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Bergdahl's Homecoming Celebration Cancelled Amid Allegations Of Desertion
Amid a rising backlash and assertions of desertion, a rally in US Army Sgt. Gowe Bergdahl's Idaho hometown - celebrating his release after 5 years of 'captivity' - has been canceled. The small mountain community's city administrator, Heather Dawson said town officials called off the June 28 rally, because the town "will be unable to safely manage the number of people expected," but residents of Hailey say they will support Bergdahl either way when he returns.
The hometown of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has canceled a rally planned for later this month celebrating his release from five years of Taliban captivity, a municipal official told Reuters on Wednesday, amid allegations that he was a deserter.
Heather Dawson, the city administrator of Hailey, Idaho, said town officials called off the June 28 event at the request of organizers because the town "will be unable to safely manage the number of people expected."
The decision came as the small mountain community was coming under mounting pressure to cancel the rally amid rising anger over claims by some of Bergdahl's former Army comrades that he had deliberately abandoned his post in Afghanistan.
The joy over Bergdahl’s return among residents of the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho has been dampened by claims that he abandoned his post. Some have also claimed that the subsequent search for Bergdahl cost the lives of up to six soldiers, Reuters reports.
...
But residents say they support Bergdahl either way and that they’re continuing to prepare for a June 28 rally in his honor.
“People in Hailey have been aware for some time that there were questions about how Bowe came to be captured, and that there was a chance that Bowe could be in trouble when he came home,” said Stefanie O’Neill, a rally co-organizer.
The backlash over Bergdahl’s release reached a fever pitch early this week amid reports that the White House overrode interagency security processes to free five Taliban higher-ups in exchange for Bergdahl’s release. There has also been increasing scrutiny of Bergdahl’s absence from his post in Afghanistan before his capture.
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Fuck Obama
Too bad all the soldiers overseas won't abandon their post. Maybe they are having too much fun raping, murdering, and terrorizing.
The vast majority are decent people who are blinded by patriotism and following orders as instructed by corrupt civilian leadership.
Doubt it. At some point, you must take responsibility for your own actions.
Why? The President doesn't.
Exactly.
And BTW, FUCK BERGDAHL.
Lol. There goes personal responsibility being downvoted again. Put that one up there with when Ron Paul got booed for quoting the golden rule.
How you conflate personal resposibility with the actions of that deserter, and worse, with the illegal and ill-advised actions of our President to get him back is absolutely beyond me.
I live my life by the principles of personal responsibility. I recognize NOTHING RESEMBLING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ANY OF THOSE ACTIONS.
It was a general comment on the actions of all human beings. Get a clue, buddy.
...Says the guy who just accused all members of the military of enjoying murder and rape, and then advised them all to abandon their posts.
I would attend the party only if it included all the things his precious Taliban love, like Dancing Boys, Female Genital Mutilation , uneducated women in burkas and patriarchy morphed into visceral misogyny, especially the stadium stoning of women who step out of line.
And only it the celebration started off with a lot of explosives and the destruction of archeological treasures.
So if Bergdahl is a traitor, what does that make Congress? Misguided souls?
Two wrongs don't make a right.
But the evil of the Taliban way surpasses the evil of the con-gress.
So Congress is a bunch of traitors?
Mostly.
Start with the 16th and 17th Amendments, the FRB, the NSA and then work your way down the list of charges.
And per the response to my comment above, it seems that some think the evil of the con-gress surpasses the evil of the Taliban. I might have to re-think my position on that.
Oh, please. You gonna sit there and argue moral relativity? Next you're going to say that Israel is a "tiny tiny nation surrounded by enemies so they have to treat the Palestinians like discarded foreskins". Maybe you'll add that Obama is bad but Bush was worse, or vice versa.
And you really have no clue about United States history and its whore called "Congress".
Time to acknowledge your own hypocrisy and exit the Stupid Zone.
I am Chumbawamba.
Geez, I thought this was adult fight club, not kindergarten.
