Bergdahl Charged

The U.S. military has charged Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl was held in Taliban captivity for five years after leaving his Army base in Afghanistan in 2009. An earlier military report found Bergdahl likely walked away of his own free will, but stopped short of finding that he planned to permanently desert American forces. In Taliban captivity, Bergdahl has said he was beaten, tortured and locked in a cage after trying to escape some 12 times. He was freed last year in exchange for five Taliban militants. He now faces life in prison if convicted.

  Democracy Now!

Is Your Head Spinning?

It will be.

“This is a complete change of our national security strategy of not negotiating with terrorists,” Republican Representative Mike Rogers told ABC News at the time of [apparent deserter Bowe] Bergdahl’s release. “I think it sends a terrible national security message – not just to Afghanistan, but to the rest of the world.”

[...]

Responding to a question posed by ABC’s chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, deputy press secretary Eric Schultz argued the US can swap prisoners with the Taliban because the group is not a terrorist organization but “an armed insurgency.”

  RT

They sure were a terrorist organization when we had to go take freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.

And isn't this handy....

The US government maintains two separate lists of terrorist organizations. One is maintained by the State Department while the Treasury Department has its own list, created by a Bush-era executive order, which is responsible for economic sanctions on entities and individuals with alleged ties to terrorism.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Political Timing

According to a report in the San Antonio News Express the US Army has completed but is refusing to release its investigation into the suspected desertion of Army PFC Bowe Bergdahl who walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009. [...] His release, which was orchestrated and executed by the Obama Administration without the consent of Congress, swapped Bergdahl for the five most senior Taliban commanders held in captivity has arguably become the most controversial prisoner exchange in the history of the country.

  Nation

How long before the report gets leaked?

Every one of the men who served with the Idaho native and has spoken out publicly claims Bergdahl clearly deserted his unit in 2009 before he was captured by the Taliban.

[...]

Never before had the United States military knowingly released a senior commander of an active enemy force in war time. Even senior Defense Department officials were forced to concede that the “Taliban Five," as they subsequently became known, were all expected to resume direct command of enemy forces at war with the United States.

[...]

Bergdahl’s release, announced by President Obama while surrounded by Bergdahl’s parents in the Rose Garden, remains one of the most devastating public relations disasters experienced by this White House. With the President at his side, Bergdahl’s father, speaking in Arabic thanked Allah for his son’s release and praised his son for seeking out the Taliban.

[...]

Fox News is reporting however that the findings will be released to the public, but only after the November 4 midterm elections.

So what does that indicate about its contents?  Can some Republican get that report leaked before November?  The clock is ticking.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

James Foley, et al.

[When IS contacted James Foley’s family to ransom their son], the government told the Foleys that it was a crime for private citizens to pay off terrorists.

More important, in retrospect, was what the F.B.I. did not tell the family: Mr. Foley was being held alongside a dozen Europeans, whose countries have a history of paying ransoms.

[...]

Guided by its strict no-ransom policy, the United States government’s hands-off approach was vastly different from the tack taken by European countries, which quickly negotiated the release of their citizens in exchange for cash.

This greatly frustrated the family of Mr. Foley, 40, a freelance journalist, and the other American hostages, who were desperate for Washington to take stronger action.

[...]

There is little indication that the administration anticipated how Mr. Foley and other American hostages could turn into grisly propaganda by ISIS, increasing pressure on the United States to begin what may become another extended military engagement in the Middle East.

[...]

The United States and Britain are among the only countries that abide by a zero-concession policy, refusing to accede to terrorists’ demands, arguing that doing so encourages more kidnapping.

[...]

“What is hard to prove is how many Americans have not been kidnapped as a result of the fact that the enemy knows they will not get a penny from us,” said Gen. John R. Allen, who recently retired as the top commander in Afghanistan. “In the aftermath of this horrific event it makes it hard to explain this policy. But the fact that there are Americans in the region who were never taken because they knew there was no advantage to doing so needs to be factored in.”

  NYT

And not only were the American families left to their own devices for support while being constantly monitored by the FBI, when the kidnappers asked for money and release of a Pakistani neuroscientist from American prison, they were told by the FBI to stall on the money part of the request and say in no uncertain terms does the US trade hostages. In the meantime, the US traded five Taliban for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. And, as you know, two of the Americans have now been executed.

Two other Americans and two British citizens remain in ISIS custody. At least 15 others held with Mr. Foley, all but one of them European, succeeded in getting out in return for cash.

In an effort to make sure the death of Mr. Foley brings about change, his parents are now working to establish an organization that will advise families of other victims, giving them the information early on that they say they were not given.

Not in time for the family of British Alan Henning.

And, speaking of Bowe Bergdahl…

The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday pushed a resolution condemning President Barack Obama for failing to give 30-day notice to Congress about the exchange in May of American prisoner Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

[...]

