President Obama not only has nerves of steel, but a great streak of brave in him. We know of no other President since Eisenhower and the days of Francis Gary Powers that required such elan in negotiating the release of an American citizen. Bowe Bergdahl is a Sergeant in the United States Army. Whether he wandered away on a balmy night in Kandahar or had a secret assignment with a local Afghany partisan……the true reasons we may never know. What we do know is startling in the extreme. After five years in custody of a terrorist organization – yesterday Bowe Bergdahl was released in exchange for five very nasty Gitmo Detainees. Just check out their mug shots on the web!
The President brought Sergeant Bergdahl’s parents to the Rose Garden and announced to the world – Bowe Bergdahl is coming back to the USA. As we all sit here in disbelief that this story has ended with a live person – the second guessers and micro-managers of our Foreign Policy and Intelligence Communities are having a field day on the Sunday talk shows. Years ago two CIA operatives came home in much the same manner. The actual negotiations and details of who and what were traded in exchange have never been revealed – in the name of National Security. Then came the return of our entire Embassy personnel in Iran shortly after the Carter years. This is another untold story that no one seems to grasp……WHY did the Iranians in their wisdom quickly decide to return our folks after over a year of imprisionment? The Carter people say they had been working on it and the Reagan folks are keeping mum to this day. Orson Wells and the Harry Lime story of “The Third Man” film in the 1950’s led to stories of serious intrigue which included phony anti-biotics, drugs, phony currency and the like. Amazingly, the brilliant minds in Congress have selective memory on everything, especially if they can make a partisan point out of nothing. We are still amazed that the Republicans have not take credit for killing Osama Bin Laden. Hey! It was their idea ….right?
Finding a definitive answer to how Bowe Bergdahl was taken, who took him and held him and finally what it took to have him returned may not be the standard Jody Arias or Casey Anthony never ending story that our phony newsmakers would like to follow over the next 120 day news cycle. Looking at these thing realistically, just the fact that Elliot Rodgers was born in Great Britain…..still hasn’t come out of all the machinations of the loud swill of Mr. Martinez shouting down the NRA and paid off members of Congress that are not voting his way….on a variety of issues…much less firearms. The point is simple, Bowe Bergdahl in home, back in the USA. How he got back and what happened at the beginning, middle or how long it will take for him to ever re-adjust to living any semblance of a real life in America, may be simply a fascinating dream…that may or may not ever come true.
Those who have served in War Zones for any period of time can take decades to re-adjust to civilian life. The horror and torture experienced by a captive or even by a deserter are unbelieveable events in anyone’s life. We could care less how many Al-Queda detainees were traded for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. It could have been 20 or more, because if it was us or our brother, father, mother, son or friend – whatever got it done would be worth it in the extreme. Oh sure, there are many people that we would hope they might even keep with our best wishes, but Bo Bergdahl is a metaphor for the last man out of Afghanistan. We could not leave him there – hanging in the wind when everyone else leaves the war zone – one and for all.
The US presence in Afghanistan may last another 50 years, but it officially will be AFTER CONCERTED MILITARY ACTIONS of over 10 years. It is the very reason why Israel is willing to trade prisoners of war with various groups to get their troops home. The world has changed and the standard rules of borders, uniforms and political, economic back channels – are over. We are now dealing with philosophical issues much like those we have experienced in Cuba with Fidel and Che back in the 60’s. After the Bay of Pigs debacle…..we traded folks, goods, money and everything else – to get those folks back whole.
Bowe Bergdahl, God Bless Him and has been through it. Psychologically he may never totally recover. Let us hope so. Let us support him with signs around the country that say: “Welcome Home Bowe!” Our country is probably too tied to “The Wolk of Wall Street” menality to do that – but is should be done, as the Yellow Ribbons that were laced around trees in every town in the United States begged to get our POW’s Home from Vietnam, our Embassy folks home from Iran and our boys that came home from World War II, Korean and elsewhere!
Welcome Home Trooper Bowe Bergdahl…………you are one we want to keep here in America and no matter what you went through, we are pulling for you!
*The Great Republican Mindset is hot off the presses….claiming wrong doing by the President for saving Bowe Bergdahl’s life. Saying that those five bad guys that Chuck
Norris never took out in his last movie…..that are released from Gitmo……is criminal. What is criminal is the entire waste of time our Republican electeds spend doing nothing worthwhile for the American people.
