Taliban releases Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl!

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

I definitely feel bad for the parents. Can't imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes.

 

I'm afraid if the Army tries for a quick discharge, even with it being dishonorable, there's enough unresolved tension in the situation that somebody will get to him and maybe his parents.

 

My preference would be for a public court martial. Let the evidence be shown. Let the presiding officer or officers decide his fate.

 

There will be no "good" outcome in this situation, but this approach might mitigate potential "bad" outcomes for most parties involved.

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Nah. He was just AWOL. He intended to come back but the Taliban insisted he stay for dinner.

UB,

 

Wow, how many dinner courses were there to last 5 years? Man, the Taliban is gracious and hospitable.

[FriscoCounty]

This is going to evolve into another cover-up done by our disfunctional executive branch. The truth will remain that the POTUS released 5 high ranking Taliban leaders.

 

Blackfoot

 

That was going to happen anyway.

 

The administration has been trying to shut Gitmo down for a long time now. They need to try or relocate overseas detainee in the facility. They are only going to try the ones they are confident they can get a conviction on. Even then, they won't get them all. There isn't enough hard evidence to convict them, so they need to relocate them. The charges against them are basically that they were high ranking officials in the Afghan government during the Taliban rule.

 

They have been out of it for 12 years. There are new alpha dogs in the Taliban. Their release may even destabilize the Taliban if a power struggle occurs. Even the Afghan government wanted these men released.

 

This wasn't a last minute effort to get the last POW. The administration has been negotiating with Qatar for over 2 years to take these 5. Getting Bergdahl was a perk. Lastly, remember, Israel will occasionally negotiate over the trade of prisoners.

[Boon Doggle]

Does anyone think it's possible that Bergdahl was just an excuse to release the five terrorists?

 

 

 

I know, I know. I spend too much time on the internet and watching Fox News.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I vote for a Dishonorable Discharge, time served, stripped of rank and no back pay or benefits.

[Trailrider #896]

 

I vote for a Dishonorable Discharge, time served, stripped of rank and no back pay or benefits.

I haven't read all the posts here, but here is my take on the situation: First, Sgt. Bergdahl must be treated to the point where he can stand a courtmartial, IF one is ordered! Given the talk from his unit-mates, it may be that the Army will decide to convein a courtmartial, if only to investigate the situation when Bergdahl was "lost". Depending on the charges brought...AWOL, desertion from a combat zone, responsibility for the deaths of the troops looking for him, etc...the sentence could range anywhere from time served (while in the hands of the Taliban) plus a dishonorable discharge, to a bunch of time in Leavenworth (up to and including "LIFE"). I doubt they would execute him, as that hasn't been done since Pvt. Slovak.

The next question is about the deal that released the GITMO 5. Yes, there is a possibility...evne a probability they will be held in Qitar for a year or sooner and then released to go back to terrorism. This was probably very stupid the administration. But suppose they were allowed to go to, say, Yemen? And a drone strike took out one or more? I seriously wonder if they will be kept track of until it is possible to get rid of them. Time will tell.

[FriscoCounty]

Does anyone think it's possible that Bergdahl was just an excuse to release the five terrorists?

 

 

 

I know, I know. I spend too much time on the internet and watching Fox News.

 

Well, not to be a broken record, but yes. Fox News is late to the table on this one. The NY Times was writing articles about the negotiations to get these 5 out Gitmo for at least 2 years. Getting them out of there has been on the Afghan government's list of demands for a while and I mean Karzai's government. In fact, they are not happy about their transfer to Qatar. They wanted them freed.

[Brother King, SASS #69031]

Another view:

"I’m going to close with a statistic because I believe it has everything to do with this tragic story. 6,717 US soldiers died fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. 82,805 US veterans have killed themselves in the same time period. If it’s mentally broken US soldiers like Bowe Bergdahl that some in America want to go on a witch hunt for, then we’ve got about a half million more witch hunts to go."

 

http://www.whiteoutpress.com/articles/2014/q2/freed-pow-bowe-bergdahl-not-traitor-or-deserter/?fb_action_ids=10152057301816193&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B728850420511718%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

My prediction for the outcome of this event...

 

1. Overwhelming evidence comes forward that the guy is went AWOL. Anecdotal evidence that he was a collaborator.

 

2. Parents go on Oprah, Barbara Walters, or something like that to express relief that their son is home and gratitude to the Obama administration for making it happen.

 

3. The Army will stage a court martial. Depending on the evidence that they are allowed to present, a number of possible outcomes:

 

4a. Guilty of going AWOL by reason of insanity. The guy goes to the front of the line at the nearest VA hospital and gets treated for PTSD.

 

4b. Guilty of desertion. Goes to Leavenworth for a long time.

 

(My money is on 4a.)

 

5. Regardless of 4a or 4b, the parents become darlings of the talk show circuit, ink a book deal, and spend the rest of their life living off the incident.

 

He'll be pardoned by the president...if he gets in trouble at all.

