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Deserter Bergdahl says US treated him worse than Taliban did

Oct 22, 2017 9:47 am By Robert Spencer

How about sending him back to the Taliban, then?

Barack Obama traded five seasoned, battle-hardened jihadis back to the Taliban in exchange for Bergdahl.

Former infantry officer Nathan Bradley Bethea, who served with Bergdahl in Afghanistan, wrote in the Daily Beast that Bergdahl was “a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down.” Refuting reports that Bergdahl got separated from his unit while on patrol, Bethea declared: “Make no mistake: Bergdahl did not ‘lag behind on a patrol,’ as was cited in news reports at the time. There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s platoon—including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened.”

Bethea’s account is in full accord with the Taliban’s 2010 claim that Bergdahl had converted to Islam and was teaching bomb-making to its jihadists. There is no reason to take anything that Taliban spokesmen say at face value, but secret documents revealed in June 2014 corroborate the claim. According to one of these documents, dated August 23, 2012, “conditions for Bergdahl have greatly relaxed since the time of the escape. Bergdahl has converted to Islam and now describes himself as a mujahid. Bergdahl enjoys a modicum of freedom, and engages in target practice with the local mujahedeen, firing AK47s. Bergdahl is even allowed to carry a loaded gun on occasion. Bergdahl plays soccer with his guards and  bounds around the pitch like a mad man. He appears to be well and happy, and has a noticeable habit of laughing frequently and saying ‘Salaam’ repeatedly.”

Fox News reported in June 2014 that Bergdahl — “both in his final stretch of active duty in Afghanistan and then, too, during his time when he lived among the Taliban — has been thoroughly investigated by the U.S. intelligence community and is the subject of ‘a major classified file.’ In conveying as much, the Defense Department source confirmed to Fox News that many within the intelligence community harbor serious outstanding concerns not only that Bergdahl may have been a deserter but that he may have been an active collaborator with the enemy.”

Former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, who served with Bergdahl and was present the night he disappeared, recounted that days after Bergdahl vanished from the U.S. base, there were reports that he was in a nearby village looking for someone who spoke English, so that he could establish communications with the Taliban. Soon afterward, Buetow recalled, “IEDs started going off directly under the trucks. They were getting perfect hits every time. Their ambushes were very calculated, very methodical.”

Bergdahl knew where the trucks would be going and when; said Buetow: “We were incredibly worried” that the Taliban’s “prisoner of war” was passing this information on to his captors in order to help them place their bombs most effectively.

Fox News also reported that according to “sources who had debriefed two former members of Bergdahl’s unit,” the deserter “left behind a note the night he left base in which he expressed disillusionment with the Army and being an American and suggested that he wanted to renounce his American citizenship and go find the Taliban.” According to Colonel David Hunt, Bergdahl even “called his unit the day after he deserted to tell his unit he deserted.”

Barack Obama must have known all or some of this, or should have known it, when he announced the exchange of five Guantanamo detainees for Bergdahl.

The guilty plea to the desertion charge is a positive step, but there needs to be one more charge as well: treason.

“Bowe Bergdahl whines that the US treated him WORSE than the Taliban as he faces a life sentence for desertion,” by Keith Griffith, Dailymail.com, October 22, 2017 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Bowe Bergdahl has whined that the US treated him worse than his Taliban captors in a newly released interview, as he faces up to life in prison for desertion.

‘At least the Taliban were honest enough to say, “I’m the guy who’s gonna cut your throat”,’ the 31-year-old Army sergeant told the The Sunday Times of London in an interview released on Sunday.

‘Here, it could be the guy I pass in the corridor who’s going to sign the paper that sends me away for life,’ the Army deserter griped in the interview, which was recorded last year and is his first video interview since returning to the US.

‘We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs.’

Bergdahl on Monday pleaded guilty to abandoning his post in Afghanistan in 2009, under circumstances that have never been fully explained.

Bergdahl has previously claimed he left his post so that he could report his ‘unfit’ platoon commander to senior officers, in taped conversations which aired on the podcast Serial.

The Taliban captured Bergdahl after he went AWOL and held him captive for five years, before President Obama secured his release in exchange for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in 2014.

Bergdahl’s attorney’s argued this week that President Donald Trump’s criticism of him has tainted the case and prevented him from receiving a fair sentence.

Lawyers for Bergdahl cited a news conference this week in which Trump indicated he stands by his campaign-trail criticism of Bergdahl. They asked to have the case dismissed.

While running for president, Trump called Bergdahl a ‘dirty, rotten traitor’ and suggested harsh punishments.

‘President Trump stands at the pinnacle of an unbroken chain of command that includes key participants in the remaining critical steps of the case,’ the defense wrote….