1 AWOL American soldier for 5 genuine real bad guys doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.The only good thing is that this could put those 5 terrorists back in the crosshairs … eventually.
*Of course Skally, if that soldier was YOU……or your son…..you might think a little different about whether or not trying to fill an inside straight was good strategy. Remember, Jessica when she was raped and beaten and recaptured by our own Special Forces? Call her and ask her what she thinks……putting 20 Special Forces guys and three of our Blackhawks at risk to save her life…as she knew it.
Nobody knows for certain what happened the night he disappeared. Can we please let him get home and be able to defend himself before condemning him? I have been watching this one for a while, because friends had moved to Hailey where they became friends with Bowe’s parents. The way his family has been treated over the years they fought for their son’s freedom is worth a book in itself. There was a lot more to what was happening than the media reported, and a lot that the family HAD to keep quiet for the sake of their son.
So now that he is safe, let’s get ALL the info out there and sort through what is fact and what is fiction. We have seen “emails” that CNN was unable to confirm but ran anyway. Check any of the stories on Bowe and you see trolls pop up repeating damaging info to keep vicious threads going. Someone out there is working very, very hard to discredit this young man, and it makes me wonder what machinations are taking place.
So hold the outrage folks, let’s get the facts. And can we please let his family celebrate their kid before we let the media hang him for desertion?
I haven’t been following the Internet buzz on this that closely — and I’m aghast at what you report. Are these trolls just popping up now, after the “Israeli-style” negotiated prisoner sway, or have they been doing this all along?
I don’t take desertion lightly — but if it happened, he’s already served a bunch of years for it, probably under conditions that I don’t even want to imagine.
A senior official confirms to Fox News that the conduct of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — both in his final stretch of active duty in Afghanistan and then, too, during his time when he lived among the Taliban — has been thoroughly investigated by the U.S. intelligence community and is the subject of “a major classified file.”
In conveying as much, the Defense Department source confirmed to Fox News that many within the intelligence community harbor serious outstanding concerns not only that Bergdahl may have been a deserter but that he may have been an active collaborator with the enemy.
Former Army Sgt. who served with Bergdahl: ‘He is at best a deserter, at worst a traitor’ – CNN
And if all of this anonymous defamation comes to nothing, both you and Fox will just pretend like it never happened. BENGHAZI!
Former Army Sgt. who served with Bergdahl: ‘He is at best a deserter, at worst a traitor’ – CNN
Does he have a name? If so, that’s a nice change of pace.
The Pentagon knew in 2010 that Bergdahl walked away from his unit and chose to NOT exert “extraordinary efforts to rescue him.”
Is 5 years in Taliban captivity enough of a punishment for you, Skally?
http://news.yahoo.com/us-concluded-2010-bergdahl-walked-away-185047684–politics.html
anon – Not if he gave aid and comfort to the enemy – that would make him a traitor.
Diamond – Yes the Sgt. has a name – and he is pissed …
“I was pissed off then, and I am even more so now with everything going on,” said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl’s platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009. “Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him.”
And you have assessed his credibility how?
He’s pissed, and even more so now! Oh my!
Ideal conditions for objective, rational thought!
*We guess this mean that your support for Bowe going to Stanford is totally out of the question?
https://twitter.com/pocketliberty/status/473577205424197632/photo/1
“If” and “may”—two of Skally’s favorite words when there’s political hay to be made.
Two words you’ll never see him use when other servicemembers are accused (not to mention convicted) of wrongdoing if there’s no political point to be made in highlighting it.
Some of the soldiers who served with #Bergdahl in Afghanistan have a story for you to hear. Two of them join @megynkelly #KellyFile tonight
https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/473624627940696064
Wow, such suspense. I wonder what they’ll say?
he looks like a bad guy from some reports but he deserves a fair court martial before we make a final judgment.
More stall/stonewall tactics.
C’mon, DWM, don’t you know a rush to judgement is always preferable when needing to make political hay? There’s only so many hours in the day today!
and so many scandals. hard to keep up.
Why can’t we give the guy a break? Let his family enjoy knowing that their son is safe and coming home. If he did something wrong there is plenty of time to figure out what to do about it. Living 5 years as a POW is punishment enough….IF he deserted. Why are some people so quick to judge others? …. and since when is FOX News the authority on news?
