Sergeant Bergdah freed

Not sure how many of you have twitter but if you do, scroll down to the beginning of @CodyFNfootball 's tweets from yesterday. He was apparently a roommate of Bowe and served with him in Afghanistan. He posted the whole story through tweets so there's a lot to scroll through, but it's extremely eye opening.

That was intense.
 
The Coast Guard still rescues the idiot that thought the Severe Storm Warning didn't apply to them.

Rescue climbers still rescue non experienced climbers that were not prepared for the dangerous terrain.

This puts these rescuers all at risk but they still do it.

That being said, it doesn't mean we parade those rescued as heros and I hope they refrain from doing so in this case. I truly hope there is never a book deal or movie of the week that goes along with this.

Well said! A Family friend was a POW in Vietnam for 6.5 years. I wore a bracelet with his name as a child. When he came home he looked like he aged 30 years in that time. I can't imagine what he went through. He never broke down in his resistance and was mentioned as a hero by John McCain in his film Faith of Fathers.

There is absolutely no comparison between this man and Bergdahl in all ways except in the torture they endured for years. We will find out if it sets a precedent. But as a few have mentioned, No man left behind.
 
This puts these rescuers all at risk but they still do it.

I know I am taking the discussion to another direction, but why? Does it make sense for several people to risk or lose their lives to recuse fewer people? You cannot put a price on a human life, but in reality we do it all the time. Why are some brain dead folks kept alive, where another parts of world kids are dying from lacking basic medical care? Why do living will exist? Why do some old folks (I know I will be one of them in the future) in nursing home keep on living? Why is there a priority list for receiving organ donation? A easier decision is to say we must do it, but harder and right decision might be the decision that save more lives.
 
Timing folks. It's all a show. He went missing after Obama became president. All of a sudden it's imperative we get him? Enjoy the show….
 
. . . As far as the Guantanamo 5, they are dinosaurs to the Taliban. They have been sucked dry of intelligence and have long since been replaced by younger, aggressive people who are not about to be bumped off their pedestals. I would bet they look really credible to their homeboys with the extra pounds of easy living on them too.

Dinosaurs have values. If they have no value, why would Taliban asked for them? Just like we value brining our soldiers back, I am sure Taliban supporters appreciate the fact they "fought and won" to bring their own back from GITMO. I am sure those five will make their rounds on equivalent of speaking circuit for recruitment and fund raising.
 
"We don't leave someone behind IN UNIFORM."

I'm sure the White House Office of Communications is hitting that one home.

"What about Benghazi?"

"We don't leave anyone in UNIFORM behind! If you're in a suit, on a diplomatic passport, or providing protection for diplomats.... we reserve the right to leave you behind. Oh yeah, and if you like your health insurance you can PROBABLY keep it!"
 
I think the no man left behind (IMHO) is a very shallow rationale in this case. As soldiers - we all know and understand potential consequences of being in theater – we can be killed or captured. No man left in my mind means we absolutely continue to work on freeing each and every soldier who has become a POW . However – no man left behind does not mean we compromise the mission, put others at unnecessary risk and does not excuse poor decision making. Simply saying no man left behind is a good enough - cut and dry - end of discussion - means we are good with making bad decisions. Was this the right decision? That can and will be debated. But saying no man left behind justifies any action is simply shallow and potentially dangerous logic.
 
Let me begin by saying that if Bergdahl is a deserter he should be treated as such. As much as it appears as such, the last thing we need to have a bunch of political grandstanding and righteous indignation muddy the process.

I will take Gen. Dempsey at his word and trust the process to negotiate the legal minefields of the UCMJ and the Geneva Conventions in getting to the truth and consequences.

I believe that there are at least two things that differentiate the US from everyone else: we have a sometimes maddening desire to adhere to laws/agreements and we leave no one behind. Maybe the Israelis share the later characteristic as they have regularly made lopsided exchanges, sometimes even for remains.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...n-bergdahl-says-he-was-a-prisoner-of-war.html

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dempsey-army-may-still-pursue-desertion-charges
 
I will take Gen. Dempsey at his word and trust the process to negotiate the legal minefields of the UCMJ and the Geneva Conventions in getting to the truth and consequences.

I believe that there are at least two things that differentiate the US from everyone else: we have a sometimes maddening desire to adhere to laws/agreements and we leave no one behind. Maybe the Israelis share the later characteristic as they have regularly made lopsided exchanges, sometimes even for remains.

I'll believe it when I see it. If you don't think the White House, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Army won't be "involved" with Gen. Dempsey's decision process, I invite you to D.C. to see how politics breaks the will of admirals and generals.

And we (America) have left people behind.... we just pretend like we don't. Or, when needed, add qualifiers such as "in uniform."
 
This piece would seem to support yours and LG's contention that the Obama administration forces decisions through for whatever purpose. It certainly isn't the first administration to do so.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-to-support-the-taliban-prisoner-release.html

I know it forces things through because I received WH emails during the BP oil spill in 2010.... forcing things through. And those moves were for ONE thing.... saving face. They had NOTHING to do with the good of the American people.
 
