Bergdahl Prisoner Swap

[Hoss]

You call me creepy after your misogynist "period" comment? And I'm telling Hoss about your name calling. Nudge him and let him know I'll be calling.

[guido911]

Just saw an amazing exchange between Shepard Smith and a veteran on this dispute on Faux news. Smith taking the "let's get the facts" position as to Bergdahl (which is fine), but the vet giving Shep all he could handle.

[guido911]

This site is getting bizarre. Two adult males talking about butts and menstrual periods.

[Townsend]

This site is getting bizarre. Two adult males talking about butts and menstrual periods.

And they're both yours.



Oh my

[guido911]

I'm guilty as the next on wheels coming off on posts. I am waiting to hear interviews from a medic in bergdahls unit here shortly.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Hard to take you seriously when you make whatever point with "baby Bush". But since we have to talk about Bush in this thread about a prisoner swap that occurred almost 6 years after he left office, can we discuss Carter's handling of the Iranian hostage crisis too? I still have questions about that. I am also concerned about Clinton. What did he know and when did he know it about bin Laden. Lots of questions about why we were not more aggressive in getting him. And how I wish "daddy" Bush would have went all the way to Baghdad and toppled Saddam at the end of the Gulf war. Could have avoided the 2003 invasion altogether. And don't get me started about Truman, and whether we should have dropped the bombs. We should have invaded the Japanese mainland instead. And why did Lincoln suspend writs of habeas corpus?

You bet - let's go...Carter handled the Iranian crisis "with the military he had" from Ford/Nixon days - you remember those, don't you, when it was gutted in the aftermath of VietNam...jungle based equipment for use in a sandstorm.  And that is actually WHY the Iranians waited until about 15 minutes after inauguration to release the hostages....getting back at Jimmy for the failed attempt to release them.  And they knew from early talks with the incoming Reagan people they would get a payoff....much like the repeat payoff about 6 years later for release of hostages held in Lebanon....you did study that in history, didn't you?

And Clinton - well, we know for a fact that he knew about Bin Laden, made at least one attempt to bomb the snot out of him, got obstructed by Newt at every turn, and did actually pass the information on to "Da' W", who sat on his thumbs with it for 9 months!  All well publicized in the real mainstream, non-Murdochian media at the time....

As for Daddy - well, he did exactly what should have been done, as has been shown in graphic detail in the last 10 years - left Saddam Hussein in power as the balance in the area.  The 2003 adventure was completely unnecessary in any case, and a tragic, horrendous waste of our kids lives!!   Our current cluster in the mid-east culminating in the "Arab Spring" events in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and now Syria all come from the ascendency of Iran as an influence because of the elimination of Hussein.  

Truman did the only rational thing.

Lincoln, huh?  It all boils down to whether one places states rights above abominable evil....that was the question decided by war.  Luckily for the soul of our nation, it was decided correctly, at the expense of the Constitution.  Which do you think was the greater evil?  And much like today, with Citizen's United declaring a corporation to be a "person" with unalienable, God given rights, an extremist, reactionary Supreme Court was wrong on a massive scale with their decisions on slavery - that's why John Brown was actually a great American hero... but they hanged him anyway.

[Gaspar]

So now evidence is mounting that may force  Bergdahl into a general court marshal situation.
U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said Tuesday that the Army may pursue desertion charges against Bergdahl.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/06/04/soldier-we-were-told-to-keep-quiet-about-bergdahl-leaving-afghan-base/
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/06/bowe_bergdahl_court_martial_the_obama_administration_needs_to_let_the_army.html


According to article 85 section 4 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice he may be facing life in prison or death. I certainly hope that Bergdahl was a top secret agent sent to infiltrate the Talahiban, or something equally outrageous.  Otherwise we may have given up 5 high ranking targets for a ward of the state.

It seems he may have made it out of the frying pan.

[guido911]

From what I am reading in here, the issue is that we need to wait for the facts to come out. I think what has triggered much of this is Susan Rice claiming as "fact" that Bergdahl served with distinction and honor, and was captured on the battlefield and held as a POW.

Then you had the President doing that rose garden victory lap with Bergdahl's release, apparently oblivious that there were questionable circumstances surrounding his becoming missing.

For now, all I have heard about Bergdahl's character of service are the first hand accounts from his battalion/platoon/squad members that were THERE alongside him. To me, they are the best source and most reliable information. Far better than Susan Rice, Chuck Hagel, etc. To just dismiss their views or opinions as to what they saw, the increase in hostilities they claim occurred after Bergdahl went missing (combat deaths/casualties) insults their service and intelligence. Besides, what do these soldiers hope to gain by putting their names out there falsely accusing Bergdahl? And why distrust them in favor of the Soros-ian/MSNBC/CBS plot to deceive Americans. Channeling my inner Harrison Alexernder. 

