On Bowe Bergdahl
Some of you may have been waiting for me to write something more about PFC Bowe Bergdahl, the captured soldier who appears to be held by the Taliban. I’ve got some opinions, but I’d rather hold off until he gets recovered. In the meantime some folks who are much better informed than I are writing some brilliant stuff at their own places.
First you should read Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette. And someone who seems to know more than he’s telling us is Bouhammer. He also has the complete 28-minute video.
Speaking of videos, this one of LTC Ralph Peters on Fox News was absolutely uncalled for. Peters may know something the rest of us don’t know, but he should just shut up until Bergdahl is back in our custody;
But I understand why he calls Bergdahl a liar – I’d say stupid shit if I was talking to Julie Banderas, too.
Added: Jimbo says it’s time for the media to have a nice hot, steamy cup of STFU.
Michelle Malkin has updates to her post that make references to a note and desertion.
Category: Bloggers, Military issues, Terror War
Wow. That shit is really uncalled for. Everyone is talking off of rumors, including this idiot. We all know how this is probably going to end: Kid getting his head removed with a dull knife. And this guy jokes about how that will save the government money? If I were kin to this kid, I’d be doing a little beheading myself.
Jonn wrote: But Ward Reilly uses the opportunity to put those comments on all of us.
In order to meet the legal definition of desertion, one must show intent to never return to service. If I remember correctly, that guy that defected to North Korea in the 60s and came back recently beat the desertion charge because when he left, he brought his service cap with him. See, by keeping his hat with him, it showed that he intended to possibly return to service someday.
Calling this soldier a deserter, regardless of any inside info Peters has is false. Unless this guy was planning on walking home from Afghanistan, he is not a deserter. For someone who is supposed to be a military expert, LTC Peters doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Soldiers occasionally do stupid things. All evidence points towards PFC Bergdahl doing something incredibly stupid, and he will probably pay dearly for his mistake. But I would much rather see him face punishment at the hands of the UCMJ than Taliban animals.
Peters is practicing to become an alphabet soup talking head. And from this, he is getting pretty good. Got his case of oral shits going on pretty good. Talking with the same lack of first hand knowledge as Keith Olbermann, and waiting for his leg to begin to tingle.
Slimy bastard.
nuf sed
Jimbo updated his post by citing to a post from PJ TObia who is in Afghanistan: PFC left a note that he went to the mountains to “find himself”
Like Jonn, I was holding off on this incident but sense we have opened it up…
The very FIRST priority is to do everything possible to get this man back safely.
Then we have to deal with some troubling questions. A couple of points to made up front:
1. I’m disagreeing with Uncle J at B5 but I think there is practically ZERO possibility that this man was snatched on patrol. He was discovered missing when he missed a morning formation. Coming back in the wire any NCO is going to count his men before he counts his balls. Just didn’t happen that way.
2. Every FOB I’ve ever seen has tightly controlled entry/exit points. It seems really strange that a single soldier could walk out of a fob with no weapon and no body armor and nobody notice.
We will learn a lot more soon and we may not like a lot of it but we must do everything possible to get this man back safeely.
Regardless of whether the kid deserted, and regardless of whether he is aiding the enemy by ad-libbing in front of their cameras, he’s probably going to be murdered in front of that same camera and have the video posted on the internet. Anything anyone says about him right now is extremely distasteful. In my opinion, that LTC is as disgusting as Westboro baptist church.
For Ward Reilly to turn this around and manipulate the incident to be about Jeff and his distain and condemnation for Carl Webb is further evidence of how fucking deep that man’s insanity is rooted.
Here’s a video that has a couple of different news organization “analysts” creating their own conspiracy on how Bowe was captured. http://www.newsy.com/videos/captive_u_s_soldier_a_hero_or_a_deserter However, until the truth comes out, he deserves to be brought home just like any other soldier. And, it’s not fair to call him a deserter when there’s no solid evidence of him doing so.
get our guy back, first…
worry about the other shit later.
Well, I have to agree with COB6 and CR on this. Yes, the events surrounding his disappearance and subsequent capture by the Taliban, are open for debate and it doesn’t smell good for any reason. That being said; what CR pointed out is a definite possibility, also.
What Uncle Jimbo pointed out is also true: There is too much arm chair quarterbacking going on and we need to keep the pontificating under the radar until we get this young man out safely.
I know that it’s a very difficult time for this young man’s family and friends and all our talking of possible scenarios might be reaching that family. I know that there are some folks here with vast experience and knowledge in such matters, who’s credibility is above question, and in normal circumstances, that knowledge, experience, and wisdom would prove to be a valuable asset to us all. However, this is not a normal circumstance and we need to excercise some restraint in our assessments, please, for the time being.
It’s just a suggestion and I’m not trying to piss anyone off, I’m just looking at it from the standpoint of waiting until this is over, hopefully safely for all involved from our side.
Hi. I am non-military and was looking at the video, comments, etc. and I have some questions that I would be interested in comments on….
I don’t mean to be dense, but if a 23 y/o PFC can simply walk off a base in the middle of a war zone, what keeps an enemy soldier from just walking onto the base with a suicide bomb? I don’t understand how a soldier just disappears and no one knows about it until the following day. Is it that lax, or is this just cya cover-up style ARMY stuff?
