Bergdahl news
Our friend, Aunty Brat at Assoluta Tranquillita writes that the initial investigation of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl by the Army CID in “inconclusive”;
An initial Army investigation into the whereabouts of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl following his disappearance in June 2009 did not conclude that he voluntarily left his installation, an Army official, speaking on background, said today.
“My recollection is that it didn’t make a conclusive finding on that,” the official said.
He’s also been cleared of any misconduct during his captivity, according to The Wire;
As the Army continues to investigate whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is guilty of deserting his unit, this afternoon they said there is no reason to believe that Bergdahl engaged in any misconduct during his five years in captivity.
Yeah, well, as much as they can investigate that by asking him questions. We’ll never know the answer to that unless one of his captors writes a book in the near future. I’m not expecting that though, probably because I’m a racist and I don’t think that his captors were even barely literate.
Meanwhile, the list of people that are being victimized by Bergdahl’s late night stroll five years ago continues to grow as his hometown, Hailey, Idaho, which stood vigil for him for those five years is feeling heat that they really don’t deserve. From Stars & Stripes;
The past month has disfigured that inviting image. Hailey residents have seen their city branded as the birthplace of a soldier widely vilified as a deserter, a traitor and various unprintable words, and their support of him denounced as treasonous. As they worry about Bergdahl’s well-being and await his return to Hailey, their warmth toward outsiders has chilled. They wonder if, in the coming weeks, there will be more malice.
They really don’t deserve the treatment they’re getting there – they were invested in bringing him home and didn’t realize the caldron boiling underneath the issue. I’m sure it came out of no where for them.
Category: Military issues
“Inconclusive”, eh? I wondered how much whitewash was going for these days . . . .
Well, CID could always interview the guys in his unit. Problem is, they would probably say things Big Army really doesn’t want to hear.
I would venture to guess they have already interviewed those guys and you’re right, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.
Is this gonna be another one of those issues that depend on what your definition of “is” is?
Hondo, you can be certain that the major general heading up the investigation is constantly reminding himself of that photo op in the Rose Garden. He isn’t about to embarrass the Commander of the Chiefs (as Al Sharpton would say) who can block his third star.
That photo op is the most egregious example of “Command Influence” I’ve ever seen and I’m starting to suspect that it was planned and executed for exactly that purpose, to announce quite publicly to the military high command precisely where their civilian leadership stood on the issue.
^^^Spot on, Poetrooper.^^^
I’m less than surprised by the findings. I sort of figured when the current admin was caught completely unprepared for the blowback and seemed genuinely unaware of the circumstances surrounding his midnight stroll that no matter what actually happened all we’d hear is that there was no evidence of wrong doing. The State Dept and WH coming out strong insulting the rest of his platoon solidified that for me.
Is Big Army really going to try to clear Bergdahl?? REALLY?? They sincerely think that this will wash?? I am truly amazed.
Inconclusive? Really?? If he wasn’t captured on the battlefield or by enemy infiltrators heck or taken a wrong turn while driving a vehicle, what else is left? He walked away from his base. Unless he was under some kind of duress, in my book he deserted.
god i hope none of you ever sit on a panel. you all have as many preconceived notions on what he did or didn’t do as you accuse the Army of having. 1) so he was cleared of misconduct while a captive. lets break that down with this as a starting point, he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. so if the Army had found that he committed misconduct they would have to try him and think they could prove it beyond 99.9%. oh and you can’t use how he was captured, surrendered etc in your proof because that is a different issue that legally has no bearing on his behavior DURING his captivity. 2nd, even if he did give information while in captivity, now prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not him being broken because A. every POW breaks with enough time. That includes MOH recipients from Vietnam. this fact is something the code of conduct recognizes. B. if he was broken or forced in any way then it is not illegal. now on to the AK47 thing, prove beyond 99.9% doubt that it had rounds in it, oh and even if it did he had a reasonable chance to escape, the military does NOT require you to resist if you don’t have to means to effectively resist. by your standard every pilot taken POW during Vietnam is failed to do there duty because they did not use their pistols to attack the NVA. get real. add to all this we do have evidence he tried to escape twice. make sure you can make that go away. add all that up and if you objectively think you can convince everyone on a panel that he broke the law beyond a reasonable doubt well then go ahead and say he committed misconduct as a captive for 5 years, but i don’t think you would find any court Marshall panel ready to convict. 2. the AWOL investigation they are talking about happened in 2009, not after he was freed so there… Read more »
oops that was supposed to go on the main thread and not as a reply
I’ve been saying something identical to what you have posted all along. Innocent until proven guilty, let the investigation run its course, yada, yada.