FYI.. the 17 Amendment changed the country from the United States to the Federal Dominion when it stole the power of the States Legislatures to check the other two branches and put the Senate up for sale to the best campaigners with the largest budgets (read ‘bought and paid for”). This subsequently put the SCOTUS up for sale too, as the Senate has control (approval) of the alleged Justices.
The 16th gave the new Federal Dominion created by the 17th the power to leach the prosperity of the wage earner through taxes. The founders never intended this..
The 17th, 16th,, FRB and negligent, overreaching Congress gives unlimited expansion capability to government. The founders never intended this, either. Read the Federalist Papers.
Without the 17th, the States would have reined that in long ago as most of what the Feds do they do for the Feds, not the States and State appointed Senators would be beholding to their respective legislatures, NOT lobbyists, PACS and anyone with a few hundred K or more to spare .
I won’t even talk about the overreaching NSA, or the EPA or the DoEd or a host of other federal insults to the Constitution.
And also for your information, morality is not relative, but just like there are levels in Dante's inferno, there are degrees of evil.
Congress - Taliban.. pick your poison..
I suggest a mirror if you want to see a babbling stupid hypocrite without a clue.
And I'm just me.
I'm not seeing where Manthong called him a traitor. But its clear he is a deserter.
The answer to your second question is, yes.
I don't watch the news, but I can only guess some of these gutless wonders in Congress are referring to this deserter as a traitor. If not, they soon will be if they feel they can score any political points whatsoever. I'm not convinced people won't fall into that trap...
I agree Gauius, at least the kid was in Afghanistan and put some time in there, maybe he got fed up with the BS when he saw there were no family members of politicians on his squad or in Afghanistan
It's an all volunteer army, I totally believe that if you change your mind you should be able to leave at any time.
It will come out in the record that after he left, linguist spooks intercepted local cell calls describing an American looking for someone who spoke English to take him to the Taliban.
You take it from there.
"It's an all volunteer army, I totally believe that if you change your mind you should be able to leave at any time."
ROTFL!
Oh, you were serious?
Like totally, fer shur, its just like volunteering down at the local homeless shelter, get bored with volunteering and just split.
(OMG)
Sure, you "volunteer" after you're forced to register in the Selective Service. Actually, no one is "forced", they just use a bunch of scary language to make you thing evil things will happen to you if you don't register, but it's just like those jury duty warnings: you don't really have to show up.
However, once you do, you have entered into a contract, and the US Military takes its contracts pretty fucking seriously. For those who have a change of mind there is "conscientious objector" status. However, it's sort of difficult to argue CO status when you volunteered in the first place, unless you want to claim you were a completely ignorant doof and didn't know military service was such serious business.
I am Chumbawamba.
"However, it's sort of difficult to argue CO status when you volunteered in the first place, unless you want to claim you were a completely ignorant doof and didn't know military service was such serious business."
I'm just here for the freeeeee! education! Nobody ever said I would be deployed!
It actually happens...lol.
lol, yep.
-Chumbz.
Obama attempted to direct attention away from the VA scandal, and the Red Team is responding by using its reputation as the pro-military, national security party to rally people who've been disappointed in it back to the Red Team in time for the next election. The military has a strong pull on a huge swath of this country (just look at the comments here at ZH), and if Republicans can play this right, it will severely damage Democrats at mid-terms.
There have been any number of things that should have stung Obama badly, but the media have been adept at covering for him. Republicans smell blood in the water, and this fiasco certainly has some stink to it, no matter how one feels on the issue. Float the idea that impeachment and conviction are possible and you'll have people who haven't voted R in years turning out.
The Congress is fucking me - that's my business. What the Taliban do to their woman is none of my business and is not my problem. It's not up to our Army, our soldiers and my tax dollars to fix their fucked up way of living.
Bring the troops home.
Secure the borders.
Honor the Constitution.
It's really pretty simple. Bergdahl shouldn't have been over there to begin with. He's just a clueless idiot raised by a couple of dried up libtards. Bergdahl is not the traitor - they are in DC.
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
"Two Wrights don't make a wrong...but they make a mighty fine airplane"
Do we get to stone the ugly chicks?
