Stupid is as stupid does....
The Rush to Demonize Sgt. Bergdahl
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD at the NY Times
"http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/op...dahl.html?_r=0SNIP.....................
But the instant the Obama administration actually made that trade, Mr. McCain, as he has so often in the past, switched positions for maximum political advantage. “I would not have made this deal,” he said a few days ago. Suddenly the prisoner exchange is “troubling” and “poses a great threat” to service members. Hearings must be held, he said, and sharp questions asked.
This hypocrisy now pervades the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and has even infected several fearful Democrats. When they could use Sergeant Bergdahl’s captivity as a cudgel against the administration, they eagerly did so, loudly and in great numbers. And the moment they could use his release to make President Obama look weak on terrorism or simply incompetent, they reversed direction without a moment’s hesitation to jump aboard the new bandwagon.
The last few days have made clearer than ever that there is no action the Obama administration can take — not even the release of a possibly troubled American soldier from captivity — that cannot be used for political purposes by his opponents.
Though we criticized the administration for ignoring the law in not informing Congress of the transfer of the Taliban detainees 30 days in advance, leave it to Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and other hyperventilators to claim that continued release of prisoners from Guantánamo without prior notice is now considered an impeachable offense, a ludicrous leap
"no action the Obama administration can take — not even the release of a possibly troubled American soldier from captivity — that cannot be used for political purpose by his opponents."
All Politics, All The Time!
Hearings! Hearings! Hearings! Hearings!
Repug (mis)governance!
The Old Lesbian from Confederate Racist SC: Impeach The Negro!
It works both ways, and you still do it after president Bush is gone."no action the Obama administration can take — not even the release of a possibly troubled American soldier from captivity — that cannot be used for political purpose by his opponents."
All Politics, All The Time!
Hearings! Hearings! Hearings! Hearings!
Repug (mis)governance!
The Old Lesbian from Confederate Racist SC: Impeach The Negro!
You Lie
False Equivalence. The Dems aren't All Bad Faith Politics All the time.
dubya's tongue-twistedness, war crimes, 1000s of wasted, dead military, $Ts wasted, etc are ETERNAL, and fully justifiable, but Repugs obstructionism, slanders, lies are nothing but bad faith politics.
Last edited by boutons_deux; 06-06-2014 at 09:21 AM.
You're a blathering idiot, predictable, and a broken record.
That's productive...Meanwhile...
FBI: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's parents have received threats
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/07/us/sgt...html?hpt=hp_t1Hailey, Idaho (CNN) -- The FBI is investigating threats against the parents of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the latest development in a case that has put the spotlight on the cir stances surrounding his capture in Afghanistan and release by the Taliban.
"We are working jointly with our state and local partners and taking each threat seriously," FBI Special Agent William Facer told CNN in an e-mail on Saturday.
Facer declined to detail the nature and severity of the threats, and a military spokesperson for the Bergdahls declined to comment.
Bergdahl's parents have not been seen publicly since the announcement last week that the soldier had been freed from five years in captivity at the hands of the Taliban in exchange for the release of five detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
Each. Threat. Seriously.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/07/us..._campaign=cnni
As Bowe Bergdahl Heals, Details Emerge of His Captivity
WASHINGTON — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told medical officials that his captors locked him in a metal cage in total darkness for weeks at a time as punishment for trying to escape, and while military doctors say he now is physically able to travel he is not yet emotionally ready for the pressures of reuniting with his family, according to American officials who have been briefed on his condition.
<more>
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/07/us..._campaign=cnni
The GOP is Heading for a World of Hurt on Bergdahl, here's why
As the actual FACTS start coming out about Bowe Bergdahl, here is what we know....
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/0...?detail=email#1. Bergdahl had left his base without permissions on at least one prior occasion, and had come back! This is according to a report in the Army Times. In fact, his fellow soldiers failed to report it at the time. The implications of this are huge. It means that it would be impossible to prove desertion under UCMJ Article 85, because you cannot prove he intended to leave permanently. Specifically, that article states:
a) Any member of the armed forces who
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States; is guilty of desertion.
The only two provisions that remotely could be applicable to Bowe Bergdahl are subsections (1) and (2). The first one is eliminated by the fact that he had done this before. Given that he returned on the prior occasion, it would be extremely difficult to prove an intent to "remain away....permanently." The second subsection is also difficult to prove if he left his base at night, when he was not otherwise on duty. So, as a consequence, you can pretty much rule out Bergdahl being charged with "desertion." At worst, he can be charged under Article 86: Absence Without Leave. That is a far less serious charge, and "time served" as a POW of the Haqqani network would probably be deemed sufficient punishment. Which, incidentally, would also considered an extenuating cir stance under that article.
According to the now famous article by Michael Hastings about Bergdahl, his unit was basically a bunch of undisciplined ups who went out on patrol without helmets, lost weapons, totally lacked morale and respect for military authority, etc. At least two commanders were actually demoted! So, you have to take with a grain of salt the accusations being made against Bergdahl by these people. Especially now that we know they failed to report Bergdahl left the base without permission on a prior occasion, and are still telling the media that he is a "deserter" when they know damn well that's not true.