Maybe he is transgendered and the WH and DoD are going light on him. After all he did voluntarily wear a dress for a 5 years.
He also probably participated willingly in Man Love Thursdays as well.
And Boy Love Mondays, and Goat love Saturdays, and Gang Rape Wednesdays…
you missed Donkey Love Tuesdays.
Props for bringing up “going light” and the WH in the same sentence, MCPO.
I’m not surprised over this. It just shows how bullshit this whole investigation is.
This just in from the DOD, the Department of the Army and the White House…
“The investigation into the whereabouts of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl following his disappearance in June 2009 concludes that the Sgt was sleepwalking when he left his post in Afghanistan and has been found innocent of any wrongdoing and we wish him well in his future endeavors…”
/don’t say “I told you so” later.
‘sleepwalking’?
Oh, that’s a new name for it.
I prefer to call such behavior “emulating the 2012 Presidential Election”. But maybe that’s just me.
ChipNASA…Please, please tell me you were kidding in your post. Please tell me that is not an official story from the Admin.
NO kidding but I bet you doughnuts to dollars that *SOMETHING* like that will come out of all this.
“…there is no reason to believe that Bergdahl engaged in any misconduct during his five years in captivity.”
That is a bald faced lie. Period.
I admire your restraint, Nicki.
LOL! Hondo, there’s not much more I can actually publicly say, so I have to stick to that. That’s the ONLY reason for my restraint.
No evidence of misconduct, huh? Let’s see:
Was a shitty soldier to begin with–check
Left his post on his own–check
Asked locals where he could find Taliban–check
Tried to get away–no
Carried a loaded AK–check
Tried to shoot any Taliban with said AK–hell no
Briefed enemy on US tactics and capabilities–check
Had an ongoing love triangle with multiple Taliban dudes, two or three small boys, and at least one goat–unconfirmed but highly probable
Got American GIs hurt and killed–check
Expressed any remorse at all–are you kidding me?
Aided in the release of five major terrorist leaders–check
Broke every oath he ever swore–check, check, check
Did I miss anything?
The Other Whitey…No you didn’t. I went over your check list and you nailed every truth.
“Briefed enemy on US tactics and capabilities–check”
Did WAY more than that. Check.
Interesting. You have information about it. I’m guessing you’re not able to disclose for legal reasons? Hopefully you’ll be able to share it with us eventually.
OK here goes, and keep in mind i happen to think he DID dessert but we are talking about his behavior in captivity and holding to a standard that others can be reasonable expected to meet. Was a shitty soldier to begin with– I will give you this, but that is also completely irreverent to his behavior while in captivity. I have had lots of shitty soldiers, all had different reasons why they were shitty but that does not make them traitors, hell John McCain was a shitty Sailor but behaved perfectly honorable as a POW. Left his post on his own–probably but again this doers not speak to his actions after he was captured Asked locals where he could find Taliban–according to one unverified report and a bunch of afghans. did you trust the afghans down range? I rarely did and never without confirmation. Tried to get away–wrong, we know that he did try to get away on at least two occasions Carried a loaded AK–again wrong, we don’t know it was loaded, A. it could have been an empty magazine and B. what is the source of that information? Tried to shoot any Taliban with said AK–if giving you it was loaded he had no obligation moral or legal to use it unless it offered a reasonable possibility of military effectiveness. if he was surrounded by 10 Taliban at the time and he had one mag most soldiers would surrender or be ordered to surrender by their officers. see WWII, Korea etc. Briefed enemy on US tactics and capabilities–possibly again no proof and even if true, now you get to prove his did it willingly since the vast vast vast majority of captives break. Had an ongoing love triangle with multiple Taliban dudes, two or three small boys, and at least one goat–providing nothing more then you despise him. Got American GIs hurt and killed_ this is a tough one, on one hand yes they were out looking for him, on the other i would have expected them to be doing patrols just like we did and god… Read more »
“John McCain was a shitty Sailor but behaved perfectly honorable as a POW.”
Perfectly honorable?
You’ve read the sealed reports of his days as a POW and the statements he made?
mccain is an equally shitty senator.
the ones after being tortured? those? the ones made under duress? those? thank you for making my point, almost everyone breaks.