Hey nodebt, I like reading your comments usually but maybe when it comes to the military you should shut it. I bet you are the sort of terry tough cunt who still mocks France for not merrily marching to war in Iraq, as if you are immune to hindsight and/or simple logic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre
If you could not take the five minutes required to understand the purpose of the modern murrrican military i.e. wipe out the small resource rich nation's US supplied arms inventory before committing state terrorism - genocide, torture, rape and of course baby killing over as long a period as the American public will allow (currently indefinite) - you are not a misled patriot you are a culpable psychopath.
How any person with a modicum of humanity can vilify a soldier for opting out of the middle east terror campaign that has killed over a million citizens in just one country alone is beyond me, but I understand that as a good little fascist you have applied no critical thought to your beliefs and sadly that may be your only redeeming feature - you don't condone genocide you are just a fucking idiot.
All Guantanamo hostages should be released, and all US military personnel should desert their post.
Kinda wonder how all the anti-Bergdahl folks feel about the Ukrainian troops who desert their posts and refuse to kill people in the east.
Exactly. And I prefer thinking about the "why" (he was rapatriated, see strange remarks from father, etc.) than the "what" (propagandized circumstances around the repatriation).
I tell you what we think. Ukrainian soldiers refusing to kill their countrymen is quite different from a deserter helping to kill his countrymen.
How did he help "kill his countrymen?" That Washington Examiner link you posted earlier says nothing about him trying to "contact the Taliban," despite the misleading headline. Everything else that's been mentioned is hearsay. These ideas get planted in the media and then they take on a life of their own regardless of the absence of evidence.
Also, try to think how any military has wanted to paint any deserter in any war at any point in history: as a traitor or a whack-job. The same thing happened to Snowden. Hell, the same thing is happening to all of us with Holder's new focus on "domestic extremists." The subtle message is that anyone holding an alternative viewpoint from that of the government is an enemy or threat.
First of all, he deserted, second of all, the other soldiers noted that attacks on the unit increased in intensity after he was "captured". Of course, anyone who is convinced Bergdahl is a poor tortured soul will never believe he had anything do with it.
The Washington examiner link does reference the soldier looking for someone who knows English, at the top. Unless there's another missing soldier no one knows about, he's the one. But of course, anyone who wants to believe the deserter had good intentions will just make the argument he was looking for a bus ticket out of the country.
Also, military commanders and the commander in chief are NOT painting him a whack job. I'd like a reference to that...unless, of course, you consider the 0bombya regime statement "served with honor and distinction" is code for "whack job". His fellow soldiers, the ones who knew him the best, and they are the ones who are calling him what he is.
An American soldier in Bumfuck, Afghanistan, asking if anyone speaks English does not automatically equal "Hey, I wanna switch teams."
And seriously... we're gonna use "fellow soldiers say this" and "fellow soldiers say that" as evidence? Again?
You'd think after "fellow soldiers" burned Pat Tillman's body armor, uniform, and notebook that we'd get over the idea of "fellow soldiers" always telling the truth.
Simplest explanation: The guy deserted because of his conscience, Obama thought he could bring him home to distract from the VA scandal, the military doesn't like anyone who deserts, and Republicans see an opportunity to make Obama look even more inept than he already does.
So you're taking the word of the NWO 0bama puppet regime over regular people, who have nothing to gain. I see.
Hardly. I accused Obama of bringing him home now solely to distract from the VA scandal. Has he admitted that himself? I must have missed it.
And all these "regular people" we're discussing are government employees, regardless of whether they're wearing suits or uniforms. Don't lose sight of that fact.
And everyone paying taxes is helping feed the beast. So...?
My point is that automatically believing the "regular people" of the military — the World Police — is no different than automatically believing the "regular people" of law enforcement.
People on ZH have a healthy skepticism of the police here at home; that skepticism should extend overseas.
I for one, am far more skeptical of the police here, hiding behind the blue wall and a badge, than 20 year old kids sent overseas...except when one is a deserter.
But anyway, this thread is crusty and used up and I don't know about you, but I will agree to disagree on whatever the original argument was.