Now, I would like someone in here to give us the name of a fellow soldier the administration has found praising Bergdahl's service while in theater. Surely that person exists.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Now, I would like someone in here to give us the name of a fellow soldier the administration has found praising Bergdahl's service while in theater. Surely that person exists.

Guess we will just have to wait and see what facts actually do exist.  

After all, even Kerry found supporters against the "Swift Boat Teabaggers"....from people who actually served with him.  Oh, wait....what?


After, of course, the Faux News propaganda machine is shown to be their normal selves....

[guido911]

Guess we will just have to wait and see what facts actually do exist.  

After all, even Kerry found supporters against the "Swift Boat Teabaggers"....from people who actually served with him.  Oh, wait....what?


After, of course, the Faux News propaganda machine is shown to be their normal selves....

Here's more Jake Tapper from Faux news, er CNN, off message from his Sorosian master.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bergdahl-squad-leader-taliban-attacks-got-more-direct-after-bergdahl-deserted/

This Sorosian plot stuff is fun. I get the appeal now.

[guido911]

Homecoming is canceled.

U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's hometown, feeling a backlash over allegations that he was a deserter, has canceled a rally planned for later this month celebrating his release from five years of Taliban captivity, city officials said on Wednesday.

In calling off the June 28 event, the officials cited concerns that they lacked the resources to safely manage the thousands of supporters and protesters who were expected to converge on the small mountain community of 8,000 residents.

The decision came as pressure mounted to cancel the rally in the face of rising hostility, expressed in a torrent of emails and phone calls directed at city officials and businesses, over claims by Bergdahl's onetime Army comrades that he deliberately abandoned his post in Afghanistan.

http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-hometown-newly-freed-soldier-cancels-planned-celebration-202815856.html;_ylt=AwrBEiKcg49T4QYAFcDQtDMD

[Ed W]

What's happened in previous wars when collaborators have been brought back to the United States? There were Americans who not only collaborated, they also fought for the Germans in WW2. And what of those POWs who assisted enemy propaganda in North Korea and Vietnam? Did we leave them overseas? I don't think so.

If the president had decided to leave Bergdahl in the hands of the Taliban, the Republican outcry wouldn't have been less. So Obama was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Given that kind of choice, is it any wonder he decided the Republicans can just go screw themselves and he was going to do what was right. Not popular, but right.

If he'd given the Senate 30 days notice, it would have been wall to wall on Faux News within an hour, cranking up the outrage machine yet again.

I wonder if John McCain would have been OK with leaving some prisoners behind in North Vietnam?

[Townsend]

I wonder if John McCain would have been OK with leaving some prisoners behind in North Vietnam?

Looks like guido's down with it.

[guido911]

What's happened in previous wars when collaborators have been brought back to the United States? There were Americans who not only collaborated, they also fought for the Germans in WW2. And what of those POWs who assisted enemy propaganda in North Korea and Vietnam? Did we leave them overseas? I don't think so.

If the president had decided to leave Bergdahl in the hands of the Taliban, the Republican outcry wouldn't have been less. So Obama was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Given that kind of choice, is it any wonder he decided the Republicans can just go screw themselves and he was going to do what was right. Not popular, but right.

If he'd given the Senate 30 days notice, it would have been wall to wall on Faux News within an hour, cranking up the outrage machine yet again.

I wonder if John McCain would have been OK with leaving some prisoners behind in North Vietnam?

McCain would probably not be the best example since: 1) He was not alleged to be a deserter; 2) He refused repatriation if his fellow POWs were not released (noticed, I said POW); and 3) He did comment on this, at least as this article claims.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2014/06/03/john-mccainthe-most-disingenuous-hypocritical-member-of-the-senate-or-simply-unfit-to-serve/

As for reporting to Congress, so you think Obama is somehow relieved of his statutory duty to report or give notice to Congress? He didn't even tell DiFi. BTW, he did notify with the bin Laden raid, months and months in advance. Did Faux News blurt it out, thereby warning bin Laden of what was coming? Um, no.

My problem with this is not the decision to get this guy, but the idea we gave up 5 senior level killers in exchange. Then, Obama tried to celebrate Bergdahl's return as if it was the greatest news instead of what it really was--a PR bonanza for the Taliban. Then his administration (apparently) lies about the character of this guys service as distinguished and honorable. Did any of that happen with the Nazi collaborators?

I will say this again, if any of these 5 return to the fight and kill Americans, what will you say then? "Yeah! Obama did the right thing!"

Edited to add.  As soon as I left this site, I saw this. From this buffoon:

[guido911]

I mentioned earlier today an exchange on Faux news that I thought was amazing. I found this article that actually commented on it.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/shep-smith-challenges-military-guest-youre-comfortable-condemning-bergdahl-before-we-know-facts/

I know Shepard was obeying is Sorosian master, but this was a great exchange.