending Bowe, he doesn’t believe Bowe’s story one bit. Something to ponder.
As to dad being a muslim...I don’t think he is. I do think that his attempt to communicate with the Taliban led him to a place, where he has empathy for them. I can understand how this can happen...and I really don’t have that much of an opinion on that. Like many others, dad was affected by the actions of Bowe, and his subsequent capture. I feel sorry for him.
Bullet point 3 is a talking point that sprouted on DU yesterday...heck, we’re gonna just release all the Gitmo prisoners anyway, since Barry is winding down the war, so why not get something for it? Its not logical...and these five were not slated to be released ever, prior to this exchange. Its really nothing more than nonsense.
This line is right out of the liberal playbook:
“Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up”. Glenn is assigning the term ‘conspiracy’ to Bowe’s fellow soldiers...soldiers who were there, with him. Sure Bowe knows more details than they do...but don’t they know something about it...enough to not be dismissed as a ‘conspiracy’? They are being ridiculed, in an effort to marginalize them, and prevent others from speaking up. Its not fair to them, and is kind of despicable, when you think about it.
Finally, this line caught my eye, and I think it may explain why people believe Bowe came from a good family, and couldn’t have done anything wrong:
“I pray as much for his conversion to Christ as I do for his life to be spared.”
This quote, attributed to dad, implies that while Bowe may have come from a ‘good family’, he was not a carbon copy of his parents...apparently even leaving the church that he presumably grew up in. To me it explains a lot....I know the type, trying to ‘find ones self’. I even knew the type in the army, and Bowe fits that type to a tee.
Most often, the simplest answer to a mystery is correct one. At least a half dozen men have stated that Bergdahl left his post. We know he left his weapon (very unusual even to go to the bathroom, etc.). We know that his story of falling behind in a patrol is not possible, since they were in a defensive position. Everything points to his walking away. Its probably the correct answer.
And if that is the case, the army should take action. Either non-judicial punishment (article 15) for AWOL, or a court marshal for desertion. Instead, he has been promoted twice in absentia (and yesterday I heard reports that he may be bumped up to E-6). That has to be very demoralizing to soldiers in the army right now...and it has to make them wonder whether its truly ‘worth it’ to always do the right thing, while in uniform. This is why this needs to be investigated...not swept under the rug, as Glenn proposes.
Please... don’t ever ping me again.