Who is this "we" you speak of, not me. Also not sure who his desertion killed his countrymen.... Links?
So American citizens working for Blackwater shooting up Ukrainian civilians is different than if they were shooting Americans. I disagree civillians are civillians. But the way things are going you will see not deserters but federal agents shooting up the American public, almost happened at Bundy.
How honorable of you. However, I doubt your oppressors give a shit.
How's that Robot Pussy?
If a person is part of an organization that is doing terrible things one has a personal responsibility to quit that organization. It is even arguable that one would then have a personal responsibility to defend against said organization given the chance.
This guy is not a war hero. He is a peace hero.
He is a piece of shit. If he was a responsible person he would have carried out his assignment which he took an oath to complete and then he would have looked for honest employment that does not include killing people. There are a lot of ways to leave the military without deserting your post. He is not in any way any kind of hero.
So the Ukraine soldiers that left their posts should of obeyed their oath?????? Oaths that lead one to actions against the natural rights of human beings are null and void.
Thats kinda the way I feel about our loving, caring central governments spying, intimidation & coercion against us. So I guess they broke their oath.
Well, all's fair in love & war ;-)
Maybe he WAS carrying out his assignment...think about it.
Thought about that (surprisingly enough).
So, how many nano-trackers you suppose they injected under the skin of those fine, upstanding Sunni "freedumb fighters" released from Gitmo while they slept?
Everything has a purpose, this was a sixfer, VA off the front page, rogue IRS agents running amok through the halls of technocracy, Benghazi was like, two years ago dude!, Snowden & NSA and boy oh boy, this economy is sure kinda sucky.
"Pull em up on the ole GPS Val and lets see if we got a drone in the area!" ;-)
Amen brother!
LOL. I know really? Bergdahl should have taken personal responsibility and faced the consequences of putting down his weapons, disobeying orders, and being discharged instead of helping his Taliban buddies. I know what you mean, dude.
Once again, what Taliban buddies? Where are you coming up with this? Links.
Why? You either won't believe it or say good for him.
Don't forget Congress, the judiciary, the Dept of Defense and the whole f**king corrupt federal, state and local govts.
This whole thing is sad. These kids are all being used by the banksters and NWO.
"Just following orders" stops being a valid excuse at some point.
On moral or lawful grounds. Often times they're too scared, uneducated, or unwilling to take the consequenced to make the distinction, but yes I agree.
As is complying to stay out of trouble. The large majority of people killed in gas chambers in the 40s boarded the trains voluntarily.
"How do You Kill 11 Million People?" -- Andy Andrews
The psychological term for your comment is "projection".
Wow. One minute Zero is against the war, the next minute Zero must support its troops at all costs.
Only the shitbirds.
The ones who are held hostage south of the border are ignored.
His name is Andrew Tahmorressi. And they're going to leave him to rot down there.
Obama should just come out and say how he really feels about the military. Actually, in the last 2 weeks he already has:
1. VA situation
2. Andrew Tahmooressi, who he'll never lift a finger to help because it doesn't serve his agenda.
3. This idiotic (and illegal) trade of Taliban prisoners for a deserter and possible enemy collaborator.
Looks like a big middle finger to me.
I suggest a swap: Andrew Tahmorressi returned, and 500 thousand illegals in exchange.
Oh sorry! I figured out why my comment is being downvoted. I used the wrong conjuction. Not all soldiers rape, murder, AND terrorize. They rape, murder, AND/OR terrorize. There, that covers 99.99% of the them.
You are gravely wrong in your assumption. I served honorably for 20 years along side some very honorable men and women. In combat and in peacetime we did the right thig and carried out our orders. We did not rape and/or terrorize anyone. I can tell by your comment that you couldn't lift a rucksack much less carry it.
Even if you despise the war - as I do - Bergdahl, by all accounts, is as straight-up a traitor as they come. It's one thing to abandon post, another to actively help enemies of the military he signed up for.