Redlog JO, would the JO be JAG Oficer? I assume so, so you are writing from a legal perspective . If so , I would not want a JAG representing me that does not know the difference between “weather” and “whether “. And for the person that listed several comments above, it is “court martial”, not “court Marshall”, unless you are referring to one of the characters from How I Met Your Mother (How I Met Your Mama-San for the Asian market) when he became a judge.
Good catch, Hack!
RedLeg JO = FA Junior Officer. I am not even close to a JAG, I have never claimed to be a lawyer. All i am is a simple Combat Arms Officer
I have dealt with several 15-6 and LOD investigations however and seen enough CID investigations as well as known enough CID personnel to get an idea of how they work.
as far as a few typos, mea culpa, i did indeed make a few and if you want to use that to attack me and ignore my arguments go ahead, i tend not to super proof read all my comments.
Completely and utterly disgusted, but far from shocked. This administration got themself another black eye, and will stop at nothing as usual to cover over the bruise to deny its existence.
They are like the abuser and the abused spouse rolled up in one, they beat on themself and when the cops show up they say they ran into a door…
rb325th When the cops show up? Don’t you mean when the SWAT team knocks down the door, tosses in flash-bangs, shoots the dog then drags the husband out for interrogation in the MRAP?
Lmao!
Yikes brother, wrong thread!
But still funny as hell, or not……..
🙂
Inconclusive except for all of his fellow soldiers on the ground there.
What did everyone think was going to happen? The One stepped in it big time and ordered the Army to whitewash it to save face.
Nothing to see here now lets get back to jamming gay trannies and women in combat down everyone’s throats.
jonp…If Obama gets a black eye, how would you know? I mean, he has so many already! 😀
Keep on going with your bad self!
You know I always figured the truth of Bergdahl would the truth of Obama and senior DoD officials. If he didn’t walk off his post, then he must have been captured in the quiet of the night at his post. A pretty big feat with his squad members standing watch. To be spirited away like that. But that will probably be Obama’s story and he’s sticking to it. Until after Obama is gone and perhaps even after that we may never know the truth. We certainly will not hear it from this administration of from Bergdahl. The only hope is that his squad and platoon members continue to tell the truth and as time passes, senior leaders and officers in his unit come forward with the truth.
Seems kinda funny to me that they are rushing this crap out the pipeline, as quickly as they can. So, its going to be the politically expedient route, unit files will go unfiled in the archives and former platoon painted as being crazy, fucked up, lazy and worthless until someone in the future uncovers some discrepancies in CID’s investigation.
Given CID’s past performace in such matters, NFW would I consider cutting them any slack. Winter Crybabies 71 in Detroit and sKerrys lies being told in person and recorded in the Congressional Record tends to back that up a tad for me.
Guarantee, Bergdahl will be trotted around by the anti-war crews after this is over and done with, too.
As far as Hailey, ID goes, I feel pretty disappointed over the treatment those people have been getting. I truly do.
Speaking of this administration, they’ve done exactly as their marxist buddies in academia, news, entertainment and other area’s of society wanted done. They got those new Vietnam’s they were mentally masturbating for.
No black eyes for them. The only people suffering from black eyes are “we the people” and veterans again. Fuck ’em all…
And feed’em fish heads!
The story that he was taken captive in the latrine without a weapon was from Taliban radio intercepts days after he walked away. I finally saw the source of that story. It is from Wikileaks from intercepted Taliban communications. Goes something like this “we were attacking the base and we captured him in the latrine taking a shit without a weapon…” So that whole story about his capture that has been repeated in the media as a plausible story of how he was captured was from Taliban talking to their higher making it sound like they were active and causing mayhem when they were probably just sitting around drinking tea and this kid walks up to them and defects. Look it up, that is where the latrine story came from. I have not heard any credible reports of the outpost being overrun before his capture, and I find it hard to believe that the latrine was down the hill outside the wire.
After Bergdahl’s parents stood in the Rose Garden, did you actually expect this story to have any other ending?
Forget it, the case is closed. Just one more injustice to be added to the pile.
“Hailey residents have seen their city branded as the birthplace of a soldier widely vilified as a deserter, a traitor and various unprintable words, and their support of him denounced as treasonous.”
Oh boo frigging hoo. I’ve lived in several small Idaho towns. Everyone is related and they don’t take kindly to newcomers until you have been there a couple generations. Just an idea Idaho, stop first cousins from gettin-hitched and the rest of us might think differently of you.