I did notice his dad looks like a cast member of Duck Dynasty though. Anyone else notice that?
I understand your point.
The sad part is there are at least six other families who lost their loved ones trying to recover this lost soul.
*Pappa Carl, 241 famlies lost loved ones in Lebanon because of of empty weapons at the the guard gate and ridiculous non rules of engagement. If we had let Bergdahl die in Taliban hands..you would be complaining that the Pres didn’t do enough to get him out.
Army MSG Mark Allen’s wife writes on the Facebook site, “Bowe Bergdahl is a traitor:”
“Meet my husband, injuries directly brought to you by the actions of this traitor. He can’t give an account of what went down, because he can no longer speak. Now, which guy is a ‘hero’ again?!? Sick.”
And she knows that he’s a traitor how, exactly?
And if you agree with her, where’s YOUR proof?
Lastly, I’ve not heard the administration characterize Bergdahl as a “hero.” But that’s awful nice of Ms. Allen to put words in people’s mouth. Sick.
As this story continues to mainstream, it will be interesting to see what all comes to light.
Today the military news sites are all a buzz with it, not in a favorable way to Mr B either. It’s actually very sad in so many ways, no matter how this story ends, some of it’s players already having exited the stage permanently.
There has been a push for years to obtain Bergdahl’s release. Can you show me anything prior to the past week where they say that they opposed bringing back this POW? If there’s nothing or not much, were they just asleep at the switch?
You know, some of the POWs in Vietnam were rumored to be deserters as well, and I cannot remember ANYONE EVER saying “don’t bring them back!” If a liberal Democrat had said such a thing in 1975 or so, we’d have been absolutely flayed.
So please pardon my finding this sudden about-face on the POW issue both political and disgusting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
follow some of the earlier dated links at the bottom of the page if you like…pretty low hanging fruit here
Diamond:
“Can you show me anything prior to the past week where they say that they opposed bringing back this POW?”
No one could say anything about Bergdahl during the time he was in terrorist custody.
I was reading this Bowe story and…..anyone else get a feeling they have seen this movie before? I have, it`s called `Wag The Dog`. Hero soldier is saved after being captured by the enemy, everyone goes nuts and thinks he`s like Jesus, just better. And then it turns out its all a huge lie and everyone feels really stupid. I saw this several years ago, weird to see it in the newspapers now.
*Just ask Jessica Lynch if she was raped enough by the Iraqi’s. Just ask Jessica Lynch if she is glad the Special Forces came to rescue her. Ask her today.
Jessica Lynch – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lynch
Wikipedia
Jessica Lynch at Walter Reed Army Medical Center 2004.jpg. Jessica … Initial official reports on Lynch’s capture and rescue in Iraq were incorrect. On April 24 …
Lori Piestewa – Shoshana Johnson – Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief
why didnt we give them diamond and kept the five terrorist for the awol sgt that is now being called a HERO FOR LEAVING HIS POST .
Who’s calling him a hero? Did Fox News tell you that people are saying that?
Show us ONE person who had anything to do with this operation that is calling Bergdahl a hero.
*Exactly….grunt soldier…no better or worse. If 100 guys are killed going after another trooper in the field………that is called “Serving your country…”, one enlisted….you lose the choices of which Wal-mart to go to…….or anything else that might include your own loss of life. Get on the wrong helicopter…”Blackhawk Down”. Whose fault was that? Bill Clinton’s, or the stupid trooper that inadvertantly stepped around the wrong corner?
*Fun to hear all those “feather merchants” who have not spent one day in any of the services picking on Bergdahl for going AWOL. The truth is that he actually did Guard Duty and was off.
Did he do some Black Pakistani Hash and wander out into the hinterland after he was relieved? Maybe….so instead of being beaten up by a group of drunk Marines….or Sailors……he makes a move on some Afghan babe and the family puts on their Taliban gear and take him prisoner for five years………
For all those high spirited, high minded Special Ops guys out there that think Bergdahl is a flake….and put other guys lives at risk……well, let’s just say….follow your orders, do your duty and trust your officers….. If you get shot by a jealous husband or get snatched by a Taliban family……we are still going to get you and make sure you get home in the best condition possible. To those who have never served: Shut up slime!
If Bowe Bergdahl proves his fellow brothers of the 501 infantry are liars. I will then come to a conclusion. Until then ????