Was the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a shame a political shame or political man

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   jamesrkposted 8 years ago

   Was the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a shame a political shame or political maneuver?.

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   lovemychrisposted 8 years ago

   The outrage is the political maneuver.....and look! Its working. An American soldier, held in a cage, is being demonized, as is the president who freed him. Shameful these people who serve another entity use any opportunity to bash this country and it's people.

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   LandmarkWealthposted 8 years ago

   It is a disgrace on every level.  Sgt Bergdahl...or Private Bergdahl as he apparently now would like to be called..voluntarily deserted by all accounts of every single soldier who served with him in his unit.  However, even if he was not a deserter and was captured in the line of duty, trading high valued terrorists is never a good idea.  It only encourages attempts to abduct and torture other men in the line of duty.  So it is no surprise that men in current active duty are quite upset.  And now the Taliban leadership in the aftermath has been very clear in public statements that this is exactly what they are more motivated to do, and intend to do. 
   
   Prisoner exchanges have happened in years and wars past...after the enemy has surrendered. To my knowledge, the Taliban has yet to surrender. And these exchanges are typically of field level enlisted men, not the command structure of one of the most sadistic militant groups.  When WW2 was over, German infantry was released.  Then the Nazi command  structure of the party was put on trial at Nuremberg for war crimes.  We didn't release Reichsmarschall Goring...and we certainly would never have done that while the war was still ongoing had he been in custody at the time so he could go back and collaborate with Hitler.
   
   This was never about Bergdahl as much as it was about Obama's obsession with closing Guantanamo.  The Bush administration took the position that they could be held as long as there was a war going on. Unfortunately, since this is not a standing nation, but a network of terrorists, the war may never be over.  So I personally don't believe in holding them without trial.  They should have been subjected to military tribunals, and if found guilty...sentenced to death or life in prison as war criminals.  To just release them this way demonstrates once again how utterly naive this administration is regarding terrorist threats.    Not only was this a terrible decision, but an utter insult to the men who risked their lives, and in many cases lost their lives to capture such highly valued threats.  Watching this administration in action makes it no surprise that tyrants like Putin have no respect for our leadership and steamroll them at every turn.  These men will return to action and kill more Americans and innocent civilians around the world.  And when they do, the President will likely be long gone giving interviews about why it was someone else's fault.

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      lovemychrisposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Most of them are guilty of nothing. Wilkerson says that Bushco held them because of the political climate. THAT is the disgrace on every level.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      The entire Taliban is guilty of crimes against humanity. They are no different than modern day Nazi's. And this was their leadership.  Defense minister, Intelligence minister etc.  2 of them are even wanted by the UN for war crimes.

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      lovemychrisposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Zionists are no different than Nazis either.....you support them, don't you?One man's terrorist is another man's "freedom fighter". And my country has supported rotten Zio's for decades. No one has high ground, but we support OUR OWN! Or we are done.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If you mean the state of israel when you say Zionist, then yes I support a gov't that is centered around a form of democracy and individual freedoms.That is a far cry from the Taliban which tortures and murders their own domestic political opposition

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      lovemychrisposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Israel tortures and murders Palestinians. Like I Said...no one has high ground. Only difference is..I'm forced to support Israel. You don't have to support the Taliban.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Israel allows Palestinian citizens to live an work inside the nation of Israel as long as they are not terrorist threats. How many Israelis can move freely in Taliban governed regions ? Israel is a free country. Nothing is free about Taliban Ideology

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   junksellerposted 8 years ago

   How about option D: a simple prisoner exchange, no more, no less.
   
   Right-wing lunacy was cute for awhile, it just isn't funny anymore. I am more likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than I am an Islamist terrorist. The right-wing needs to get a grip and understand that their incessant, inflammatory rhetoric has consequences.

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      brakel2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Peace be with you.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Because it wasn't a simple prisoner exchange. It was the top echelon of the Taliban for a man who by all accounts of his piers deserted. Would be have traded Rommel, Goring, Goebbels & Hess for a marine who deserted during WW2 ???

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      lovemychrisposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That is very true junkseller....Palin had her crowds so jinned up that one man yelled "kill him! Kill him!" about prez Obama. They are a danger to the health and well-being of this country.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Congressional reports on domestic terror hardly center on anything linked to conservative ideology.  http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/191605.pdf

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      junksellerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for the perfect example of inflammatory rhetoric. Comparing the Taliban to the Nazis and the men released to someone like Goebbels is absurd. Even so, many senior Nazis were eventually released. Some were given jobs.

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      lovemychrisposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Really? I heard about a lot of right wing terror--all these so called patriots. And we've been living with it since Roe v Wade.Anyone who walks around with a loaded gun is a terrorists...as far as I'm concerned.But my concern doesn't matter/ Only NRA

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Sr Nazi's who were released were tried at Nuremberg and aquitted after Germany surrendered.  Not just released. And there is nothing radical about comparing the Taliban to Nazi's.  They both supported and pursued an ideology of mass extermination.

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      junksellerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I am not going to argue about Nazis=Taliban. They are nothing alike and it serves only to, as I said, conflate the issue unnecessarily.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      They are everything alike. Mass murders who target civilians in their own nation and abroad.  The only difference is they don't have the industrial capacity to fund a traditional standing army.  That's why they kill 1000's and not millions.

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   dashingscorpioposted 8 years ago

   It was a "catch 22" with no potential great outcome.
   The U.S. generally attempts not leave POWs behind. This guy was the only one we had. Deserter or not he is still an American citizen.
   If he had been (your) son and you learned the government had a chance to do a swap to bring him home safely and they didn't.....Can you imagine the fallout there would be?
   There would be talk of a cover up and how the government turned it's back on a soldier. There was no real "upside" politically.

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