Azygos…Live in easy driving distance of Idaho…and I don’t. Though they are a conservative state by and large but the folks there are as you report. In fact, were I Emperor of my state, they would only be allowed here one day a week. Otherwise they get a choice of a $300 ticket or the LEO wears their ass out with his night stick, their option. They can’t drive or forget how when they cross the border and generally screw up traffic and any drive through they show up at. I call them “Idaho Potato Heads”, not to be confused with the “Oregon Onion Heads” to the south, they are worse still.
I have a lot of (non-inbred) family in southern Idaho and visit often. I haven’t really seen that. Must be a northern Idaho thing.
I blame Hailey for enabling a lie. Yes, it’s normal for the town to feel bad for and support the Bergdahl family as their friends and neighbors, but when the story came out that something was wrong, they turned on everyone but the perpetrator. That’s wrong, and I do blame the town for that.
Having said that, though…the death threats and anonymous hate calls and emails is just plain wrong. Those are just cranks capitalizing on the situation and spewing their vile stupidity.
Apparently MG Kenneth Dahl hasn’t even interviewed Bergdahl yet…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/25/army-has-not-advised-bergdahl-his-legal-rights/
I thought that B.Hussein 0bama & Company would do their damnedest to whitewash this, now the proof. When I first enlisted, sleepwalking was a condition that medically disqualified one from enlistment, and if it developed afterward, it could get someone medically chaptered. It’s obvious that B. Hussein 0bama & Compaby care NOTHING about what’s true, all they want to do is spin!!
I’ll just leave this here . . . .
https://news.yahoo.com/video/bigger-story-behind-bergdahl-exchange-104931532.html
The allegations in this video clip are exceptionally disturbing. And they’re coming from a HuffPo columnist – Bill Robinson.
And you know its bad when someone from “HuffPo” writes something that puts Barry in a bad light…
It’s nothing his ex-squad and platoon mates haven’t said before.
It’s obvious to any one with a brain and exercising critical thinking skills that this dirt bag provided oporational information to his Taliban hosts.
Jacobite: regarding Berghdal’s conduct, nothing new. But that’s not the part I find most disturbing.
What I find most disturbing is the alleged pressure – apparently from very high officials – on those who know the truth to keep quiet. In a legal proceeding, I believe that would be called either “witness tampering” or “obstruction of justice”.
I’m pretty sure both of those offenses are felonies.
I’m sure the official finding is that it’s the fault of a Colion Noir youtube pro gun video and Obummer will apologize to Bloomberg’s anti gun group for it.
The fix is in. Expect no accountability again with this administration even when the Berghdal clan releases jihadi videos once reunited.
The image that pops in my head is a cartoon with Barry Obama dressed like Tom Sawyer standing beside a fence with “Berdahl Scandal” written on it While the media and militay brass line up to pay him to whitewash it.
Amazing…. the investigation of Hasan, who committed his crimes in full view of multiple witnesses, took years. Now they have a complete history on someone whose absence had no witnesses and was behind enemy lines (one way or another) for five years and they already have him sussed. Just freakin’ awesome how much better they have gotten at this in such a short period of time. /sarc
Not defending anyone at all here, but in all fairness, there would be a huge file already on hand on his disappearance and subsequent additional investigative details. Witness statements would have been taken from nearly everyone at the time of his disappearance.
So, the investigation has already been on-going all this time. All they needed was his version of what occurred.
That doesn’t mean that the official crap now being reported is truthful, of course. But there are officials somewhere in possession of the truth. Probably quite a few who are possession of at least major portions of it.
god i hope none of you ever sit on a panel. you all have as many preconceived notions on what he did or didn’t do as you accuse the Army of having. 1) so he was cleared of misconduct while a captive. lets break that down with this as a starting point, he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. so if the Army had found that he committed misconduct they would have to try him and think they could prove it beyond 99.9%. oh and you can’t use how he was captured, surrendered etc in your proof because that is a different issue that legally has no bearing on his behavior DURING his captivity. 2nd, even if he did give information while in captivity, now prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not him being broken because A. every POW breaks with enough time. That includes MOH recipients from Vietnam. this fact is something the code of conduct recognizes. B. if he was broken or forced in any way then it is not illegal. now on to the AK47 thing, prove beyond 99.9% doubt that it had rounds in it, oh and even if it did he had a reasonable chance to escape, the military does NOT require you to resist if you don’t have to means to effectively resist. by your standard every pilot taken POW during Vietnam is failed to do there duty because they did not use their pistols to attack the NVA. get real. add to all this we do have evidence he tried to escape twice. make sure you can make that go away. add all that up and if you objectively think you can convince everyone on a panel that he broke the law beyond a reasonable doubt well then go ahead and say he committed misconduct as a captive for 5 years, but i don’t think you would find any court Marshall panel ready to convict. 2. the AWOL investigation they are talking about happened in 2009, not after he was freed so there… Read more »
Interesting. At least some of us (I would wager that number actually is most, if not all) of us are only interested in the truth. Are you saying that searching for the truth is the same as being out for blood?
