by Jack
Remember Bowie Bergdahl? He was an enlisted soldier serving in the US Army in Afghanistan and three years ago he allegedly deserted. He eventually he became a POW, and the only U.S. soldier in the hands of the Taliban. Now he’s back in the news because his father has threatened to take matters into his own hands. After 3 years he doesn’t trust the government to get his son back.
Allegedly PFC Bergdahl walked off his base with 3 Afghan workers at the end of their shift and he was not discovered missing until the morning roll call. He [allegedly] left a note behind, took his backpack, some clothes, a knife and a canteen, but left his weapon and body armor.
There was some reason to think, possibly based on the note, that he was going into the mountains to live. He got as far as the closest village and his first contact with the locals resulted in the Taliban being alerted.
We’re not sure what happened next, but we know for a fact that the Taliban did eventually grab him and they have made three videos showing off Bergdahl.
Their version of the capture was that he was drunk and wandered off base. However, in piecing the story together, it’s doubtful he was drunk or that he just wandered off the base. It appeared Bergdahl had a plan and he had probably been planning to desert for quit awhile. His emails to home were at first cheery and he seemed to like the locals, but in time he started becoming more critical of the kind of missions they were conducting.
According to a widely reported story on the news, he had become disillusioned by the military’s doctrine of counterinsurgency, aimed at winning over the Afghan population by building roads, schools and good governance while protecting them from insurgents. As part of that strategy, American troops often had to travel on roads planted with bombs in order to meet with local villagers during the day to collect information about their needs — and to ask the whereabouts of insurgents so they can target them in night raids.
The father of PFC Bergdahl said “The doctrine is fallacious, it doesn’t achieve what they say it’s going to achieve. It’s a biometric data-gathering device — send the rabbits out there to get I.E.D.-ed so you can figure out who to kill at night. How ethical.” His son, Mr. Bergdahl contended, was frustrated by what he saw.
The military report made public by WikiLeaks makes clear the near panic that occurred within Sergeant Bergdahl’s command and describes the tracking dogs, patrols and Predator drones that were marshaled for a widespread search.
Bergdahl’s father is now learning Pashto, a local language, in hopes he can communicate more directly with his son’s captors because he doesn’t feel Obama is doing enough behind the scene’s negotiating for his son’s release.
It appeared that a prisoner swap was in the works up until a few days ago, but that was suddenly cancelled by the Taliban. They thrive on headlines and Bergdahl’s father has given them more reason to want to hang on to his son.
In the most recent stories the MSM is referring to him as Sgt. Bergdahl (has he been promoted while a POW?) and they are careful to avoid saying anything about the alleged desertion? The Army has been very tight lipped about the event.