Posted on 06/01/2014 8:06:58 PM PDT by kristinn
The sense of pride expressed by officials of the Obama administration at the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is not shared by many of those who served with him -- veterans and soldiers who call him a deserter whose "selfish act" ended up costing the lives of better men.
"I was pissed off then and I am even more so now with everything going on," said former Sergeant 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."
Vierkant said Bergdahl needs to not only acknowledge his actions publicly but face a military trial for desertion under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
A reporter asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Sunday whether Bergdahl had left his post without permission or deserted -- and, if so, whether he would be punished. Hagel didn't answer directly. "Our first priority is assuring his well-being and his health and getting him reunited with his family," he said. "Other circumstances that may develop and questions, those will be dealt with later."
Following his release from five years of captivity in Afghanistan on Saturday, Bergdahl was transferred to a military hospital in Germany.
SNIP
On August 18, 2009, Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen and Pfc. Morris Walker were killed by an IED in the search for Bergdahl. Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss was killed on August 26; 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews and Pfc. Matthew Michael Martinek were killed after being attacked in Yahya Khail District on September 4; Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey was killed September 5 by an IED at the Forward Operating Base, Sharana.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
And could say something about em.
The fact the dad DELETED it speaks volumes....
But its gone viral now....
Is this Cody guy Airborne?
Was looking at his patch and wondering. He sounds concerned about divulging too much.
Here’s the tweet from Bob Bergdahl’s account, which was published May 28 and deleted Saturday night:
@ABalkhi I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen! — Robert Bergdahl (@bobbergdahl) May 28, 2014
Bergdahl Snuck Off Post to Join Taliban – At Least Six Americans Were Killed Trying to Find Him
Seems it had to be someone within their battalion...possibly brigade....but what would be the purpose?
“So all signs DON’T point to a jihadi family with a traitor son, not at all. It’s all very confusing.”
Wrong. All signs point to the fact that this guy either deserted or possibly even collaborated with the enemy. Everything.
His emotional reaction does not constitute any evidence that refutes all of the other factors, nor does it in itself conclude to any evidence to the contrary.
No, historical Taliban behavior destroys that theory. They've murdered numerous foreigners in Afghanistan and other nations without blinking twice. Berg, Pearl, UN convoy personnel, doctors, etc.
There is nothing in their behavior that indicates that a lowly Private or Corporal is "valuable" in this sense unless he was providing actionable intel for them to kill our troops more readily and easily.
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At the end of brief event, the soldier’s father, Bob Bergdahl, recited the most frequent phrase in the Koran — “Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim” — which means “In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Compassionate.”
After Bergdahl finished his statement and his praise for Allah, Obama hugged him.
The Taliban echoed Bergdahl, saying the trade happened “due to the benevolence of Allah Almighty and the sacrifices of the heroic and courageous Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3162417/posts
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Ok, this was posted publicly on Facebook, so I am cutting and pasting. This is who and what I know. Take it for what it is worth. I believe we all agree that we want the truth to come out.
“Glenn was the pastor of the Bergdahls when their son was taken captive. I am posting this with his permission.
Glenn: Now, supposedly, Bowe is a traitor, Bob is a “Muslim sleeper,” and terrorists have been released to threaten the USA.
Let me point out:
1) Only Bowe Bergdahl knows the exact circumstances of his capture. Though it may have been foolish for him to walk a few yards away from his bunker in Eastern Afghanistan, he hardly had the liberty to return the next morning. So, could he be charged or convicted of desertion? If it was a foolish act, he has paid a heavy price for his his actions. The military will sort out these matters. Bowe may prove an invaluable source of intelligence of Taliban activities over the last five years.
2) At the dissolution of Sovereign Redeemer Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Boise last year, Bob and Janil were members in good standing. Though Bob tends toward Libertarian political views, reads Calvin and Rushdoony, questions some aspects of US Middle-eastern foreign and military policy, isn’t that what being an American is about... the right to question our government and its actions, and to hold strange views, even to be a Calvinist or Theonomist or Libertarian? To the best of my knowledge, Bob has been a desperate father trying to learn as much about his son’s captors in a time when he never knew if he’d see him alive again.
If Bob were a Muslim, would we rejoice any less in the return of a son and brother from five years captivity, when whether he was alive or dead, and how he was treated, was unknown?