And once again, I called it right first - Bergdahl Swap an Impeachable Offense Trifecta http://thebullelephant.com/bergdahl-swap-impeachable-offense-trifecta/
Article was even given a hearty stamp of approval of my pet high-powered lawyer
You're mistaken if you think I hold Bergdahl in high esteem.
All I was thinking is that you didn't have up-to-date information. Don't take it all personal-like.
Speakin' only myself as a VNV, I'd enjoy stickin' a nightstick up his father's ass.
I say let him recoup at the Phoenix VA.
Henry Kissinger spelled out the government's thinking plain as day: "Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."
It absolutely breaks my heart to see the way this country casually discards veterans once they come home, but it's not surprising in the least. The government is corrupt and immoral, so why would the VA thing be a shock to anyone? Further, why would anyone continue to fight for this government?
(And don't be under any illusions; patriotic sermons about the Constitution aside, everyone in the military fights for the government when you whittle away the lies and get down to the truth.)
Many of these guys believe the illusion that they are fighting for the good guys. Let's face it if they can make the economy look good to the majority of Americans that can actually see the shit show for what it is. What chance does a military man who is under their watch 24/7 have to find out the truth? They are honorable in their sense of duty. I despise the talking heads in Washington who march great men to their ends in pursuit of American dominance.
fuck ticketmaster if they won't give me a refund. I had front row seats for the welcome home speech by his father. It was to be in arabic, and infamous mandela interpreter thamsaqa jantjie was set to sign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSdJzavkw68
Bergdahl is innocent until proven guilty in a court martial.
O'Blammie ? Proven guilty already on so many fronts, you would need the entire US military to put out all of the fires lit so far by this guy.
Oh. Wait......................
A question: Why is that an officer who disagrees with an unlawful order can resign and go away quietly but an enlisted man who doesn't want to obey an unlawful order is court martialed or in some other way punished? Doesn't that kind of limit the options available to people who have a change of conscience if they find themselves in an immoral situation? During the Vietnam debacle that was made pretty clear to me.
You actually think an officer on the battlefield is given that option? Get real.
Ha. Fucking. Ha
I'm going on a vacation. Fuck this shit.
America has gone from celebrating legitimate heroes to throwing ticker tape parades for recipients of participation awards.
Given the prior experiences of the Johns McCain and Kerry, this guy could one day make policy in Congress and then run for President.
WHINO - War Hero In Name Only
I give this guy more credit for abandoning his post than those who are "just following orders." Face it, this war is a farce.
If you are going to walk off the battlefield based on principles, walk all the way off of it, don't just change sides.
+1
Ah yes, some sanity for a change.
Face it, this war is a farce.
Wars are a farce. They benefit european bankster families and weapons companies plus other contractors.
oh im sure the taliban, musliod brotherhood and the nation of islam will step up to the plate and give the jihadist a proper celebration.
who knows, maybe even the daughter of the musloid brotherhood, susan dirty burqua rice might even be the featured speaker, seeing how osama is now fish shit
5 tallibunnie generals for one deserter, sonds like a fair trade, if you are an idiot.
The equation looks different when you factor in the Qatari money that has flowed into Obama's retirement account to grease the wheels.
It may appear that it was 5 members of the Taliban who were traded for 1 soldier, but one must apply the proper seasonal adjustment....
5 members of the taliban were allowed to go home to afghanistan by way of qatar, and another member of the taliban was allowed to go home to the US by way of germany.
LOL.
I see what you did, very clever for a dirtlump, let alone a canuck dirtlump from the Tar Sands
That one soldier was leveraged.
Send him back to his people.
Granola lib Haileyans will welcome him warmly.
"Upon his release from US military custody today, Baghdoll and his father immediately boarded a flight to Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistani Intelligence now believes the two men have fled into the disputed Tribal Area controlled by the Jihad."
LOL did you see the beard on his DAD. The Taleban is at HOME.
Due to the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline there is insufficient hot tar available anyway.
Fuck You Obama
You Sir, are a terrorist
US didn't exchange prisoners. Guantanamo did.
Q1: Will he get his DOD pension and VA benefits?
Q2: When is his tell-all book coming out (written by a ghost-writer)? The Baba Wawa, Brian Williams interviews, etc?
