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Bowe Bergdahl: A Traitor
Remember Bowe Bergdahl? The deserter whom Susan Rice lauded as an American hero? On Monday, Bergdahl pleaded guilty in an Army court to two crimes, desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The desertion charge carries a potential five-year sentence, while the other charge carries a potential life sentence.
Also, remember that strange Rose Garden photo-op with Bergdahl’s parents? President Obama embraced Bergdahl’s father, who by the way, looked like he just crawled out of a cave with Mullah Omar. The senior Bergdahl also invoked Allah at that Rose Garden ceremony and vowed retribution for dead Afghani children on a few other occasions as well.
Thanks to President Obama’s negotiation with the Taliban, we returned five of their commanders back to the battlefields and got back a traitor.
Have you heard the Serial podcast about this?
No. I don’t know that podcast.
That is summing it up quite well.
A typical Obamadeal.
Link?
Desertion is a very serious crime and this seems about the right outcome. The Obama administration’s handling of this was also awful.
I’ve seen next to no evidence, however, that Bergdahl is a traitor, as was often alleged. I’m not sure I believe his reasons for walking off post, but it seems more likely to me that he’s the kind of guy to do something that criminally stupid rather than desert to the Taliban.
I did a write up last year on the case, largely based on the Serial podcast.
http://ricochet.com/archives/evaluating-bowe-bergdahl/
What’s the source on this? He used a common Arabic phrase, and his Twitter account retweeted a bunch of typically lefty anti-war things, but I definitely missed the part where he stood in the Rose Garden and “vowed retribution for dead Afghani children.”
Desertion is less serious than misbehavior in the face of the enemy. Desertion is a nickel beef. Misbehavior can send you inside for all day.
Tom,
I am glad that at least the desertion charge was made to stick. However, many people have surmised that it is extremely unlikely that Bergdahl would have survived had he not collaborated. The mentality of the father which completely identifies with the Taliban and holds the US as the evil party is telling. If the son had any of this he may very well have collaborated.
It would be really disgusting if to save Obama’s face Bergdahl’s collaboration has been swept under the carpet. Disgusting but not completely unlikely.
Regards,
Jim
This is correct and my apologies for the confusion.
Here are the charges he plead guilty to:
Basically, “Misbehavior Before the Enemy” is much closer to what we think of when we say “desertion.”
https://serialpodcast.org/season-two
Grrrrr! Can’t find words….
I remember reading somewhere that was one of the things he said in Pushtu, but I couldn’t find the source, but he tweeted this and a few others of a similar nature.
Anyway, I made the correction accordingly in the OP.
Pretty straight forward to me.
His father’s a scumbag. The son has some explaining to do.
I have listened to the first three episodes of the Serial podcast on Bergdahl. My impression of him is that he is a millenial snowflake, unable to deal with things that don’t fit into his perception of how the world is suppose to work. I knew a lot of such people even back when I went into the service, but they were rapidly cured or cashiered during boot camp. It doesn’t sound as though Bergdahl had any problems during basic training, and he did reach the level of E-5 during his service time. That he is nuts isn’t too far off the mark. However, he seems to be fully capable of understanding the consequences of his actions, and, therefore, is fully responsible for the choices he made. Insanity doesn’t strike me as a mitigating plea. He needs to be punished to the full extent. Anything less would simply reinforce his rather bent view of how the world works.
Eugene,
I am no expert in these matters. However, just as you describe, Berdahl managed to get through the now rather advanced training that combat in the American Army requires. He was in a full combat situation and was on guard duty. He must have understood fully the consequences of all of that. If he had gone to his commander and said I’m sorry but I don’t believe in any of this and I won’t do it. Then the Army would have got him out of there before he did any damage and he would have faced the music for it back home. Instead, he put his unit in danger first by deserting guard duty and later when they desperately searched for him. Bergdahl didn’t go to a village to hide out. He actively searched for the Taliban. This isn’t the behavior of somebody who just couldn’t take it and ran.
I don’t know military law, I don’t know personally what the battlefield in Afghanistan was like, and I don’t know the military itself. However, it does look to me like there is more to this story. We are talking about an American administration that could call what Major Hasan did ‘workplace violence’. I doubt we are getting a fully objective view of Bergdahl yet. It’s a good start but not the whole story.
Regards,
Jim
The Federalist: “The ‘Serial’ Podcasts about Bowe Bergdahl Are Pure Propaganda.”
I remember thinking the press conference with Obama and the Bergdahls truly bizarre, and I remember thinking that his father was doing his son no favors with the way he was behaving in front of the President.
Well that would be true in front of any other President.
For the record, Bergdahl was a private first class (E-3) when he deserted his post and was captured. He was promoted during captivity twice to reach the rand of sergeant(E-5).
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/17/afghanistan.captured.soldier/index.html
Here.
I don’t know but I bet they’re right. NPR simply cannot put anything together that isn’t political and to the left of the country — way to the left. They are anti-American to their core.
I didn’t think it was. But I haven’t read that piece.
I can.
“Along with the other penalties provided by the UCMJ, that’ll be five years on the desertion charge, and [some serious number of – maybe 25 ] years on the misbehavior charge. That will be all. Take him away.”
I would tend to agree that they are attempting to paint a picture of an essentially innocent man tied up in administrative red tape. However, anyone who has any background in the military or half a brain that isn’t soaked in liberal horse doo doo, can see through what they are trying to do. The facts that they present are pretty stark, so long as you don’t buy into their interpretation of them. I listened for the facts in the case, not their interpretation. Anyone wanting to believe that Bergdahl is innocent will get just what they want. It isn’t lies, it is manipulation of the facts. Propaganda is largely lies told over and over until they become “facts.”