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I sent the following letter to a friend who isn’t military who asked my opinion about the bergdahl swap. I wrote the following:

Hi J___,

Most telling of all, for anyone who’s ever been around the military is the fact that every single one of PFC Bergdahl’s squad mates all know and say that he deserted. They are unanimous. All of them say that others died looking for the guy. They say they don’t know his motives, and they’d like to ask him why he did it, but they are certain that he left without authority…deserted

As far as swapping him for 5 high level Taliban commanders, that would be like the US in World War II swapping 5 Nazi generals we held in captivity for ONE United States PFC. (Bergdahl was a PFC when he deserted. The only reason he was promoted while away is because absent further evidence the military assumed he was a POW, and regulations require POWs be promoted automatically. But, he was a PFC when he deserted.)

We NEVER would have swapped 5 generals for one PFC in WWII….or any other war we’ve ever fought.

This notion that we “don’t leave people behind” is also not a true statement of what is actually practiced. We have had huge numbers of POWs in the past who were not swapped for and were only released at the end of wars. It’s just a fact. Will units try hard and heroically to recover their dead and wounded friends? Absolutely. But that is different than saying it is US military policy. For example, if a platoon has a mission of being a decoy so an effective attack can be launched by an entire division, should the lieutenant sacrifice the entire platoon to recover the body of a dead team member, or should he complete his critical mission that if not completed will result in an entire division of soldiers being put at risk? Obviously, his mission is what is critical. Hopefully, in the aftermath, they can recover their dead comrade, but at the critical moment of decision the mission overrides. That’s always been the way it is.

So, this terrible decision will return 5 generals to the Taliban. These men will get involved again in fighting America, and they will kill more of our own. It is a stunningly bad decision.

Faith,

S___