I cannot imagine the strain this kid must be under, and even if he did have a lapse of judgment and leave the base unarmed, I’m totally stunned that retired military are calling on the taliban to just murder this soldier.
I’m not trying to be antagonistic, I have a lot of mixed feelings about our involvement over there. But he’s an American soldier, no matter what, and it seems as though he should at least have the support of the brass until all the facts are straight.
I also wonder what McCain or someone might say in a situation like this. Or is it just understood that the less said, the better?
Thanks,
Terri
My son recently returned from Iraq. I cannot possibly imagine what I would be doing if this were MY son missing. In fact I told my husband tonite I would have to be restrained from leaving for that country to get him myself. And what would really, really irk me more would be having to listen to anyone “dissing” that young man without any evidence of wrongdoing.
And what if this young man did make any kind of bad decision…do any of us who are not active or veterans understand what it’s like in a war zone? I know of young men and women on their third tour. Imagine the mental stress they must endure and might this stress lead occasionally to poor decisions or coping? Recently, a young man shot several other military members at a military mental health clinic.
I imagine that when PFC Bergdahl signed up for service he was fully prepared to comit to service to his country and I reserve judgement out of respect for him and his family. I pray for his safe return and that his family has the support they need in the meantime.
God bless all serving men and women in our armed forces.
“I’d say stupid shit if I was talking to Julie Banderas, too.”
Heh. You always got to watch ’em for the non-verbals though. Peters missed a hella lotta ques.
“if a 23 y/o PFC can simply walk off a base…” I got no idea what happened in this case, but I learned long ago to never underestimate what a determined young American can do. Others here could probably second that.
And Peters should STFU.
My two cents:
There’s a lot of things that don’t add up.
“He was interviewed in English by his captors. He was asked his views on the war, which he called extremely hard; his desire to learn more about Islam; and the morale of American Soldiers, which he said was low.
……On July 2, the U.S. military said an American Soldier had disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts and was believed to have been taken prisoner.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533808,00.html
That kid isn’t the sharpest fucking bayonet in the arms room. Why in the hell did he wander off base without his ‘battle rattle’, his weapon, or a logical reason, like a mission? I hate to say this, but he delivered himself up to the muslim jihad scum on a godamned silver platter. It has all the earmarks of a desertion along with a defection to the enemy. If that’s the case, if he’s ever returned, he ought to be hung by his ankles and beaten like a pinata.
This didn’t start out well, and it probably won’t end that way, either.
Indeed !
i’m pretty certain that i would not wonder off to ‘find myself’ if i were in taliban-controlled afghanistan. d’oh.
having said that, he probably is a deserter or worse but he’s still our deserter or worse. we need to bring this kid home and deal with him here. i didn’t like seeing his head shaved and growing one of those creepy rage boy beards either.
“get our guy back, first…
worry about the other shit later.”
“And Peters should STFU.”
ECHO!!!
“He was interviewed in English by his captors. He was asked his views on the war, which he called extremely hard; his desire to learn more about Islam; and the morale of American Soldiers, which he said was low.”
During “The Russian Time.” Soviets captured by the muj often were given the opportunity to convert to Islam save their lives. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is given & takes this opportunity.
Read a lot about Muj skullduggery & dirty tricks they’d pull on the Russians & Brits and other foreigners on my own. I don’t think the military does a good enough job emphasizing how wickedly clever the enemy can be in that region, or how treachery is a footnote in every chapter of Afghan history. It’s really creepy how Afghans are entrusted to guard much of our installations. The intel weenies insist that having wiz-bang data bases and retina scans will prevent the Afghan security from turning on us. If you read Lester Grau’s books, often times Russian and Afghan Gov’t forces were betrayed by turn coats. We are far too trusting and naive for this kind of warfare. The population of Afghanistan is barbaric (NOT STUPID!) & our pee-cee blinders won’t allow the policy makers to adress this fact.
This irresponsible , possibly treasonous little creep has caused the death of many . The poor pawns that were sent to retrieve his worthless being . His arrogant sperm donor is telling the survivors of the youth sent to “rescue” this jerk that they have no idea what HE has been through ? What an arrogant Muslim ASS ! There are at least 6 Americans , REAL AMERICANS who will never spend time with their families again .
One can only wonder what was really going on . Is B Hussein Obama retrieving a dutiful fellow agent and returning Gitmo terrorists ? He certainly seems to be .
Obama lied , our soldiers died , terrorists are set free . Are you finally realizing which side Obama is on ?
Hey Jonn Lilyea, looks like YOU are the one that was saying stupid shit!
Yeah, I knew the same stuff Peters knew, but I was keeping my mouth shut until Bergdahl was back in US hands. If that was “saying stupid shit” – Guilty.
The interviewer says that Fox is not going to do the Taliban any favors by playing the video. I wish The Emperor had the same attitude. As for LTC Peters, yeah, he called it w/o pulling any punches after saying, in his opening, that we must wait until all of the facts are in. Then he did what Jonn refused to do–and refrained from doing for five years: calling Bergdahl a liar, a likely deserter…etc. What Jonn did is to be admired “Fred Porter”–not scoffed at.