On Wednesday, Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was charged with desertion and with misbehaving before the enemy. If convicted of the latter, Bergdahl could spend the rest of his life in a military prison.
Here are the basic facts about Bowe Bergdahl. He enlisted in the Army in 2008. In May 2009, he was deployed to Afghanistan. Less than six weeks later, on June 30, he went missing. Though it was believed at the time that he had deserted, a manhunt was nevertheless undertaken to find him. It was soon learned that he was captured by the Taliban by whom he was held prisoner for five years.
On May 31, 2014, President Obama announced that a deal had been made for Bergdahl’s release in return for the release of five high-value terrorist detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Bergdahl’s release was portrayed by the administration as a triumph.
Serious concerns immediately arose.
The Associated Press reported that according to an internal Pentagon investigation in 2010 there was “incontrovertible” evidence that then Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl had walked away from his post. The Obama administration had to have known of the Pentagon investigation.
The Obama administration had to have known what the press uncovered regarding an exchange of letters between Bergdahl and his father prior to Bergdahl’s capture – an exchange in which Bergdahl said that he was “ashamed to even be American” to which his father replied, “Obey your conscience.”
At least one and as many as six soldiers charged with looking for Bergdahl died in the effort. The Obama administration had to have known this. They also had to have known that members of his unit in Afghanistan believed from the jump that Bergdahl deserted.
Yet, despite knowing these things, President Obama swapped five high-value terrorist detainees at Guantanamo to secure Bergdahl’s release. National Security Advisor Susan Rice credited Bergdahl with having served with “honor and distinction.”
The president announced Bergdahl’s release at a very carefully choreographed ceremony in the Rose Garden at which Bergdahl’s father, bearded so as to resemble a Middle Eastern imam, used the time given him at the presidential podium to recite verses from the Koran.
Yesterday, nearly a year after his release, the U.S. Army finally announced that Bergdahl will face charges that could put him in a military prison for the rest of his life. Small comfort to the families of those who died looking for him.
The embarrassment to the Obama administration is acute. Franklin Roosevelt would never have traded five dangerous enemies of the United States for one Army deserter. The same goes for every president until this one since. Not even the feckless Jimmy Carter would have made such a fool of himself.
The entire sorry episode puts in sharp relief the consequences of electing someone with exactly zero leadership, executive or military experience to the job of commander-in-chief. The world watches the U.S. under Obama and becomes more dangerous and unstable with each passing day.
Proof that elections really do matter.
Yes, elections DO matter. Which makes me wonder exactly who put clinton in office for two terms and this idiot we have now for two terms? Surly to goodness there are not that many stupid people here who are so ignorant of what is going on in the world that they blindly put the future of this country and its citizens in jeopary as we have seen since this last so called election. I do not know this country we now exist in…
Being from Texas, but now living on Long Island, NY, I enjoy your insightful articles, and pass them along to many of my friends.
Rex
And there is no…zero..remedy.
The Senate and the House REfUSE to turn Obama off. They had the chance to defund him & would not do that thus showing Obama that he has chickens who will allow anything he wishes. So he is encouraged to plow ahead.
What happened to all of those we elected to STOP OBAMA??
They caved.
Here we all are on the plane that Obama is Captaining now we are running back & forth saying” WHY’ , “why ‘ , ‘why . Yet no one will act.
We have a person bent on our destruction & yet it is more important to understand “Why” than to stop him.
Listen to the nightly news count the number of times any anchor asks”WHY”.
What bunch of whooses!!!
The mountain is coming & still we ask “WHY”???
Bahh.
I contributed to the GOP for 40 years in the form of money, letters, working campaigns, etc. This came to an end in ’08 when the best we could put up against Obama was McCain. I respect McCain’s MILITARY service to this country, but that is where my respect ends. He rode that horse to death, and should have changed parties long ago. The GOP is eating itself from the inside out in that when they have someone who believes in smaller government, less taxes, secure borders, etc., they attack them. I cannot support the establishment RINO’s who are only marginally better than the demoridiots/libersls/socialists.
As to Bergdahl, there were other occasions when he walked of operating base, and no doubt the administration knew this as well. The RINO’s claim Obama made the trade without their knowledge. I find that hard to believe as well. I believe the RINO’s chose to ignore it. I don’t care about the “why”. I care about the “it is”. Until we take a stand and get behind a candidate to the point where it is impossible for the RNC to shove another RINO establishment republican caver down our throats, what we see is what we’ll continue to get. STOP sending money to the RNC, GOP. Send your money and help directly to the candidate you support. Tell the RNC to take a hike.
Understand, I will hold my nose and vote against any liberal the DNC throws at us, but I’m sure tired of having to do that instead of voting for someone I truly believe in.
Obama’s promise to the Liberals to close Gitmo was the driving force behind this “prisoner exchange”. He has continually admitted his disappointment that the closure was not politically possible, meaning that many members of his own party would not even support it. Therefore, he proudly stated that he would just “chip” away, and again bypass the representative form of government that he swore to uphold. Exchanging these 5 top draft choices of the Taliban for the one deserter was just another”chip”in his plan. Sadly, the statements that Bergdahl served with honor and distinction are true representations of their feelings toward the military, as this administration feels that cowardice and negative statements about our country are to be celebrated. We should not forget that one of Hillary Clinton’s first deeds as first lady was to attempt to have military uniforms banned at the White House. We should also never forget that she and her draft-dodging husband were rabid anti-war demonstrators, demonstrating their contempt for our brave men and women who actually did serve our country with honor and distinction.