What you are seeing looks more to me like righteous indignation than blood lust.
being unable to accept a finding that he was not guilty of collaboration and being outraged that an initial investigation did not conclusively prove one way or another does not seem like a search for the truth to me. it seems like a search for one certain verdict. All i want is for the military justice system to run its course. If they can prove he did all those things then great throw his ass in jail, if not well then we can’t prove it.
Apparently you are more outraged by the fact that we are outraged and have low expectations that the final findings will differ much from what is being floated as the preliminary findings than anything else.
Whatever.
Before absolving the guy of being a collaborator, Redleg JO, you just might want to read this:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/06/exclusive-bergdahl-declared-jihad-secret-documents-show/
Converting to Islam; describing oneself a mujahid; engaging in target practice with enemy forces using an AK-47; carrying a (reportedly) loaded weapon at times; and playing soccer with his “guards” doesn’t exactly sound to me like the actions of a typical or bona fide prisoner of war.
In fact, those reports (there are multiple such reports, apparently) are IMO quite damning. The key question becomes whether or not they’re accurate – and whether the CID agents involved in “investigating” Bergdahl were cleared to see them, and/or actually did see them.
YMMV.
Hondo,
I did read it and i saw a bunch of un vetted sources telling a private intel network run by a guy convicted of braking the law saying stuff.
I also saw Gen Mattis, not exactly someone i think would lie for the administration saying that he saw no evidence of collaboration. i am simply reluctant to damn someone for committing the most serious crime i can imagine without more and better proof then a few reports from un vetted sources. ask yourself would you run a military operation based on these sources? i sure as hell wouldn’t and if i advised a commander to as an S2 i think i would lose my job (after doing my FA time i went to MI). I think it is damn near impossible to prove a negative so they burden of proof is on the people accusing him of collaboration to prove it and i just don’t see enough at this point to conclude that he actively colluded.
oh as a side note the people investigating if he colluded is probably not CID, more likely it is Army CI (who would have seen everything we have on his behavior during his time in captivity), and contrary to popular opinion they are actually pretty damn good at their jobs. CID is probably limited to the investigation of the desertion issue.
Redleg JO: neither of us know the quality of the sources used by Eclipse, nor whether they were corroborated by other, independent sources. So your calling the reports “unvetted” is an opinion unsupported by fact one way or another. The reporting may well be of extreme reliability, an corroborated by other sources – or it may not be. Neither of us knows.
The individual running Eclipse at the time has the background and knowledge to do the job correctly. And for much of the first year after Bergdahl’s disappearance, his firm was under contract to the IC. So while calling Eclipse a “private intelligence network” is technically accurate, the IC was apparently convinced his reporting was of value. It’s also IMO telling to me that the Eclipse contract was terminated around the time the connection between Eclipse and the IC became public.
In any case: believe what you wish. It’s a free country.
But I wouldn’t recommend believing that either the IC or high military commanders are immune to political pressure. Neither is true.
Hondo,
If course they are not immune to political pressure, but on the other hand they don’t always roll over for it, just way to often.
I recall weeks ago that the administration tipped its hand regarding this entire matter. And I’m not talking about the Rose Garden Dog and Pony Show. I’m referring to the dismissal of any account NOT Bergdahl’s. What of ther reports and statements on the record from members of Bergdahl’s that were contemporaneous with his disappearance? [Insert whistling here] How about current reports and statements made by members of Bergdahl’s unit? Well, they, too, are to be accorded no weight—as if it is the habit of American soldiers to abandon one of their own for sport. It’s all a sham and I have zero confidence in any outcome other than one that is either inconclusive or actually favors Bergdahl.
I’ll just leave this here for everyone to read. It appears we were right about a whitewash.
http://nypost.com/2014/09/20/are-the-military-and-obama-whitewashing-bergdahls-crimes/