With all the allegations that he deserted and voluntarily sought out the Taliban, and the claims that he converted to Islam and was aiding in the Taliban’s jihad, this would seem to be an important question. But of course, Army officials don’t want to upset the poor lamb.
“Bergdahl has not yet been asked why he left Afghan base: U.S. Army,” Reuters, June 25, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has made no admission of wrongdoing since being released by the Taliban last month, officials said on Wednesday, adding that he has yet to be asked the tough question of why he left base before his 2009 capture.
Army officials said the two-star general investigating Bergdahl’s disappearance in Afghanistan will seek to bring up that subject with the soldier sometime after his outpatient treatment in Texas is finished in about two weeks and before the expected completion of the Army’s probe in mid-August.
In the meantime, Bergdahl seems to be in a state of limbo, with much of his back pay frozen in a military account. He hasn’t been read his rights yet, although conversations that could be used against him have focused on what happened during his time in captivity, as opposed to anything prior, officials said.
Asked about reports that Bergdahl may have colluded with the Taliban, an Army official told reporters on condition of anonymity: “I have no knowledge of that particular speculation or of anything that has come out of the briefings to support that.”
Whatever Bergdahl might say about his disappearance would have vast implications for him, including potential military punishment but also practical matters such as back pay.
Officials caution on Wednesday that his duty status as a “missing/captured” soldier, which entitles him to back pay and special benefits, could be lost if any misconduct is determined.
“There is some pay that is being held right now, pending the outcome of the investigation,” a second Army official said at a briefing with Pentagon reporters, acknowledging that the funds were in “contention now because of his duty status.”…
Wellington says
Between PC and Bergdahl’s seeminly being “lawyered up,” the truth about him and what he really did or did not do will very likely remain elusive for some time to come, this in itself being revealing in microcosm part (but only part) of what afflicts the West these days. Unfortunately for the West, too few will take notice of this all.
Still drifting. Damn shame. Aids that totalitarian ideology which begins with an “I.” No doubt.
mariam rove says
I was talking to my son who served three tours of Afghanistan about him and asked him what his thoughts were. he said: dad we were getting shot at, we lost our friends, Billy and John(2 of his buddies) committed suicide after 2 tours, yet they are treating this guy like nothing happened. He went on to say he should be court marshaled and strung up. M
Wellington says
Kudos to your son, mr. And thank him, for me, for his service if you will.
gravenimage says
I echo Wellington’s sentiments, meriam.
Johannes Lichterdijinck says
We, across the waters, salute our American cousins.
voegelinian says
The additional information noted by Diana West on Bergdahl indicates a puzzling paradox that has yet to be resolved. She adverted to part of an interview which Megyn Kelly of FOX news did with Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers, who knew him well:
From the first segment, starting around seven and half minutes in:
MK: Did he say anything to any of you guys, though, about ‘I’m disiullusioned with the war effort,’ `I hate the army’?
Evan Buetow, Bergdahl’s former team leader: He never said to me that he hated the army. He came to me at one point and said that he was concerned and frustrated with America’s, the army’s, our approach to the war and what we were doing. He said he was frustrated with that.
Justin Gerleve, Bergdahl’s former squad leader: He was disappointed…. He thought us going to war was we were going to go to war. You know, it was gun battles every day. The war today is not that way. You know, as he stated, Cody stated, it’s all, we’re trying to get hearts and minds, we’re trying to get the right way to go. And he was very … it was discouraging to him…
Cody Full, Bergdahl’s former roommate during training: As soon as that Rolling Stone article came out, we were all kind of like — what? The emails he sent to his father were completely different from what he was saying to people in the platoon about what he felt about the war.
MK: He wasn’t talking about the horror of being an American…?
Cody Full: No, no, he was wanting to do more aggressive stuff and he was frustrated that we weren’t allowed to do it. …
********
As Diana West aptly concluded:
“Seems as if we’re missing a few pieces of this story.”
http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2848/Another-Side-to-Bowe-Bergdahl.aspx
eib says
Quote:
The emails he sent to his father were completely different from what he was saying to people in the platoon about what he felt about the war.
end
Wherever there is a forked tongue, Islam and the Ummah are never far away.
voegelinian says
I suppose if we assume Bergdahl was an extreme Leftist (which = someone diseased by traitorous gnosticism, thereby susceptible to the Siren call of Islam), it is possible he had an interest, particularly in that context, of dissembling to his fellow soldiers. Following that line of speculation, the very fact he did so dissemble indicates a more sophisticated and elaborate act of sabotage than appears at first glance.
shortfattexan says
Bergdahl is going to be honorably discharged, he is going to get all his back pay, and he’s probably going to get some kind of medal.
Because for the Army to do anything else would make them look Islamophobic, and we can’t have that, now can we. I mean, we all know, because GEN Casey told us, that if the Army were to lose its diversity, that would be much worse than if Soldiers were to die.
BC says
That would fit well with the current narrative that we are not only not fighting Islam but also that the atrocities being carried out daily by ISIS, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Al Queda in Syria etc. etc. are not about Islam. Is anybody believing this nonsense
Islam_Macht_Frei says
And supposedly he has not yet even spoken with his parents.
Curiouser and curiouser…..
Fr. Basil says
I assume that those investigating this case know what questions to ask Bergdahl and when.
Why don’t we just leave the matter in their hands?
gravenimage says
Perhaps because we just traded a passel of violent Jihadists for someone who by his own words is probably a Jihadist himself?
