Today is June 7th. At this point, Bowe Bergdahl has not been charged. He has not been given a military and/or civilian trial. While none of those things have occurred, people are threatening his family and calling him a deserter and traitor. Most of this is the result of idle speculation by the
media and politicians which has run rampant. Nobody
except Bergdahl truly knows at this point if he willingly left his
post. Lots of soldiers will complain to each other that they don't
agree w/a mission, so some of that may be out of context. As a former
infantry team leader, I can tell you that it would feel like the
ultimate betrayal for one of your own men/brothers in arms (whom you
literally trust w/your life on a day-to-day basis) to go AWOL during a
combat mission b/c he didn't like/believe in the mission. Soldiers may
sign up initially for patriotism or pay, but the reasons you see them
re-enlist or serve multiple tours is b/c they fight for one another. If
Bergdahl just walked away from that, then I completely understand if
members from his platoon/company feel resentment and anger towards him,
especially if more men were lost in the efforts to rescue/recover him (this also has not been confirmed).
However, as much as I despise betrayal, I would not leave him to be held
by the enemy. Soldiers follow the UCMJ - it's the JAG's responsibility
to judge and punish him, not the Taliban or the media. If civilians
don't like the trade that occurred or feel the judgement isn't
appropriate once all the facts are given, then they can express their
feelings in the elections and vote out those that were involved and/or
supported it
Had the US gov't decided that he wasn't
worth swapping for, the Taliban probably would have used Bergdahl for
the worst type of propaganda (i.e. he would have been tortured and executed on video similar to Daniel Pearl). In
that case, the US politicians would still be divided among party lines
second
guessing each other wondering why didn't we trade for him and our
enemies would
see us as weaker for leaving one of the members of our armed forces to
be executed while in enemy captivity.
Is his life worth the potential
trouble these prisoners can cause now that they are released?
Statistically speaking, the US has killed between 10-15 enemy combatants
in Afghanistan for every single US casualty (i.e 20-35K Taliban killed
to 2200 US armed forces so far). I don't think trading five assholes
who all have been in prison for over ten years will be a huge force
multiplier that will dramatically change the course of the war or
increase terrorism. I expect that these five will be so closely
monitored that it will be difficult for them to be anything more than
figure heads at best.
Everyone needs to stop rushing
to judgement and let discovery happen. Justice will be served. Stop threatening Bergdahl and his family w/out evidence. You
know who threatens and kills people without evidence? Terrorists
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