Republicans insisted that Obama clearly violated the law, underscored by a Government Accountability Office report last month that reached that conclusion. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Obama of a blatant disregard for the law.

  NY Daily News

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl plans to get out of the Army and pursue a college education once the investigation into his disappearance is completed, his lawyer told CBS News.

[...]

His release from nearly five years in Taliban captivity ended in May, after President Obama decided to swap him for five prisoners held in a Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

[...]

In a phone interview Tuesday, attorney Gene Fidell said that his client feels like he is in a holding pattern and wants to get on with his life.< br/>


  

At least he still has a life to get on with.

Will He Have Round the Clock Protection?

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held captive for five years in Afghanistan until he was traded May 31 for five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo, has completed his U.S. military-led reintegration treatment and has been assigned to an Army unit in Texas [Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Houston] to continue his military service.

  McClatchy

Bergdahl Footnote

The Obama administration has told senators it didn't notify Congress about the pending swap of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban officials because the Taliban had threatened to kill him if the deal was made public, three congressional officials have told The Associated Press.

  alJazeera

And they didn’t trust Dianne to keep her mouth shut?

Meanwhile on Thursday, Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said of the situation prior to the exchange: "They had intelligence that, had even the fact of these discussions leaked out, there was a reasonable chance Bowe Bergdahl would have been killed."

Sure they did.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And Then There Was the Other Letter

Sometime after midnight on June 30, 2009, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl left behind a note in his tent saying he had become disillusioned with the Army, did not support the American mission in Afghanistan and was leaving to start a new life.

[...]

The furious search for Sergeant Bergdahl, his critics say, led to the deaths of at least two soldiers and possibly six others in the area. Pentagon officials say those charges are unsubstantiated and are not supported by a review of a database of casualties in the Afghan war.

  NYT

And Furthermore...

Controversy has arisen over the U.S. government deal that released five Taliban prisoners held for years in Guantánamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier captured and held in Afghanistan since June 2009. Critics have called the decision hypocritical.

There is a case that can be made for the allegation. The five Taliban were arguably among those who had actually committed crimes, if fighting foreign troops who invaded their country could be deemed an offense. At the very least, they had taken part in hostilities and might, originally, have been legitimately detained as bona fide prisoners of war — a position that would be more defensible if only the U.S. respected the Geneva Conventions.

Compare those five men to the 78 detainees remaining in Guantánamo Bay who have been held there for 12 years or more and yet have been cleared for release for half that time. With the Taliban five headed for freedom, the cleared prisoners now make up more than 52 percent of the 149 detainees left there.

  alJazeera

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

As I’ve documented many times, even the promise itself was misleading, as it became quickly apparent that Obama — even in the absence of congressional obstruction — did not intend to “close GITMO” at all but rather to re-locate it, maintaining its defining injustice of indefinite detention.

But the events of the last three days have obliterated the last remaining excuse. In order to secure the release of American POW Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Obama administration agreed to release from Guantanamo five detainees allegedly affiliated with the Taliban. But as even stalwart Obama defenders such as Jeffery Toobin admit, Obama “clearly broke the law” by releasing those detainees without providing Congress the 30-day notice required by the 2014 defense authorization statute (law professor Jonathan Turley similarly observed that Obama’s lawbreaking here was clear and virtually undebatable).

  Glenn Greenwald

Oh, but there are “signing statements.”

[O]nce you take the position that Obama can override — i.e., ignore — Congressional restrictions on his power to release Guantanamo detainees, then what possible excuse is left for his failure to close the camp?

He needs an excuse?

As Jason Leopold notes in an astute article at Al Jazeera, this week’s episode “has led one human rights organization to question why the Obama administration has not acted to transfer dozens of other detainees who have been cleared for release for many years.”

The White House has apologized to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for failing to alert her in advance of a decision to release Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay.

  The Hill

Oh, well, that’s okay then.

Administration officials have said in public that they did not have time to inform Congress of the prisoner swap because Bergdahl’s life was in danger and they did not know how long the Taliban would be willing to wait to finalize the deal.

They’ve been negotiating the deal for at least two years. A few minutes to inform Congress would have been too much. Riiiiight.

Welcome Home, Bowe

The United States may still choose to press charges against the American soldier released this week from Taliban custody after five years in captivity, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

At the center of the debate is whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, deserted the US Army before he was captured in Afghanistan in 2009

  RT

Because being a POW for five years isn’t punishment enough?

Former colleagues of Bergdahl have said in the days since that the soldier talked openly about leaving the Army ahead of his disappearance, and believe he had willingly deserted the service when he was caught in 2009. According to some, no fewer than six US troops died in the days after Bergdahl’s disappearance as a result of search efforts aimed at recovering the missing soldier. As RT reported earlier this week, some of those soldiers who’ve put the blame on Bergdahl are hoping the Pentagon opens a probe into the matter.