America's Last Prisoner of War
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...#ixzz34193RXtYIn his blog posts, which have since been removed from the Web, Fancey detailed a unit that seemed to have almost no discipline. The company's first sergeant, Fancey wrote, "calls the Captain a quitter, then calls me a quitter. Picture a 2nd LT screaming at a 1SG, who is screaming back in broken Puerto-Rican-fied English, and about 5 Privates sitting quietly in terror." As the combat simulations continued, the sergeant's behavior grew even more disturbing. He refused to go to the bathroom, preferring to pee into a Gatorade bottle by his bed, and he obsessed over his desire for a Diet Coke. After one botched
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...#ixzz3419u9h4rThe unruly situation was captured by Sean Smith, a British do entary filmmaker with The Guardian who spent a month embedded with Bowe's unit. His footage shows a bunch of soldiers who no longer give a : breaking even the most basic rules of combat, like wearing baseball caps on patrol instead of helmets. In footage from a raid on a family compound, an old Afghan woman screams at the unit, "Look at these cruel people!" One soldier es about what he sees as the cowardice of the Afghan villagers he is supposed to be protecting: "They say like, the Taliban comes down and aggravated* their town and harasses them... Why don't you kill those mother ers? All of you have AKs. If someone is going into my hometown, I know my town wouldn't stand for that . I'd be like, ' you, you're dead.'" Another soldier laments, "These people just want to be left alone." A third agrees: "They got ed with by the Russians for 17 years, and now we're here."
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
And, finally, Bergdahl's apparent heroism while in captivity has been almost completely ignored and glossed over. The Daily Beast originally reported that Bergdahl lulled his captors into believing he was sympathetic to them, and when they let their guard down he escaped for 3 days. When they finally found him in a hand-dug trench he covered with leaves, he was nearly naked an exhausted. Yet, it took 5 Taliban to subdue him as he fought back trying to avoid being recaptured.
In exclusive interviews, Afghan insurgents reveal how Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, imprisoned by the Taliban in Pakistan since 2009, made a bold bid for freedom—but was quickly recaptured.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...m-taliban.htmlHe is believed to be the only American soldier held in captivity by the Taliban—and about three months ago he made a daring break for freedom.
Wow. This sucks.
Doesn't surprise me in that area of Idaho however.
If you've noticed, I have reserved judgement as to if he deserted or not. The sources claiming he did are not very solid at all.
AWOL
AWOL, or "Absent without Leave," is usually called "Unauthorized Absence" (or UA) by the Navy and Marine Corps, and AWOL by the Army and Air Force. The use of "UA" by the Navy/Marine Corps and "AWOL" by the Army/Air Force is historical. Prior to enactment of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1951 the services were governed by separate laws. However, its official le under the current UCMJ is "AWOL" (a rose by any other name is still a rose). It simply means not being where you are supposed to be at the time you are supposed to be there. Being late for work is a violation of Article 86. Missing a medical appointment is a violation. So is disappearing for several days (or months, or years). The maximum possible punishments, which I'll discuss later in this article, depends on the exact cir stances of the absence.
Desertion
Did you know that desertion can result in the death penalty? It's true. The maximum punishment for desertion during "time of war" is death. However, since the Civil War, only one American servicemember has ever been executed for desertion -- Private Eddie Slovik in 1945.
The offense of desertion, under Article 85 carries a much greater punishment than the offense of AWOL, under Article 86. Many people believe that if one is absent without authority for 30 days or more, the offense changes from AWOL to desertion, but that's not quite true.
The primary difference between the two offenses is "intent to remain away permanently," or if the purpose of the absence is to shirk "important duty," (such as a combat deployment).
If one intends to return to "military control" someday, one is guilty of AWOL, not desertion, even if they were away for 50 years. Conversely, if a person was absent for just one minute, and then captured, he could be convicted of desertion, if the prosecution could prove that the member intended to remain away from the military permanently.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justi...ldesertion.htm
He deserted. No question about it. His entire unit says so.
I posted the military definition of AWOL/UA and desertion above.
Exactly. Desertion.
how do you know Bergdahl had "intent to remain away permanently"?
We don't know that and if you are certain, you are a fool.
He has a record of unauthorized absences, but has always returned. He may have left for a walk, and been captured.
Keep an open mind.
He should never have left in the first place. On any occasion.
This whole ordeal is bringing up many more issues than a trade. If this unit was as fd-up as some have reported the military has some explaining to do. They already have mucked it up saying 5 years is enough, no charges, and then switching.
I agree.
This is a touchy situation. Can you imagine the added disgrace to the military if they start throwing the book at a returned POW, and are wrong?
He's not going anywhere. He's not a threat. Let the dust settle. Let him get healthy. By this time, the military will know if they want to court martial him over this.
Key is, we simply do not have enough accurate information to know if he is did more than an unauthorized absence or not. A smart person not close to the facts would keep an open mind.
All the military had to do was the above.
Joseph Cannon free associates:
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2014/...-and-five.html
Interesting writeup. I've been wondering many things that it addresses. It rings true, but who knows. It's just a blog.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us...ound.html?_r=0Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told medical officials that his captors locked him in a metal cage in total darkness for weeks at a time as punishment for trying to escape, and while military doctors say he now is physically able to travel he is not yet emotionally ready for the pressures of reuniting with his family, according to American officials who have been briefed on his condition.
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