"The Runner"

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
As the righties here have apparently labeled him

  • USA_PFC_BoweBergdahl_ACU_Cropped.png
    Bowe Bergdahl - "(born March 28, 1986) is a United States Army soldier who was held captive by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan from June 2009 until his release in May 2014. The circumstances under which Bergdahl went missing and how he was captured by the Taliban have since become subjects of intense media scrutiny. Bergdahl was released on May 31, 2014, as part of a prisoner exchange for five Taliban members who were being held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. This exchange and the ceremony announcing it, held in the White House Rose Garden, generated controversy in the United States. On March 25, 2015, the U.S. Army announced that Bergdahl had been charged with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy.

Our government traded 5 Gitmo detainees for him in May 2014

The five are:


  • ISN_00007_Mohammad_A_Fazl.jpg
    Mohammad Fazl - "According to US intelligence officials Fazl served as Chief of Staff of the Taliban Army. He was associated with terrorist groups opposing US and Coalition forces. According to documents from the Joint Task Force Guantánamo, Fazl is "wanted by the UN for possible War crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites". The document stated Fazl has become a recruiting symbol for the Taliban."
  • Khirullah_Khairkhwa.jpg
    Khirullah Khairkhwa - "According to US intelligence officials Khairkhwa was the interior minister under the Taliban. He helped found the Taliban in 1994. He was directly associated with Osama Bin Laden and Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Muhammad Omar. Likely involved with militant training, he was also "a narcotics trafficker and probably used his position and influences to become one of the major opium drug lords in Western Afghanistan", and probably used profits from drugs to promote Taliban interests."
  • ISN_00006_Norullah_Nori.jpg
    Norullah Nori - "According to US intelligence officials Noori served as the governor of Balkh and Laghman provinces in the Taliban regime. He was a senior Taliban military commander in Mazar-e-Sharif. Noori is "wanted by the United Nations for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims" along with Fazl. According to Barnett Rubin, they were "responsible for ethno-sectarian massacres in northern Afghanistan" along with their enemies."
  • ISN_00832%2C_Mohammad_Nabi.jpg
    Mohammed Nabi Omari - "According to US intelligence officials Nabi was the Taliban's chief of communications. Nabi had "operational ties to Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) groups including al-Qaida, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin". He also "maintained weapons caches and facilitated the smuggling of fighters and weapons"."
  • ISN_00004_Abdul_Haq_Wasiq.jpg
    Abdul Haq Wasiq - "According to US intelligence officials Wasiq was deputy chief of the Taliban regime's intelligence service. Wasiq had direct access to Taliban and Hezb-e-Islarni Gulbuddin leaders, and was "central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups to fight alongside the Taliban against US and Coalition forces after the 11 September 2001 attacks"."

"On June 27, 2009, Bergdahl sent an e-mail to his parents before he was captured:"

mom, dad

The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting. [...] [Three good sergeants had been forced to move to another company] [...] and one of the biggest shit bags is being put in charge of the team. [...] [My battalion commander was] a conceited old fool. [...] In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. ... The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, [...] I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live... We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them [...] I am sorry for everything. The horror that is america is disgusting. There are a few more boxes coming to you guys. Feel free to open them, and use them.


"On April 2, 2015, Army officials announced initial hearings in Bergdahl's case would be set for July 8, 2015, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. His Article 32 hearing, similar to a Grand Jury hearing in civilian court, will review evidence to determine whether to try him in a court-martial."


So what are your thoughts on this?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban_Five
 
My perception from listening to some disjointed water-cooler conversations at work is:

1. Bergdahl voluntarily abandoned his post.

2. He *maybe* went looking to be "captured" by the enemy.

3. Some of his fellow soldiers went looking for him after he was deemed missing, and *maybe* one or more were killed during the search.

A couple big "maybes" there. So I don't know much. It'll be interesting to see what shakes out of the trees.

As for the prisoner swap, I didn't think the US ever did that with terrorists. So I don't know what to think.
 
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Pada you should ask one of these guys to fill you in on the discussion instead of the righties, that way you can have some input from democrats and conservatives.

 
Prisoner swaps are as old as wars themselves. I just think it was a bad trade value wise leaving the emotion out of him being an accused deserter.

It's like trading one utility infielder who strikes out a lot and rides the bench for 4 all-stars and daily contributor.

If we find out he really was looking to join the other team, it's an historically bad trade.
 
Brought to you by the really smart Harvard guy who is negotiating nuclear terms with Iran.

It's especially cool when they tell us we are securing complete access to verify compliance at the exact same time the Iranians are telling us to go fuck ourselves on the subject of inspections.
 
Brought to you by the really smart Harvard guy who is negotiating nuclear terms with Iran.

It's especially cool when they tell us we are securing complete access to verify compliance at the exact same time the Iranians are telling us to go fuck ourselves on the subject of inspections.

i wonder how reagan would have dealt with iran wanting arms.
 
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