 

GG ~

[FriscoCounty]

There is a White House petition to demand action against Bergdahl:

 

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/punish-bowe-bergdahl-being-awol-desertion-during-operation-enduring-freedom/BVPwpnrN

[Clay Mosby]

I don't believe the fact that Bergdahl was an American ever factored into the decision to make the trade. It was an opportunity to empower our Muslim enemies while weakening America abroad and at home, and they took it. They are so secure in their belief that they are the anointed ones that they are now openly admitting that they break laws..

 

I really don't give a rats fart about Bergdahl. I am quite concerned that our government has declared open season on its citizens by negotiating with terrorists.

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

Let the goat slaughter begin...literally

 

The prisoners exchanged were not chosen by U.S. officials, but by Bergdahl's captors, according to an expert.

'These detainees were identified by the Taliban,' Major General Spider Marks said.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646222/Taliban-leaders-given-heros-welcome-footage-claiming-prisoners-arriving-Qatar-Guantanamo-release-no-American-presence-sight.html

 

GG ~

[FriscoCounty]

 

The prisoners exchanged were not chosen by U.S. officials, but by Bergdahl's captors, according to an expert.

'These detainees were identified by the Taliban,' Major General Spider Marks said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646222/Taliban-leaders-given-heros-welcome-footage-claiming-prisoners-arriving-Qatar-Guantanamo-release-no-American-presence-sight.html

 

 

Kinda. The Taliban wanted all Afghan Taliban detainees released. These 5 were the last. Berdahl's captors belong to the Taliban. So, he is right, but it is weasel wording.

 

The aren't Al Qaeda. Their status is an internal Afghanistan matter. The Afghan government wanted them repatriated to Afghanistan. The Afghan government is tired of our being there and our interference in their trying to negotiate with the Taliban to broker a long term peace. Our continued holding these five against their will and against the wishes of their government is when they haven't broken any US laws ... well that doesn't look too good.

[Augustus Goodnight]

Bottom line, Comrade Maobama and his merry band of perpetual amateurs just gave up 5 High Threat Level Terrorists, which we'll most assuredly have to face again, for a single deserter......

 

On top of that he just pitched out the door what decades of not negotiating with terrorists accomplished. Let the kidnappings begin anew!!!! We're back to square one. These buffoons are more incompetent than Carter & Co., which I never thought I'd see in my lifetime...

 

BTW, the body count for those who died trying to find him is up to 14 according to Col. David Hunt.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Unfortunately within a few weeks of our leaving Afghanistan the Taliban will be back in control and the executions of those who supported the U.S. reforms will begin.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Even the F word senator is upset with Obama! Wow.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Unfortunately within a few weeks of our leaving Afghanistan the Taliban will be back in control and the executions of those who supported the U.S. reforms will begin.

I think it will take a bit longer but the outcome is probably inevitable. Afghanistan has been a tribal society for centuries, and without a strong and effective coalition government it will remain so. Corrupt scum like Karzai ensure that most of the country remains in the Bronze Age while the politicians line their pockets. The US has helped a lot of Afghans but I frear it has been in vain.

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

Kinda. The Taliban wanted all Afghan Taliban detainees released. These 5 were the last. Berdahl's captors belong to the Taliban. So, he is right, but it is weasel wording.

 

The aren't Al Qaeda. Their status is an internal Afghanistan matter. The Afghan government wanted them repatriated to Afghanistan. The Afghan government is tired of our being there and our interference in their trying to negotiate with the Taliban to broker a long term peace. Our continued holding these five against their will and against the wishes of their government is when they haven't broken any US laws ... well that doesn't look too good.

 

Nope...on a number of thoughts in your post.

 

GG

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

Even the F word senator is upset with Obama! Wow.

And the president issued an 'apology' to them. Oh boy...it was an....'oversight'.

 

GG

[Anvil Al #59168]

Bad Deal

[Cheyenne Culpepper 32827]

POTUS should be impeached immediately and forced from office... ask me how I really feel???

[Utah Bob #35998]

POTUS should be impeached immediately and forced from office... ask me how I really feel???

And turned over to the Taliban?

[Rye Miles #13621]

I'm not sure how I feel about his parents, dad looks like a little weird to me, and acts like it too.

[Boon Doggle]

Maybe good ol' dad and the head dipstick in charge went to the same grammar school in Indonesia.

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

And the president issued an 'apology' to them. Oh boy...it was an....'oversight'.

 

GG

Yeah right. I strongly suspect it was the ol' "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission."

[FriscoCounty]

OK, before I duck for cover let me pull the pin and toss a hand grenade into the tent.

 

- The Taliban is NOT a terrorist organization. Really. (http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm).

 

- The 'Taliban 5' were high ranking officials of the previous Agfhan government. A government we overthrew by military force when they refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden.

 

- It is very probable that OBL was never in Afghanistan, so the Afghanistan government wouldn't have been able to extradite him in any case. Why didn't they say so? Who knows, maybe for the same stupid reason Sadam Hussein didn't admit he really didn't have any WMDs and allow UN inspections

 

- Where was OBL, probably in Pakistan the whole time. The only report we had that he was in Afghanistan came from Dr Amer Aziz, a Pakistani doctor, who as it turns out was probably a confederate of OBL and lied to obfuscated his real location. Where as there was credible evidence he was in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on 9/11/2001.

