Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Saving Sgt. Bergdahl (How About Saving The Marine Held In Mexico)
Townhall.com ^ | June 3, 2014 | Mona Charen

Posted on 06/03/2014 6:35:51 AM PDT by Kaslin

Speaking to graduates at West Point (New York), President Barack Obama tooted on his toy horn, "al-Qaida's leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated." Even that slender boast -- just on the border regions? -- is now vitiated. The five Taliban terrorists released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will step nimbly into any vacant posts.

Khairullah Khairkhwa, one of the founders of the Taliban, served as governor of Herat province when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. He is known for ethnic massacres, narcotics trafficking, close ties to Osama bin Laden, and supervising terrorist training camps within Herat.

Khairkhwa is a "moderate" compared with Mohammad Fazl, who is a "known war criminal" according to the Institute for the Study of War. Mullah Omar's "top soldier," Fazl displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, destroyed homes and businesses, and personally planned and carried out the executions of at least 175 civilians.

Noorullah Noori had close ties to bin Laden and served as a messenger between Mullah Omar and the al-Qaida chief. The Taliban carried out several massacres in areas under his supervision, and he is wanted by the United Nations for war crimes.

Abdul Haq Wasiq was the deputy chief of the Taliban secret police. They're always such nice fellows.

Mohammad Nabi fought with an al-Qaida cell and served in lesser posts in the Taliban government (room for professional development). He may have been included on the list because he's related to Bergdahl's captors.

Perhaps these releases are just the down payment on Obama's plan to free all of the detainees at Guantanamo. As he explained to the cadets, "And that's why I will continue to push to close Gitmo -- because American values and legal traditions do not permit the indefinite detention of people beyond our borders." But that's not what the administration is claiming. They are touting the prisoner exchange as a proud example of the military ethic of "leave no man or woman behind," as the president expressed it.

When this administration requires an official to tell lies in service of a better story, they offer Susan Rice. In this case, she deadpanned, "Sgt. Bergdahl wasn't simply a hostage; he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield."

That's false. According to copious reporting on the matter, Bergdahl deserted. Before he left his unit in the middle of the night, the New York Post reports, he sent his parents an email detailing his views of the COIN operation: "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 ... I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools ... The horror that is America is disgusting." His father emailed back, "OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE."

Apparently, that's what he did. And he has paid a terrible price, no doubt. The Taliban are less than gracious hosts -- even to self-hating Americans.

Wishing no further suffering on Bergdahl or his family, isn't it legitimate to make distinctions between soldiers who truly are "captured on the battlefield" and those who place their comrades in danger by deserting? At least six Americans were killed searching for Bergdahl. As a member of his battalion told The Daily Beast: "Bergdahl did not 'lag behind on a patrol,' as was cited in news reports at the time. There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted."

Even if Bergdahl had been a Medal of Honor winner, the exchange of five Taliban leaders for him would have been questionable. Such deals make kidnapping American soldiers more likely. The administration assures us that the Qatar government will enforce a travel ban on the five for a year. A year is nothing. And it's extremely doubtful that the Wahhabi, jihadist-supporting government of Qatar will keep strict tabs on the group.

The greatest offense here may not be to our security but to our intelligence. The White House has attempted to present this trade as some sort of victory. The president held a Rose Garden ceremony to tout his accomplishment in bringing home an American fighting man. Rice claims that Bergdahl served with "honor and distinction."

Either they are lying and hoping few will learn the real story about Bergdahl, or they really believe that such a misguided fool was honorable. Which, I wonder, is worse


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; bergdahl; bergdahlgate; bowebergdal; guantanamobay; resident0bama; taliban

1 posted on 06/03/2014 6:35:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
How About Saving The Marine Held In Mexico

No kidding.

In addition, I think most would agree we have a few million we're willing to trade for him.../s

2 posted on 06/03/2014 6:42:55 AM PDT by logi_cal869
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
The administration assures us that the Qatar government will enforce a travel ban on the five for a year

My guy ran an entire family from the pen w/o any difficulty and w/o cell phones or the internet. The Muslims can run their war just as easily and successfully. Obama's actions are treasonous.

D.C.

3 posted on 06/03/2014 6:43:04 AM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Obama and his administration lies !00% of the time!!! Obama is not on the USA team!!! He should be impeached!!!


4 posted on 06/03/2014 6:46:22 AM PDT by JLAGRAYFOX ( My only objective is to defeat and destroy Obama & his Democrat Party, politically!!!.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

No chance. The Marine is a patriotic American, unlike Bergdahl. Obama will do nothing to get a freedom-loving Second Amendment supporter back.


5 posted on 06/03/2014 6:46:31 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

my question is when did Bergdohl and his daddy convert to islam, before or after sonny boy joined the military? Daddy speaks Pharsi fluently, and we are to believe that just happened once his son was captured? Also, the Pentagon knew he was a deserter in 2010, but then Bergdohl still gets raises and promotions in absentia. Our entire Govt. appears to be infiltrated by the Enemy starting at the top and sliming all the way down.


6 posted on 06/03/2014 6:51:36 AM PDT by Sioux-san
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
perhaps we can ask the French.....to help with their French Foreign Legion....once theyve re considered allowing BOWE to join up???


7 posted on 06/03/2014 6:58:30 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Why didn’t they save the men in Benghazi?


8 posted on 06/03/2014 7:05:21 AM PDT by ExTexasRedhead
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

If this Marine was gay, a jerkoff of color or loved the Islamic Terrorists, he would have been released the first day he was captured by the Mexican Drug lords’s proxy, the Mexican Government.


9 posted on 06/03/2014 7:10:44 AM PDT by Grampa Dave ( Herr Obama will not divert resources from his war on Americans to help Veterans!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grampa Dave

No doubt about it


10 posted on 06/03/2014 7:13:28 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: JLAGRAYFOX

He was WAY to busy getting the 5 TERRORISTS released from Shangri La to be concerned with an INNOCENT MARINE stuck in a hell hole in Mexico.

What a pathetic POS.


11 posted on 06/03/2014 7:15:42 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

If there was a way that obama could make sure his muslim terrorist buddies could benefit, thatt Marine would be home tomorrow.


12 posted on 06/03/2014 7:56:41 AM PDT by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Many of us have realized that the Bergdahl release served the successful purpose of “wagging the dog” to deflect attention from the growing VA scandal. What media are now reporting on our veterans’ plight over their healthcare?

It’s disturbing how this administration attempts to fabricate a hero, but it’s all backfiring. Small consolation, though, to the families of the servicemen who may have died trying to find this loser.


13 posted on 06/03/2014 8:12:27 AM PDT by Ebenezer (Strength and Honor!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Imagine the deal Sheik Obama will have to make with the Mexicans to get Andrew Tahmooressi released.

Full amnesty and empty the jails?

I wouldn’t put it past him.


14 posted on 06/03/2014 8:24:11 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

My advice to the marine in Mexico: Grow a beard and start yelling “Allah Akbar”. Barry will be there for you in a flash.


15 posted on 06/03/2014 8:35:38 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fresh Wind

I wouldn’t either


16 posted on 06/03/2014 1:16:48 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson