A Retrospective Defense of U.S. Army Deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
by Robert Janicki
On Wednesday, the United States Army charged Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with 'desertion of duty and misbehaving before the enemy', while on duty and serving in Afghanistan in 2009. Most people understand the concept of desertion, which implies voluntarily leaving an assigned military area without permission or privilege. Since the trade of the five Taliban military commanders in 2014 for Sgt. Bergdahl, a rising chorus has arisen to indicate that Bergdahl voluntarily left his assigned post in Afghanistan because of his disgust and disdain for America, not a charge to be lightly made, which thus characterized Bergdahl as being at the very least a deserter.
Watch the video of Susan
Rice as National Security Adviser to President Obama going on the Sunday
TV News talk show circuit when the Obama administration traded five
Taliban terrorists for the return of Sgt. Bergdahl back in 2014. Pay
special attention to Rice's comments describing Sgt. Bergdahl as having
"served with honor and distinction" while in the Afghanistan theater of
operations. At the time this deal was made, there were comments already
being made by those who served with Sgt. Bergdahl accusing him of being
no less than a deserter and a traitor.
Now flash forward to the Army announcement on Wednesday charging Sgt. Bergdahl with at least two crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Watch the video of the Army news release.
It is now becoming obvious that the trade to return Sgt. Bergdahl was principally made on a political basis. It appears to knowledgable observers that President Obama used the trade opportunity to reduce the Guantanamo Detention Center population by five inmates in a continuing move to reduce the population to the point of being able to close Guantanamo Detention Center through shear attrition of inmates.
Secondly,
the Obama administration made the specific decision to use the release
of Sgt. Bergdahl as a photo opportunity with Bergdahl's parents in the
Rose Garden of the White House. It would appear that the Obama
administration believed that they could get a 'two fer' with this photo
op. The Obama administration wanted to be cast in the role of patriotic
savior of Sgt. Bergdahl using the tag line of "no soldier left behind",
while being able to point to their political supporters that the
administration was working to close the Guantanamo Detention Center,
which Obama promised to do in the first month of his administration in
2009.
The Obama administration had to
know at the time of the prisoner trade that the circumstances of Sgt.
Bergdahl's leaving his post was most probably desertion, since so many
soldiers who had served with Sgt. Bergdahl, had already spoken up about
the facts of Sgt. Bergdahl leaving his post, which clearly implicated
him as a deserter and by extension, a traitor.
What
is amazing is the arrogance and hubris of the Obama administration in
believing that they could actually get away with using Sgt. Bergdahl as a
political pawn and the photo op with Bergdahl's parents as an
opportunity to enhance the president's political popularity rating in
the polls.