 

- Are these nice guys? No, not at all. A couple of them have been accused of human rights abuses while in office. Should we care? Hell, yes. Is it our business? Mmmm? Don't know? it is definitely Afghanistan's business. They are Afghani citizens who were in the Afghani government when these crimes happened in Afghanistan. It is a domestic issue.

 

- As for 'is it our business'. How would we feel if the World Court ordered the arrest of every governor of every state that still allows capital punishment? Tell them to butt out of our business? I would.

 

- As I have repeated before, the Afghani government has publicly demanded they be repatriated for at least 2 years now. We have ignored them.

 

- We were just running out of options to keep them detained. There wasn't even the remotest legal leg to stand on and without that we are just another rogue state.

[FriscoCounty]

As for Bergdahl, that is a whole other kettle of week old, stinky fish. We d*mn well better hold a military inquiry and court martial if the results of the inquiry support it.

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

OK, before I duck for cover let me pull the pin and toss a hand grenade into the tent.

 

- The Taliban is NOT a terrorist organization. Really. (http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm).

 

- The 'Taliban 5' were high ranking officials of the previous Agfhan government. A government we overthrew by military force when they refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden.

 

- It is very probable that OBL was never in Afghanistan, so the Afghanistan government wouldn't have been able to extradite him in any case. Why didn't they say so? Who knows, maybe for the same stupid reason Sadam Hussein didn't admit he really didn't have any WMDs and allow UN inspections

 

- Where was OBL, probably in Pakistan the whole time. The only report we had that he was in Afghanistan came from Dr Amer Aziz, a Pakistani doctor, who as it turns out was probably a confederate of OBL and lied to obfuscated his real location. Where as there was credible evidence he was in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on 9/11/2001.

 

- Are these nice guys? No, not at all. A couple of them have been accused of human rights abuses while in office. Should we care? Hell, yes. Is it our business? Mmmm? Don't know? it is definitely Afghanistan's business. They are Afghani citizens who were in the Afghani government when these crimes happened in Afghanistan. It is a domestic issue.

 

- As for 'is it our business'. How would we feel if the World Court ordered the arrest of every governor of every state that still allows capital punishment? Tell them to butt out of our business? I would.

 

- As I have repeated before, the Afghani government has publicly demanded they be repatriated for at least 2 years now. We have ignored them.

 

- We were just running out of options to keep them detained. There wasn't even the remotest legal leg to stand on and without that we are just another rogue state.

The Taliban supports anti-western interests to the point of destruction. They harbor(ed) known Al Queda factions.

 

You and I think differently so....

 

 

GG

[Big Sarge]

Hey guys. Some of you might remember me from some posts while on deployments. I'm glad we brought Berghdal home. I think before we try him in the press or on social media, we need to find out some more of the facts. Yes, he left his post. Wikileaks has some revealing reports and intercepts from that day. What I wonder is he was in his right mind when committed those acts. Should he have been pulled from combat and sent to mental health before it reached the point of leaving his COP? I'm not happy about the things he did, but lets not become a lynch mob based upon the current info in the media.

 

Before I duck and cover, I'm a 100% disabled veteran. I acknowledge I have PTSD and that is one of my disability ratings in addition to the physical.

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L]

We traded for a person who isn't proud to be American with five people who hate America.

 

GG

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I think this whole thing is going to blow up in the president's face. Berghdal will get discharged from the military and sent home. It won't be long before he goes back to his Taliban friends and they all hold a press conference to show how they tricked the Americans into releasing their 5 leaders.

 

And then comes the drone strike.

[Brother King, SASS #69031]

Having worked as a dedicated volunteer; chapter president; national officer; founded a charity; raised funds & ridden over 100,000 miles on behalf of the POW/MIA effort & military families I am fearful that this entire episode may have crushed the hard work- life's work- of 1,000's in one single act.

 

This is such a sad ending chapter to over 40 yrs of lies, deception, backroom deals, coverup and pure poliics of an enormous crime that is our history of the POW/MIA travesty. And I fear that it is in fact the end of the legacy of almost 12 years of war in the ME.

[Dusty Balz, SASS#46599]

Hannity had Constitutional law professor ( a real one ) Johnathon Turley on last night. , he started that Barry has clearly violated the law by this blunder

[Utah Bob #35998]

Looking at the video of the release this morning, it appears that the American on the right in the group of 3 who came out to take Bergdahl back to the bird was holding something in his right hand. I suspect it was a frag. Probably with the pin pulled. Just in case.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/taliban-video-shows-bowe-bergdahls-release/story?id=23984604

[Chantry]

Looking at the video of the release this morning, it appears that the American on the right in the group of 3 who came out to take Bergdahl back to the bird was holding something in his right hand. I suspect it was a frag. Probably with the pin pulled. Just in case.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/taliban-video-shows-bowe-bergdahls-release/story?id=23984604

I wonder what was flying overhead too high to be seen or heard, damn sure there was something heavily armed flying very nearby just in case.