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Bowe Bergdahl deserter or hero
By Jim Killebrew
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[June 03, 2014]
We
have been listening to and watching the story unfold about the last
"prisoner of war" in Afghanistan being released. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
was held by the Taliban for almost five years, seemingly as a
prisoner and only being seen occasionally on videos provided by his
captors. The price of his freedom was arranged by the President and
his Administration which consisted of the release of five
high-ranking Taliban leaders who had been incarcerated at the United
States security prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the past the US
government thought these particular men were much too dangerous to
release fearing they would return to combat positions in the Taliban
and again make war on America through their planned terror attacks. |
The official talking points relayed to the American public beginning with
the President's press conference at the White House, along with Sgt.
Bergdahl's parents, were that Sgt. Bergdahl was a prisoner of war and the
Administration did all it could to secure his release from his captors since
it is their policy to "leave no man behind." The inference from the
Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hegel, on the Sunday Morning talk shows was that
Sgt. Bergdahl is being hailed as a "hero" since he endured the intensity of
capture for such a long time. He insisted we focus on just the return of the
sergeant and "sort out all the other loose ends" after he is back home with
his family.
Those details the Secretary of Defense referred to is the rising voices of
the choir of those who thought the President had broken the 200-year
tradition and policy not to "negotiate" with terrorists. Additionally, some
members of Congress cried foul because neither the President nor his Defense
Secretary bothered to follow the law that required at least a 30-day notice
to Congress when a prisoner was released from Guantanamo Bay.
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Now, over the last 48 hours there has been a rising chorus of skeptics
regarding the veracity of the entire release process and the reason why Sgt.
Bergdahl had been captured in the first place. Voices have been raised by
some of those claiming to have been there when the sergeant left his post
and "walked away" even without his weapon. Apparently taking only some
water, a compass and a knife, dressed in civilian clothes the sergeant
wanted to do a "walk about" and simply left his post presumably in search of
the Taliban. Others have stated since his release that the ensuing hunt for
the sergeant cost the lives of at least five other military personnel, and
perhaps provided valuable information to the Taliban forces in the area to
enable them to enhance their own advantage to make war against the Americans
there. The most common term that has been applied to the sergeant's actions
on that day he left his post is the word, "deserter."
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2014/Jun/03/images/ads/current/castlemanor_lda_032414.png) Without drawing any kind of conclusions regarding this incident,
we should let the issue proceed on and unfold with more evidence. It
will be interesting to see how this event turns out. As usual, it is
difficult to trust the Administration with this incident. Their
credibility has been lost for a long time. If it turns out this guy
really is a deserter and left his post intentionally to seek out the
enemy to join them, and the President has turned loose five
high-ranking Taliban for him, breaking the law at the same time,
will the Congress do something about that?
If the charges posed by the opposition are proven to be true and the
President has broken the law in this transaction he needs to be held
accountable. Further, by breaking the practice not to negotiate with
terrorists or kidnappers poses a real threat to Americans around the
world. If the price of an American kidnapped prisoner is the release
of confirmed terrorist prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, perhaps the
President has discovered a way to make good his promise at the
beginning of his Administration to close that prison. All the
Taliban has to do is kidnap Americans knowing that this
Administration will negotiate their trade by releasing the Taliban's
comrades in arms from Guantanamo Bay.
This President has made his Administration the hallmark of setting
precedents; usually the negative kind that will set off a chain
reaction of unintended consequences.
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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