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Filed Under: Featured, Taliban, United States Tagged With: Bowe Bergdahl


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Comments

  1. Linde Barrera says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 9:59 am

    Can “We the People” sign a petition demanding that we reverse Obama’s trade? Why was this disgusting traitor allowed to come back to the US in the first place?

    • Sons of Liberty says

      Oct 22, 2017 at 2:25 pm

      Exactly ! He is a TRAITOR…. and American soldiers DIED looking for that traitor . Bergdahl’s sentence should be hanging .

  2. Bev says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 10:03 am

    Bergdahl needs to be swinging by his neck at the end of a rope.

    • Alex says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 3:03 pm

      Including his parents

    • Fred Parsons says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 6:20 pm

      Send him home to the talaban

  3. mortimer says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 10:27 am

    Bergedahl voluntarily committed treason, but he cannot expect there are no consequences. Americans generally despise traitors. Befgedahl surely was not so naïve that he did not know that. It was probably American patriotism that repelled him in the first place.

    When he defected to the enemy, he was naively expecting he would be a hero, rather than a pawn in a cynical prisoner swap.

    Bergedahl, crying the blues after betraying his country. He broke the law, but apparently believes he is above it.

    • David says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 1:05 pm

      He also betrayed his oath and the trust his fellow soldiers had in him as all soldiers must have in order to stay alive. In the heat of battle the last thing that is wanted is for a fellow squadie to start shooting from the inside or commit some type of sabotage.

  4. Stan Lee says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 11:37 am

    For him, the deserts of Afghanistan may be where he is more comfortable. Cut the buttons and his rank from his uniform, and give him a one-way flight to Afghanistan.
    Being here, he has earned the status of “deserter” to our armed forces and the American people.
    So….”Bon voyage, Mr. Bergdahl, and don’t let the door hit you on your derriere!”

  5. Shmoovie says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    Mark Steyn had a good piece on Bergdahl and his parents being feted by BO, “The Deserter Honored in the Rose Garden”.
    Apparently ‘Bo’ expected better results after being fawned over so by his biggest admirer, the elected guardian of islam in the WH.

    • Sons of Liberty says

      Oct 22, 2017 at 2:43 pm

      Barack Hussein Obama is just as big a TRAITOR as Bergdahl and Americans will be paying the price for him for a long time . The Russian Uranium collusion is just another example , along with helping the Iranians get nuclear weapons . OBAMA the traitorous gift that keeps on giving .

    • carol says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 5:24 am

      Obama likely posed for the cameras with an amused face and tongue in cheek, his middle finger extended and his Allah gold ring flashing (whatever could be the signal?) as he hugged this pathetic traitor and gave the Taliban back some of it’s slimiest fighters. Such a sly joke!
      Bergdahl undoubtedly revealed truck movements with great joy – the picture above likewise says it all.
      Justin Trudeau follows in their footsteps.

      • David says

        Oct 23, 2017 at 1:11 pm

        Remember the picture of Obama with a tear in his eye? I forget the context, but a picture of Trudeau was published a few days ago reacting to the death of the leader of a popular Canadian band and he had a tear rolling down his cheek. Talk about using the same tactics, Obama and Trudeau. It was almost as tacky as the one showing Obama wiping his brow while talking about global warming.

        • David says

          Oct 23, 2017 at 1:16 pm

          Sorry, somehow I posted this twice.

  6. mortimer says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Bergdahl, the traitor, deserves a life sentence. The blood of soldiers who died searching for him cries out from the ground.

  7. Phantomfighter27 says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    I bet he bent over and got so F’d in the behind, the Taliban impregnated him with Radical Islam. No surprise to me Obama regarded him as a hero, and not a traitor, to be sent back in an exchange for hard-core terrorists and field generals. This is such a stain on America and the values we stood for. Obama should be the one who is hung at the gallows and prosecuted for ultimate Treason.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 12:41 am

      Bergdahl deserted to the Taliban *first*.

      This is not some sort of Stockholm Syndrome, where he came to shill for Islam after having been captured by them.

      This is *far worse*.

  8. utis says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    I read Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse 5” in my twenties, and one of the two scenes I remember 50 years later is one where a U.S. soldier pilfers a teapot from the ruins of Dresden, and is shot because of the strict no looting rule. Since Vonnegut was POW in Dresden during the saturation bombing, I always assumed this was a fictionalized report of a real incident.

    I still think this was cruel and unusual punishment for a soldier in a wasteland. So what does Bergdahl deserve for desertion and getting at least one other soldier killed for his conscious behavior? He’s damn lucky he didn’t get the justice he deserved.

    Are firing squads passe in the U.S. military now?

  9. ByGeorge says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Just what does he expect? Will anyone listen to his complaints after a few years in prison? Will his hemroid problem be cured or exercerbated? Will anybody care? I don’t think so.

    His name should not be mentioned again unless it is his official death notice, either by hanging or old age.
    He is now a “convict,” which means he has been convicted of a serious crime. therefore, his opinion doesn’t matter anymore.