Books, schmooks.
The movie and the video games are where the money is at.
Beam me up Scotty, there is no signs of intelligent life here.
The Fort Hood murderer is still collecting his benefits check.
Why?
All that wasted energy
Is there nobody that asks WTF the US is doing in Afghanistan in the first place?
We did what Russia couldn't do, sort of.
Good thing the CIA backed these guys in the 80's.
In the words of Charlie Sheen, "Winning!".
"Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die."
In other words, disengage your brain and get behind the flag.
Gotta keep the Heroin flowing kid.
The US was right to go and whack the Taliban when they were hiding/aiding Bin Laden. But all the "nation building" stuff that came afterwards was destructive and damaging to the US, as well as an enormous econmic cost to the US -- though it has allowed Obama to play drone god.
Same as Iraq, the US was right to whack Saddam (though really it should and could have happened the first time except daddy Bush let him go on the advice of that racist, affirmative action dummy Colin Powell) but should have just let another strongman come to the top and got out of there.
These are countries that are not going to be functioning democracies whatever you do, so you simply need the people who do run them to know that if they step on your toes they will get whacked, no ifs or buts.
After Bush II went into Iraq, Ghaddafi got that message. He dropped his attempts at WMDs and started cozying up to the US in combating Islamist terrorists. That ultimately did not sit well with the Muslim lover and terrorist-in-chief now in the White House, which is why Ghaddafi ended up being reamed and Libya turned into a nest of Islamist cockroaches. And why everyone of the potential dictators around the world knows that if you want to be safe, you've got to get WMDs that can threaten the US.
They couldn't get Snowden, so they got Bergdhal instead.
Watch them turn this from "We don't leave our soldiers behind" to "We don't accept desertion".
Whether he deserted or not - from the looks on his face he is psychologically scarred for life and probably wishes he were dead.
I thought we didn't bargain with terrorists?
Incentive to kidnap U.S. Troops.
Not to mention U.S. Citizens.
From his background it seems he was psychologically scarred for life before he joined up. The FFL wouldn't take him but the US Army did -- probably met some affirmative action category.
Paraphrasing Bill Hicks, expecting Snowden to come back after this is like welcoming the return of Christ with a crucifix.
20 minutes with Miley Cyrus will straighten him out!
This swap has to be one of the biggest prick moves done by Barry to date.
Exchange, my ass. In order for two entities to "exchange" prisoners the two need to be separate entities.
This is just a transfer of prisoners from one prison to another, as arranged by the Wizard of Oz.
Another name for it is Bread and Circuses.
Any soldier who walks away from any of our "fighting for freedom" overseas adventures deserves a damn medal for intelligence and rational judgement and deserves a fair measure of respect - from me, a former combat medic with the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions in Vietnam...By the way, if "fighting for freedom" is so important, why are veterans treated like bags of smelly shit afterwards?....
No. You do your conscientious objecting before you sign up or back stateside. You don't desert your comrades when you are in a hot zone. Bergdahl broke bad, has the beard to prove it.
I personally think this is another move by Chalky White to demoralize the soldiers and further undermine the spirit of the country. Letting the bearded cocksucker be photographed next to him, etc. Just hard to believe this is being enacted in broad daylight.
The T-ban probably has various videos of this guy they can release to sculpt headlines and perceptions as they see fit. And they basically got paid (5 beards) to do it. Brilliant. I imagine the post-walker-offer will fold his cards and off himself sooner or later (probably sooner).
Islamic Terrorists rejoiced when they found out that America had elected a Muslim terrorist President.
Obama always has the terrorists best interests at heart.
If I was forced to guess I would say he is only a secular muslim.
He did say in his biography he would support the muslims (underdogs to him) if events were against them.
The fact he is perhaps a secular muslim does not bother me. The fact he is not a Loyal American Muslim does.
Also , if he IS a muslim he should have admitted it, but speaking Truth is not one of his qualities, unfortunately.
Americans need to get out more often.
Minion: "You are sinking lower in the opinion polls, Imam Bath House."
