This all may be reasonable. If he was a deserter, he should be tried and should not be treated like a hero. But such accusations shouldn’t (and thankfully, didn’t) have anything to do with whether we make efforts to recover him.
I think Obama did the right thing getting him back. I also think there should be an inquiry and, if need be, a trial.
I also think that if he deserted he should be shot.
This morning CNN said the Army said they had an open case on desertion/defection, but that they wouldn’t state any conclusions without interviewing Bergdahl. Seems fair.
It may or may not be worth noting the fark thread in which a random person debunks the idea that anyone died trying to get Bergdahl back.
It does nothing of the sort. Brief write ups about their deaths will not mention Bergdahl. That’s all the armchair sleuth could come up with. However those who were in the unit will have first hand knowledge of what their briefings and missions were. The entire thrust of the mission in that area shifted because of Bergdahl. Would others have died if he never went over? Possibly. Impossible to tell. I trust those on the ground when they said their mission changed and fighting intensified.
Why must everything be tried in the court of public opinion and media these days? The military has procedures in place for dealing with stuff like this. Let them deal with it. Why this insatiable public demand to know every little detail of every thing that happens in the world, no matter how irrelevant to their own lives?
It seems that Susan Rice just loves to jump the gun and put her foot in her mouth. What with her statement to the press that Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction”.
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There is no new information about the plane in the ocean. You have to fill up airtime somehow.
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Press conferences and photo-ops touting how great this is when there are plenty of soldiers and vets that have been pissed off for 5 years about the subject. And now someone will listen.
IMHO if the administration had issued a simple press release about it with the statement that he was being debriefed as to the circumstances of his capture this would not have legs. This administration seems to be extraordinarily tone deaf at times and they seem to be caught off guard about the controversy. Its as if no one looked into the background of the case. It was treated like he was heroically captured in battle. The president’s press conference made it seem like no one informed him of the circumstances. Now they have to backtrack. The Rolling Stone article has been cited many times. Its not like this was a secret lurking in the shadows of the internet.