The fix is in

Looks like those of you who said that there would NOT be a court martial (or trial even) were correct.

From the Army Times:

An internal military investigation found that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl intentionally sneaked away from his forward operating base in Afghanistan just before he disappeared in 2009 — and that may not have been the first time he left the post without permission, according to officials familiar with the probe.

“We have no indication that he intended to leave permanently,” one government official familiar with the investigation told Military Times. Several soldiers in Bergdahl’s unit told investigators that Bergdahl talked about his desire to leave the base unaccompanied and that he may have done so and returned unharmed at least once before the night he disappeared for good, the official said.

Yet many legal experts say a prosecution of Bergdahl is unlikely. There is an “unwritten policy” to avoid court-martialing service members who have spent time as POWs, said Eugene Fidell, a military law expert who teaches at Yale Law School and is a former president of the National Institute of Military Justice

And a big FU to the troops who died looking for this guy
 
Official position is changing on this as we speak. Two Generals now saying investigations will be conducted when appropriate.

Too much press from company/squadmates, evidence the pentagon knew he went AWOL/Deserted as far back as 2010, etc. Very damning emails. And a growing undercurrent that he may have collaborated.

Then add the Dad's odd behavior. Even the mainstream press has picked up that the dad is not helping his son's case.

When Sen. Chambliss and Feinstein agree on something it's a sign of big problems for the White House!
 
Official position is changing on this as we speak. Two Generals now saying investigations will be conducted when appropriate.

Too much press from company/squadmates, evidence the pentagon knew he went AWOL/Deserted as far back as 2010, etc. Very damning emails. And a growing undercurrent that he may have collaborated.

Then add the Dad's odd behavior. Even the mainstream press has picked up that the dad is not helping his son's case.

When Sen. Chambliss and Feinstein agree on something it's a sign of big problems for the White House!

Flavor of the week. Just give it a few more weeks and we'll forget all about it. This happened two days after Shinseki and Carney step down from major posts in the federal government. And now we're not talking about the VA…. and tomorrow we'll forget about the next story.
 
Official position is changing on this as we speak. Two Generals now saying investigations will be conducted when appropriate.

Too much press from company/squadmates, evidence the pentagon knew he went AWOL/Deserted as far back as 2010, etc. Very damning emails. And a growing undercurrent that he may have collaborated.

Then add the Dad's odd behavior. Even the mainstream press has picked up that the dad is not helping his son's case.

When Sen. Chambliss and Feinstein agree on something it's a sign of big problems for the White House!

I don't think it will be a big problem for the White House as now more attention is being paid to SGT Bergdah's AWOL/Desertion and even his dad's odd behavior. With our short attention span, most of us will be discussing what's on the news, not what lead to SGT Bergdah's release - perhaps a lack of due diligence by the White House to get SGT Bergdah released by trading 5 Talibans..

I don't know if the White House somehow manipulates everything or it's just lucky that nothing sticks on them.
 
Bergdahl Etc

I think that Bergdahl's father's behavior is a non-issue. No one is responsible for the behavior of their parents. Who knows how any one of us would have reacted if their son was a Taliban POW?

I think that if Bergdahl had collaborated with the Taliban in any way the videos would be all over You-Tube and, of course the world would ignore them.

The behavior of way too many US POWs from the Korean War was bordering on treason yet, when that war concluded in 1953, the US traded them for North Koreans & Chinese (Note: US POW behavior during Vietnam War was a marked improvement). Read James Clavell's "King Rat" (about Allied POWs in Japanese POW camps inWW2) to find out how morality gets turned inside out in that environment.

Both Eisenhower and Nixon, in 1953 and 1973, didn't ask about individual US POW behavior before negotiating for their releases. And they shouldn't have.

The Israelis (not exactly known for being soft on terrorism) regularly trade POWs at a 100-to-1 (or more) ratio, much more than the 5-to-1 Bergdahl scenario.

Let's see how Bergdahl behaves from this point going forward before making judgments.
 
I'm not overly concerned with how Bergdahl "behaved" as a prisoner of the Taliban but I am concerned about HOW he became a prisoner and what those costs were to US military personnel and their families. I'm still waiting to see how impartially the Army investigates this matter and whether it has political Hagel/POTUS "fingerprints" all over it.
 
I'm not overly concerned with how Bergdahl "behaved" as a prisoner of the Taliban but I am concerned about HOW he became a prisoner and what those costs were to US military personnel and their families. I'm still waiting to see how impartially the Army investigates this matter and whether it has political Hagel/POTUS "fingerprints" all over it.

Official: US military to charge Bergdahl with desertion

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/official-us-military-to-charge-bergdahl-with-desertion/ar-AA9ZMmM

Took long enough . . . .
 
Makes sense that they took their time, this was fairly high profile and the last thing anyone wanted was to get it wrong. In any case, glad justice is being served.
 
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