BH: "Damn! I must do something to strike back!"
Minion: "Imam, here is a file on a "deserter" who left his buddies high and dry and went over to Our Side. He is helping the Holy Warriors right now."
BH: (wiggling soles of feet at nearby US flag) "A great Idea, Minion! By Allah! We will release 5 warriors and cash for the soldier! Says here the father is also one of Us."
Minion: "Indeed."
BH: "Hah! A superb insult in the Face of the Infidels who I Command, by Allah's Will! We will release him and insult America to it's face on live TV. Hahahhahaha! Make the calls, Minion!"
Always easy to be the armchair warrior. Look at all the guys that come back from there and are screwed in the head or committing suicide. Maybe he broke earlier than most and it happened there rather than here. We dont know what was in his mind or his circumstances and we never will. Lets not judge too harshly!
+1 from me to you Cosmos but my more important point is below the first paragraph. This Kabuki theatre is so unbelievable to me, inconceivable as being enacted by the highest office with a straight face in broad daylight... that I am starting to think it's in part being done as a honey trap to get O's enemies to speak up so he can pick them off. A 100 Flowers Movement psyop. I gotta lay off the late-day espressos.
Not all year long, on Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, we're put on a pedestal and then thrown in the closet for the rest of the year....
Slender Man already had the speech written, the telepromters positioned, and American Taliban v2.0's family on retainer. Damn. More wasted tax money.
The only good thing that could come out of this is if more light is shed on the Afghanistan occupation. It really has accomplished nothing, Taliban is stronger now than when USA went in. Afghan government rules next to nothing and billions of American dollars have been pissed down a rat hole.
How does the US Military win every battle, never accept a defeat, always prevail, and end up with Taliban in charge of most of the country? It is a question worth asking! American soldiers and Marines have been all over that nation, drones fly everywhere, bombing and helicopter gun ships patrol Afghanistan with deadly efficiency. Taliban can't win any battles, none. So then, after half a billion dollars minimum, how does Taliban own the country.
I listened for a decade to US generals and commanders praise our men and their many victories, never taking a defeat, always taking the fight to the enemy. Okay, I accept their words as true.
How then do we explain Taliban's ability to control much of that nation? What have our troops and our billions accomplished? I for one am glad no family member of mine was in that war, Iraq was enough.
So, the USA is keeping 8,000 - 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after American troops pull out and declare victory. Contractors will probably number north of 25,000. Yet we are told the war in won and we are going home. Ah, pardon me, but is 35,000 American men with guns on the ground in Afghanistan really the definition of pulling out.
Or am I too obtuse to grasp Washington's press releases and their meanings?
maybe proves asymmetrical warfare has some inherent advantages when leveraged against economies of scale of first world MICs.
or... we just being played by... again.
I agree maybe the Taliban were never meant to be destroyed. As we have seen there are many different factions and maybe we went in there to tip the balance of favor for a few of them. Now there will be a terror base to project into the Caucuses and Western China. There is a thriving money making heroin industry that the CIA can use to fund clandestine projects etc all out of the eye of the world. I mean what news crew is crazy to go there uninvited and snoop around.
This war could of been won if we had displaced all the people from the small villages and placed them into an Apartheid type of a setup away from the borders with Pakistan. Creating large swathes of no mans land would of denied the rebels support from the population and it would of made it easy to kill anyone seen walking around where they shouldn't be. Yes this war could have been won but it wasn't, it was just mission accomplished and we will never know the full details of what that mission or missions were, as well as if there are still ongoing missions there.
you're being too logical... this is/was not global positioning of political-economic powerbases...
it's arbitrage on the wholesale price of black tar heroin...
simple is better.
Bulwark. Hinting at Propaganda shows you know the score. Either we didn't try to win the war & stamp out the Terrorists & Taliban... OR we controlled the media and perceptions of the US Military in Afghanistan & Iraq. Probably both.
#1 Precious Minerals & Metals #2 Pipelines & Petroleum Interests #3 Opium Poppies #4 Bulwark against either small military or covert actions... OR Bulwark for Full Out Major Wars. #5 someone in the USA just likes to kick people around and make poor people suffer in any country any where.
