With all of this controversy over Bowe Bergdahl swirling around, I've heard people saying that we shouldn't leave him behind. Well, no, I agree to a point. But when the man you're fighting for is guilty of desertion, of aiding and abetting the enemy; you cannot in good conscience release 5 dangerous war criminals for another criminal. Let's face it. Bergdahl is no hero. Not one iota. He abandoned his comrades, and in doing so got a number of them killed in a search mission on his behalf. He should be court martialed under Article 85 of the UCMJ for desertion.
But what I've also noticed here is that a certain few have accused Republicans of "wanting to leave a soldier behind." All while Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi sits in a Mexican jail being tortured and beaten. So, why is it in one instance that people wish to leave a soldier behind while another sits and waits in jail for his country to come to his aid? Why are liberals ignoring Tahmooressi? What I've noticed here is a double standard. Our president is willing to fight for a traitor, but not for a loyal soldier who fought for his country sitting in a jail in Mexico. I'm glad Bergdahl is back home, but why did the president negotiate for his release and not that of Tahmooressi? What the heck is going on here?
It's a funny thing to say one person is guilty of desertion while five others are war criminals when not a single one of them have had one single day in court to answer to any charges brought against them.
Just looking at the information available on Bergdahl, I see him more as being mentally ill than being a deserter. If the reports of what he said prior to leaving his post are true, why was he not sent for a psychological evaluation immediately? Klinger is only funny on MASH. When Klinger shows up in your unit, you've got a problem and it needs to be addressed immediately. This was a complete failure on the part or his commanding officers.
Very well put.
We need to understand that there are consequences to sending soldiers into multiple tours of duty.
There are stories of people who went back over there like a dozen or more times. One soldier a couple years back died on his 14th tour of duty in Afghanistan.
There's something seriously wrong with any military operation when you have to send somebody back there that many times.
The PTSD and all the other things that emotionally scar these brave people is unprecedented as a result. I hope he gets the help he needs.
I read his e-mail to his parents. He wrote of abuses to Afghan people from our military. The actions of other soldiers that he writes about, along with his own actions reveal to me that that's what you get when you put our military in a mission that is not clearly defined and which is terribly executed as a result.
For that I blame military commanders all the way up to President George W. Bush, who figured we'd just send everybody over there and then just wing it as we go along. Our soldiers deserved better than that.
If you're on a serious nation building effort, you have to make friends with the people of that country and earn their trust. We didn't do that. A lot of people went in there with a kick-ass attitude and a lot of civilians got poor treatment from us. It's something we need to face as a country that that's what you get when the mission is poorly planned and terribly executed.