*http://tinyurl.com/lsak75n <http://tinyurl.com/lsak75n>*
*Bergdahl Before Capture: I'm Ashamed to Be American* Monday, 02 Jun 2014 09:20 AM *By Greg Richter and Melanie Batley* With Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl safe after five years as a prisoner of the Taliban, the circumstances of his capture are getting a fresh look. Bergdahl was freed on Saturday in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees. His release was celebrated by Washington politicians, including Republicans, but many felt the United States *had broken its longstanding policy* <http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Bowe-Bergdahl-Hagel-moved-quickly/2014/06/01/id/574443/> of not negotiating with terrorists. Bergdahl walked away from his base, reportedly without a weapon, in June 2009 and was captured by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network. At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for Bergdahl. Moreover, CNN reported that soldiers in his platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the United States in Paktika Province in the days and weeks following his disappearance. Richard Grenell, a former U.S. spokesman to the United Nations and partner with Capitol Media Partners, told Newsmax that numerous soldiers who served with Bowe reached out to him to express their anger with the decision. "I have spoken with several of Bowe Bergdahl's platoon mates and they are united in their view that Bowe walked away from them and that many lives were risked and some lost in looking for a guy who willingly left the team," Grenell said. Former combat medic Javier Ortiz told *The Washington Post, * <http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mixed-reaction-to-bergdahls-recovery-by-service-members-who-consider-him-a-deserter/2014/06/01/3713e3ce-e9c5-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html?hpid=z1>"Regardless of what you learned while being there, we still have a responsibility to the men to our left and right. It’s terrible, what he did. "There were military assets required . . . but the problem came of his own accord." Another unidentified soldier said, "The unit completely changed its operational posture because of something that was selfish, not because a soldier was captured in combat." CNN's Jake Tapper, who embedded with and wrote a book about soldiers in Afghanistan, *also found much anger.* <http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/bergdahl-deserter-or-hero/> "I was pissed off then and I am even more so now with everything going on," said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon. "Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him." Bergdahl's former squad leader, *Greg Leatherman told CNN: * <http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/bergdahl-deserter-or-hero/>"I'm pleased to see him returned safely. From experience I hope that he receives adequate reintegration counseling. I believe that an investigation should take place as soon as healthcare professionals deem him fit to endure one." According to a 2012 *report in Rolling Stone* <http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607?print=true>, Bergdahl, now 28, had become disillusioned with his role in America's longest war, sending emails to his parents prior to his disappearance. "The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong," Bergdahl reportedly wrote his father. "I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american (sic). The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting." He also attacked the army saying it cut down people "for being honest," and rewarded sycophants. "The title of US soldier is just the lie of fools," he wrote. "I am sorry for everything here. "These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks," he continued. "We make fun of them in front of their faces and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them." His father, Bob, told him in an email, "In matters of life and death, and especially at war, it is never safe to ignore ones' conscience. Ethics demands obedience to our conscience. It is best to also have a systematic oral defense of what our conscience demands. Stand with like-minded men when possible." Rolling Stone reported that Bergdahl even approached a superior, "If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took my sensitive equipment?" He was told it would, so he left his gun and took just water, a knife, a camera, and his diary and "slipped off the outpost." Specialist Jason Fry told Rolling Stone that even before leaving for Afghanistan Bergdahl told him, "If this deployment is lame, I'm just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan." Bergdahl left his camp close to the Pakistani border, on June 30, 2009 Bergdahl — who was promoted from private first class to sergeant during his time in captivity — is said to have become increasingly disillusioned with the war after a close friend was killed in the war in Afghanistan. Though the Obama administration has publicly embraced Bergdahl, one former comrade called on Facebook for him to be executed as a deserter, *according to the New York Post* <http://nypost.com/2014/05/31/the-bizarre-tale-of-americas-last-known-pow/>. Bergdahl spent his first night of freedom at the military hospital at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan before being flown to Germany. He will return to the United States to the Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, *reported the Christian Science Monitor* <http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2014/0531/Bowe-Bergdahl-s-first-hours-of-freedom-Now-the-questions-begin-video>. The five Taliban prisoners released by the United States into the custody of Qatar were described by Sen. John McCain Sunday as the "hardest of the hardcore." Human Rights Watch has pressed for one of them, Mohammed Fazl, to be prosecuted for war crimes for allegedly presiding over a mass killing of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan. "It is disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to re-enter the fight, and they are big, high-level people, possibly responsibly for the deaths of thousands," McCain said on "Face the Nation." The government of Qatar negotiated the deal for the prisoner exchange and is supposed to keep the five Taliban members from leaving the country for at least a year. "I think the big issue here is what’s going to happen to these five individuals," McCain said. "If they re-enter the fight, then it is going to put American lives at risk, and none of us want that to happen." __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmczJpb25uBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MDE3MTY5ODU-> - New Members <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbDR2YXBlBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxNDAxNzE2OTg1> 1 [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlY2xzNjJqBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQwMTcxNjk4NQ--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