Heard the latest estimate for war in Iraq & Afghanistan was North of $3 Trillion with Veteran Benefits and all. But the social costs, cultural costs, business costs, houses lost, refugees, rapes... the USA doesn't count the cost of war since it manipulates the press & the TRUTH.
Oh, is that what he was "thinking"?
No, as a vet myself, I know he's a piece of shit, but I still have to grade him a step above pieces of shit like you who never served, because he actually did at one point. And it's telling that the loudest rubber assholes about serving, are the ones who never did. I think it's a guilt complex, in knowing that since time immortal, a man was either a warrior for his tribe, or an effeminite homo. I certainly can't state it as a professional, but it's always been my first gauge of a man. My attention level drops to 75% for guys that haven't.
So yeah, keep posting what this piece of shit was "thinking", cause hey, we're a democracy, and even the tent sweepers have an opinion.
I love this whole circus about what a " big piece of shit" he's supposed to be. I can't recall in the last 13 years seeing so many enlisted men in media speaking on an issue. They certainly didn't seem able to find Pat Tillman's platoon after they killed him and tried to cover it up. But let's not think too deeply here.
Yeah, we're all supposed to bend over and take it smilingly for the Big Breen Weenie after we sign up, like we're fucking idiots. It's one thing to be an armchair warrior in your fucking barka lounger, and quite another out on post in that third world shithole they buried you in. And then when you can't cope anymore and you realize it was all a fucking lie, don't expect any fucking sympathy or empathy. You were supposed to have figured that out at 18-19 beforehand, because we all know what a bunch of rocket scientists our kids are when they are that old. Go up to your platoon sergeant and tell him you've had a change of heart, or you just wanna quit...see how far that gets you with those midwest farmboys toking from the coolaid bong.
He deserted his post. That makes him a piece of shit? It's not exactly like the Air Mobility Command will fly you Space A for saying "I just can't do this anymore."
Fuck every piece of shit armchair general motherfucker who thinks he has the right to cast a stone. Fuck all of you. I remember contemplating suicide and thinking of all the ways I could do it. That seems how the public prefers soldiers cope with the fucking army. Just shut the fuck up and die quietly. FUCK YOU. I managed to crawl out of that self-destructive hole and stick it to the army instead. In the process, I became a survivor, and learned invaluable lessons about what military servitude really means in the US. Here's a hint.... That, and a cup of coffee.
This post brought to you courtesy of my several dozen AWOLs. Never caught. FTA.
Amen and welcome back to the world. Hang in there....
Retired Guard/LE here.
Signing your name to a blank check for your people is a humbling experience.
But, he did run off before his turn on guard duty. After all I read, at least he did not appear to desert while guarding his post, but....it's like that SC governor who ran off with no exact chain under him and he was in the Reserves and should have known not to do that.
In a fair and just world, Bergdahl would be shot between the eyes by a relative of one of the 14 REAL American soldiers who died looking for his Muslim AWOL Deserter ass.
And Obama would be charged with aiding and abetting the enemy, tried, found guilty and executed.
Anyone see the statement by obozo underling marie harf (barf)? Her demeanor spoke volumes of what these a$$h*les think of the rest of us. Arrogance supreme.
no parade???... sniff...
There are consequences to stupid actions. Little Bowe is lucky he didn't have his severed dick and balls shoved down his throat before being decapitated.
Eventually, Hailey will have a nice fucking time waving their yellow ribbons and jingo flags at the "Welcome Home Bowe" parade in Hailey, Idaho, home of the most spectacular kind of stupid in the state... how.fucking.sad. Stupid Idahoans.
Enjoy your shit sandwich life, Bowe.
and thank you for the down arrow Hailey resident... say... isn't it about time to head north on the highway out of town... you'll be late starting your shift at work cleaning the toilets at the Sun Valley Inn???
as I said in my earlier post "how.fucking.sad. Stupid Idahoans." and you proved my point.
Just let the poor dumb bastard go home and live in peace. The guy already did a five year sentence for desertion.