That sort of thing has a way of rather eroding one’s confidence in “the process”…
Ken O says
It sounds like another policy from a past president. Don’t ask/don’t tell and everything will go away. As a Marine veteran I say the way they are going about this stinks.
[FA] says
If he is innocent, he will go free. If he is guilty, he will go free. This whole thing just underlines how much the people have no faith in our government. Maybe setting 5 people, dead set on our destruction, free set the tone from the get go.
BW022 says
Why wasn’t he questioned immediately after his release? Names, locations, descriptions, etc. If he doesn’t answer… court martial him immediately. If I escaped from some kidnappers, I would hope the police would interview me while the events were fresh in my mind and before the kidnappers had a chance to move?
Why wouldn’t they immediately question him about his capture? Wouldn’t that information be of key importance to say… protecting existing troops or determining steps, figuring out if someone was inside the compound, etc.
Why does a general need to talk with him? Is the general an expert on interviewing POWs? Doesn’t the DOD, FBI, or CIA have people who actually do this for a living? I wouldn’t have though interrogations/investigations is something a senior general would keep up to date with? Is he more likely to answer a general’s questions over a captain’s or staff sergeant?
Is it supposed to encourage the US public and members of the US armed forces that they either think that they don’t want answers or that they are that incompetent at getting answers?
BC says
If he wanted to do ‘more aggressive stuff’ he certainly went to the right people. I heard that he had earlier tried to join the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected.
Is there any truth in that?
jewdog says
Bergdahl had already left the Guard for psychological reasons, then joined the Army. He left the base because he was off base.
duh_swami says
sometime after his outpatient treatment in Texas is finished in about two week….
What treatment? Has anyone reported just what is wrong with him, that it takes months to treat? Does he have wounds? Internal parasites from halal food? Jungle fever? …I suspect there is little wrong with him and it’s all BS. It makes it sound like he was ‘rescued’ just in time, which is what O wanted you to think right along.
voegelinian says
You must understand that the process of debriefing, by a crypto-Marxist administration of a fellow Marxist who likely has “gone Jackal” (à la Carlos, that is), takes a long time…
D.V. says
Is it possible that his own father turned him?
Thomas says
You don’t abandon your brothers in combat, period. He could have been shot or fragged had one of his comrads known he was going to desert. I was in combat and I would have killed the SOB. Some things you just don’t do.
gravenimage says
Thomas wrote:
You don’t abandon your brothers in combat, period…
………………………..
I agree, Thomas—but I still believe there is a serious distinction to be made here.
If someone deserts out of cowardice or because they’ve had some sort of nervous breakdown or something similar, we may well consider them deserving of court martial and a dishonorable discharge—maybe even jail time.
But if he left to *join the enemy*? That is a whole different category, and makes him guilty *of treason*.
The question of whether he was captured by the Taliban or went off to join them is, to my mind, hardly an unimportant issue. We may never really learn the answer to this question—but it is nonetheless a vital one to ask.
Transmaster says
I know what is going on here. I have a certain amount of experience with sort of thing at the VA. The Arny is being very, very careful with how they are treating Bergdahl they know his lawyers will be looking for even the slightest, perceived by them , mistreatment. If the Army does decide to Court Marshal him they will have less trouble with his lawyers. In the end I don’t think anything is going to happen to him. If they do find he did desert his post he will be dishonorably discharged. Believe me that by itself is punishment that just keeps on giving, no VA care, no federal jobs, no State jobs, most employers will not hire someone with a DD. He will windup a nameless unknown homeless bum on the street somewhere.
Mirren10 says
” If they do find he did desert his post he will be dishonorably discharged. Believe me that by itself is punishment that just keeps on giving, no VA care, no federal jobs, no State jobs, most employers will not hire someone with a DD. He will windup a nameless unknown homeless bum on the street somewhere”
Yes, but don’t forget six **real** soldiers died trying to find this scumbag, and Obama released twelve vicious murderers, just to get this creep back. I hope he is shunned by everyone he ever comes across.
Charlie Griffith says
There’s too much we don’t know. That’s usually the case, right?
What we’ve …heard ….from those in his unit who’d seem to be closet to him in the unit but perhaps not in his private thoughts, seems to indicate that he deserted. That’s about the worst thing someone on active duty in combat can do, maybe an Army lawyer might say spying for the enemy as a planted mole inside his unit would be worse by putting the whole unit in great danger. Remember that we’ve read where those in his unit have said that explosives seemed to be placed more accurately after he left. No doubt there are complicated Military legal nuances here that’ll be discussed ad nauseam in the future.
What little we do think we know has come down to us through the unreliable media filter and so is subject to varying degrees of twist, depending upon the writer.
Now, add that strange point where he was speaking English at Landstuhl Army Hospital as if that were significant of itself. What’s going on here? Did his time in solitary destroy his mind? He still hasn’t spoken with his parents?……now, that’s real Culture Shock upon reaching freedom.
So, here’s an UN-educated guess/prediction:
Bergdahl’s brain is jelly right now because of his lengthy time as a prisoner and we’ll never know much more in detail, even though he’s now being treated as an outpatient. Being an outpatient on an Army Base still keeps him under manageable surveillance. As such, this young man will end up being a drain on taxpayers’ money for the rest of his life because he’ll be declared unfit to stand trial, and hence can’t be convicted and hanged if found guilty of a hanging offense.
This is just the beginning of a soap opera. And, remember his father’s untrimmed beard and his comments in – Pashto, was it? How much more complicated can we get?