Posted on 06/01/2014 3:03:45 AM PDT by bryan999
(AP) WASHINGTON - Emails an American soldier reportedly sent to his parents before he was captured by the Taliban three years ago suggest he was disillusioned and considering deserting.
Bowe Bergdahl told his parents he was "ashamed to even be American" and was disgusted with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and with the Army, according to emails quoted in Rolling Stone magazine.
Bergdahl, a 26-year-old Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, was taken prisoner on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan.
The military has never detailed circumstances of his disappearance or capture, and he is not classified as a deserter. He was initially listed as "duty status unknown" and is now considered "missing-captured." He is the only U.S. prisoner of war from the Afghanistan conflict, and U.S. officials say they are actively trying to free him.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Note: this story was from June 2012.
So... is it true?
Did we actually put Navy SEALs at risk to get this guy out????
Now I read that he was considering desertion?
ZERO bumping his chest with "Look what I did"
Unfreaking believable.
I won’t be so quick to jump to conclusions based on some article, and one that says, “reportedly.”
I don't think Navy Seals think there mission has any reflection on who they are liberating. If he needs to be punished for deserting by the U.S. Army, not the Taliban.
The question of releasing prisoners for any captive is a whole other question.
"I WAS THERE. I'm sick of all the lies. Here is the TRUTH, from someone on the ground. We were at OP Mest,Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize that the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday."
I was spooked when I saw his father sporting the Muslin style beard and speaking Pashto at the news conference.
Later learned he grew the beard and learned the language as solidarity w/ his son and to be able to converse w/ the captors if the opportunity arose.
Now I’m spooked again.
The law clearly states that Congress will be notified by the Secretary of Defense before a prisoner swap in done. In addition, the law states that Congress will be assured that any prisoners being released will not return to fighting. The law has been broken by Obama and the Secretary of Defense but I am sure nothing will come of it.
This is the appetizer to the Tyrant releasing
his Blind Shiek.
America is run by al Qaeda and the Moslem Brotherhood
rather than Americans.
FU-EXEMPT Congres-in-abdication.
I don’t get this idea that we would just let some service personnel go. I don’t care if the person is the biggest hero or the biggest traitor, they should be in the hands of the service they are part of. That branch of the service should punish or reward them as appropriate.
How do you know Congress wasn’t notified? I doubt, if they were, they would have done anything.
Lawmakers were not notified of the Guantanamo detainees’ transfer until after it occurred.
The law requires the defense secretary to notify relevant congressional committees at least 30 days before making any transfers of prisoners, to explain the reason and to provide assurances that those released would not be in a position to reengage in activities that could threaten the United States or its interests.
Before the current law was enacted at the end of last year, the conditions were even more stringent. However, the administration and some Democrats had pressed for them to be loosened, in part to give them more flexibility to negotiate for Bergdahl’s release.
Doesn’t matter if he was a deserter or not. The issue is trading him for five top Taliban jihadists with the blood on their hands and who will return to fighting against America and its interests.
Now the US “negotiates” with terrorists. We are a third world nation. Obama has fundamentally changed the country. Thank you progressives...the world is so much safer with you in charge. /s
The head of the committee that was suppose to be notified states they had NOT received notification
Same here.
Once again ZERO has set it up, so anybody that disagrees with his decision is UN American.
I totally disagree with this decision of negotiating with terrorists. Now I learn the soldier was considering desertion?
This stinks like just about all of ZEROS foreign policy decisions.
There have been many accounts that Bergdahl deserted his unit and joined the Taliban. If in fact that is true, and that more American soldiers lost their lives in an attempt to rescue him, then he should be prosecuted when he returns to U.S. control. Maybe that is the plan of this administration, but I seriously doubt it. If he is given a hero’s welcome upon his return, you can bet your ass that there will be many soldiers who will protest and tell the truth about what happened.
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