  10. LeftisruiningCanada says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    Seen that picture of Bergdahl and his buddy a few times now, and it always looks like something unsavory just happened between them.

    • utis says

      Oct 22, 2017 at 7:30 pm

      On the topic of interpreting posed photographs, what’s with beardy boy’s index finger? Does the fact that it’s crooked have significance in muslim or Taliban signalling? I’m so used to “Allah’s the one” index fingers pointing up, that this shot looks weird. Is it meaningful, or does he just have arthritis? As a graduate of the “Pueblo” captive crew shot, I just wonder.

      • LeftisruiningCanada says

        Oct 24, 2017 at 12:26 pm

        You know, with cult groups nothing is too insignificant to have meaning…..all that secret handshake, coded gesture stuff tickles them all pink at the thought of having insider knowledge doesn’t it?

  11. Georg says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    Guy has never stopped being an absolute disgrace.

  12. Keys says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    Acting exactly like a muslim – whining about how bad Americans are, and singing the praises of murderous muslim liars. Obama must be pleased.

  13. Sarah says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    Well, when he converted, he certainly did it wholeheartedly. Not only does he do the praying to the left, to the right, looking up, down and all around before sticking his butt in the air and kissing the dirt on the ground, whilst wailing babble at a sky fairy – but he also makes himself out to be the poor little victim in all of this.

    I am strongly reminded of that idiot couple from America (she is American, the guy is Canadian) who went to Afghanistan to ‘give charity and aid’ and apparently were ‘captured’ by the Taliban and who were just recently rescued by the Pakistanis and sent to Canada, after the husband refused point blank to let any of them get on a plane to America.

    So these two and their kids are now back in Canada – and she’s still got that god-rotting pillowcase wrapped around her head. He’s still bearded. They converted at some point – got rescued and are now back – and are still Muslims.

    Really, becoming a Muslim is just like becoming a Scientologist, or a devotee of David Koresh it seems. These people act just like cult members. Mind numbingly STUPID and THICK, incapable of thinking for themselves, hopelessly insecure and needy.

    Put Bergdahl in a pit and seal the lid over. Then do the same for that husband-wife team.

    • Georg says

      Oct 22, 2017 at 7:03 pm

      Cultish and stupid; you’ve summed it up well.

      • David says

        Oct 23, 2017 at 1:14 pm

        Remember the picture of Obama with a tear in his eye? I forget the context, but a picture of Trudeau was published a few days ago reacting to the death of the leader of a popular Canadian band and he had a tear rolling down his cheek. Talk about using the same tactics, Obama and Trudeau. It was almost as tacky as the one showing Obama wiping his brow while talking about global warming.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 23, 2017 at 12:43 am

      I am *no* fan of the Scientologists, but they are not slaughtering unbelievers.

  14. jude says

    Oct 22, 2017 at 8:21 pm

    Ungrateful little twerp! Send him back over there. How long does he think he will last. He is no use to them now and he would soon have a bomb strapped to him so he can earn his 72 virgins.
    He should be given the firing squad for treason.

  15. gravenimage says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 12:31 am

    Deserter Bergdahl says US treated him worse than Taliban did
    …………………

    Still a traitor.

    I would not mind sending his sorry ass back to the Taliban.

  16. James Stamulis says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 7:05 am

    He would make a great democrat saying he is the victim even though he deserted his country fellow soldiers. Sorry Obama is gone and now you face real justice!

  17. Charles Coffey says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 8:08 am

    Honestly, this little Bacha Bazi makes me feel ill. I’m sure he misses his friends. If the little shit would renounce his citizenship, I’d gladly pay my fair share to send his ass back to where he wants to be.

  18. Jacinte Lamothe says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 9:16 am

    What does Berghald expect? He was not a traitor to the Taliban but to the American people. Therefore, being traitor is worse than a first degree murder because traitors put the whole population at risk. So of course he should be treated really bad. SEND HIM BACK TO THE TALIBAN.

  19. Bezelel says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Bowe Bergdahl has whined that the US treated him worse than his Taliban captors in a newly released interview, as he faces up to life in prison for desertion.
    He can cry me a river. He can find solace in knowing that, at least I’m not running the jail he’s in. I would let the men he deserted pay regular visits to him.

  20. Jim says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    I think the men in the unit he deserted should make the determination. To my way of thinking, it’s up to the men he deserted to forgive him or punish him, their choice and no one elses.

  21. Lioness says

    Oct 23, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    They should have left this piece of shite, Bergdahl, with the Taliban. Now Trump should gift him a one-way ticket back to Afghanistan.

  22. Screeminmeeme says

    Oct 24, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Bergdahl continues to give aid and comfort to the enemy, even as he awaits his sentencing. His anti-American remarks give ISIS more ammunition. .

    He should be shot for being the traitor he is.

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