Adding to the GOP’s disapproval for negotiating (with terrorists) the trade in the first place.

“As for the circumstances of his capture, when he is able to provide them, we’ll learn the facts,” Gen. Dempsey told the Associated Press. “Like any American, he is innocent until proven guilty.”

Only technically.

“Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity. Period. Full stop. We don’t condition that,” Pres. Obama added during an address in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday.

Regardless. He still gets a feather in his cap.

A little background reminder from a lengthy Rolling Stone article spelling out the known details and responses to Bergdahl’s disappearance in 2009:

On June 27th, he sent what would be his final e-mail¬ to his parents. It was a lengthy message documenting his complete disillusionment with the war effort.

[...]

"The future is too good to waste on lies," Bowe wrote. "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. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting."

[...]

The e-mail went on to list a series of complaints: Three good sergeants, Bowe said, had been forced to move to another company, and "one of the biggest shit bags is being put in charge of the team." His battalion commander was a "conceited old fool." The military system itself was broken: "In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools." The soldiers he actually admired were planning on leaving: "The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, and they are telling us privates to do the same."

[...]

"I am sorry for everything here," Bowe told his parents. "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." He then referred to what his parents believe may have been a formative, possibly traumatic event: seeing an Afghan child run over by an MRAP. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them."

[...]

On June 27th, at 10:43 p.m., Bob Bergdahl responded to his son's final message not long after he received it. His subject line was titled: OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE!

[...]

In the early-morning hours of June 30th, according to soldiers in the unit, Bowe approached his team leader not long after he got off guard duty and asked his superior a simple question: If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took my sensitive equipment?

Yes, his team leader responded – if you took your rifle and night-vision goggles, that would cause problems.

Bowe returned to his barracks, a roughly built bunker of plywood and sandbags. He gathered up water, a knife, his digital camera and his diary. Then he slipped off the outpost.

[...]

According to officials familiar with the internal debate, there are those in both Congress and the Pentagon who view Bowe as a deserter, and perhaps even a traitor.

  Rolling Stone

Interesting article not only for the information about Bergdahl, but about the total SNAFU that was his unit in Afghanistan.

 UPDATE:

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds — both for and against the former prisoner of war.

[...]

Organizers of the canceled homecoming event in Hailey, Idaho, said they lacked the resources to safely manage the thousands of supporters and protesters who were expected to converge on the small mountain community.

  alJazeera

Traded

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was the only American solider held prisoner in Afghanistan, was set free early on Saturday, according to AP [in a trade for five prisoners in Gitmo].

[...]

"Today the American people are pleased that we will be able to welcome home Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, held captive for nearly five years," Obama said in a statement after the swap.

[...]

The five Guantanamo inmates were still at the US base on Saturday morning, but were being transferred into Qatari custody, the officials said.

The inmates will be banned from leaving the territory of Qatar for at least a year, according to the conditions of their release.

  RT

Five years. What took so long?

Who was released?

Bowe Bergdahl Update

A video of America's only current prisoner of war has been handed to the US government, showing he is still alive more than four years after he went missing, according to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

The video footage, which reportedly shows a frail Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl referencing the 5 December death of Nelson Mandela, is the first to surface in nearly three years.

It has not been made public, but an unnamed defence official confirmed its authenticity to Stars and Stripes, a paper partly funded by the US military.

[...]

The US government has been trying for several years to negotiate his release through a prisoner exchange, which would free several high-profile detainees from the Guantánamo Bay prison, but has had little success in the stop-start efforts.

  Guardian

Negotiating with Terrorists

In an effort to revive peace parleys, the United States is reportedly willing to transfer Taliban detainees from its Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to Qatar in return for an American soldier in militants’ captivity.

Under the deal, the US would shift five senior insurgent figures from Cuba to the Gulf state of Qatar, a media report said on Wednesday. The prisoner swap is aimed to help efforts at arranging talks between the fighters and the Karzai administration.

In a good-faith move, the US would send the Taliban prisoners to Qatar before asking the rebels to free Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the Reuters reported, quoting sources familiar with the process.
  Pajhwok

Don't hear much about Bergdahl, do we?

UPDATE  1/16/2014

It Must Be Campaign Season

The parents of Bowe Bergdahl, the first American soldier captured in Afghanistan since the US-led war began in 2001, are urging the US government to swap him for Afghan prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, US media reported.

“Everybody is frustrated with how slowly the process has evolved,” Bob Bergdahl, the soldier’s father, told the Idaho Mountain Express.

“I’m pushing it hard. We started out by trying to encourage the Taliban to take care of our son. … Now, we’re worried that the government isn’t concerned enough to put him on the (negotiating) table,” the father stressed.

Within hours of that report, President Barack Obama’s administration had rare public words on the case, saying it was hard at work on locating and freeing the US soldier, using whatever that might take.

  Raw Story

UPDATE: 1/16/2014