I remember Bob’s concern for the salvation of his son when he was captured. He told me, “I pray as much for his conversion to Christ as I do for his life to be spared.”
3) Are the Guantanamo detainees POWs or criminals? If criminals, give them fair trials and if convicted impose a just sentence. If POWs, there will come a time when they will all be released; which is normal in the cessation of hostilities. So, if they are going to eventually be released, didn’t it make sense to get something for five of them. Prisoner exchanges are often part of most wars. Israel, a few years ago, released a thousand Palestinian prisoners to obtain the release of one of their soldiers. I given the president some credit for taking bold and potentially controversial action to save Bowe’s life and return him home.
Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up for a week or two and let the Bergdahls enjoy having their son, who once seemed dead and is yet alive, safe in American hands?”
So, basically, your friend has nothing.
Sorry, pastor or no, he sounds deceived. He wants to believe the best when there appears a mountain of evidence to the contrary. I believe the deserter’s comrades-in-arms, who are in a far better position to know.
The statements of the men who served with him count for far more than this liberal leftist pablum below.
Bergdahl can make up any story he pleases, and apparently there are a lot of people who want everyone to leave him alone, let him live in peace, and go his own way.
The worthless POS deliberately cost the lives of men who left widows, orphans, and grieving parents, relatives and friends.
What a bunch of liberal BS.
When I was in the military, there were two ways a person is declared a deserter. One - he leaves and is marked down as AWOL for 30 days. On day 31, he is declared a deserter. Two - he leaves and leaves behind him signs that he has no intention of returning. Like cutting up his ID card and leaving it behind. OR BY PUTTING HIS UNIFORMS IN A BOX AND SHIPPING THEM OFF TO HIS PARENTS!
Do you get that? Do you you understand that? He discarded his uniforms with no intention of wearing them again. He is a deserter.
Getting to this pastors ramblings. He states "...isn’t that what being an American is about... the right to question our government and its actions, and to hold strange views..." Than he states "Can’t these conspiracy accusers shut up for a week or two and let the Bergdahls enjoy having their son..." Sorry pastor, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot say we as Americans have the right to question the actions of others and then tell us to shut up. This is typical liberal thinking.
] Now you Persevero - if you want to believe the best of this guy, more power to you. I think you have your head in the clouds and eventually you will be proven wrong.
Res ipsa loquitur
Taliban claim captured U.S. solider has converted to Islam and is teaching its fighters bomb-making skills
By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
UPDATED: 08:39 EST, 22 August 2010
A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials.
Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only U.S. serviceman in captivity.
The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors told The Sunday Times.
A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem, told the newspaper that Bergdahl taught him how to dismantle a mobile phone and turn it into a remote control for a roadside bomb.
Nadeem claimed he also received basic ambush training from the U.S. soldier.
‘Most of the skills he taught us we already knew,’ he said. ‘Some of my comrades think he’s pretending to be a Muslim to save himself so they wouldn’t behead him.’
Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is ‘cooperating with the Taliban’ and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan.
Nadeem also shed some light on how Bergdahl was captured.
After the serviceman left his post in Paktika’s Yahya Khel district with an Afghan soldier he was spotted entering a nearby village.
A group of eight Taliban gunman in a nearby field were alerted and ambushed the pair, killing the Afghan soldier.
Bergdahl was knocked to the ground and ordered to strip and put on Afghan clothing. His kidnappers disposed of all his clothing and belongings, fearing he may be bugged.
The American was initially terrified that he would be beheaded, Nadeem said, but has since become ‘very relaxed in our company’.
In April, a harrowing video of Bergdahl pleading for his freedom was released by the Taliban.
In the footage, Bergdahl said he wants to return to his family in Idaho and that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison.
It was the first he had been seen since the Taliban released a previous video of him at Christmas.
The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few press-ups to demonstrate he’s in good physical condition.
There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.
In the sometimes choppy video, Bergdahl talked about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing.
‘I’m a prisoner. I want to go home,’ he said.
‘This war isn’t worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It’s not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners.’
At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl - clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues - clasped his hands together and pleaded: ‘The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn’t get any smaller.
‘Release me. Please, I’m begging you, bring me home.’
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