This story has me so stunned I'm not sure where to even start. So I'm just going to provide references for every fact I've found about it so far, and let you guys sort it out. If you don't like my sources then get your own.
Bowe Bergdahl is a soldier who was "captured" by the Taliban. His fellow soldiers claim that he abandoned his post in Afghanistan in the middle of the night. Many soldiers died trying to get him back:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/bergdahl-deserter-or-hero/index.html
Here is a message making the rounds from an anonymous soldier claiming to be from Bergdahl's unit. It was originally posted at Free Republic, but obviously we can't confirm it's origin:
There's more from this Twitter user claiming to be from his unit:
https://twitter.com/CodyFNfootball
Here's a story from back when he was captured where they claim he just "walked off the base":
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32007586/...arents-captured-gi-plead-privacy#.U40WtPldURp
In 2012 the Rolling Stone wrote an article about it too:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607
The CIA thought Bergdahl might be directly helping the Taliban
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nce-community-investigated-bergdahls-conduct/
Anyways the big news is that the administration made a trade. They released 5 Taliban leaders from Gitmo in exchange for Bergdahl. Doing so directly violates a law that Obama signed several months ago that required the administration to give 30 days notice before releasing prisoners from Gitmo:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/obama-guantanamo-bay-107333.html?hp=t1
The media asked Jay Carney about this specific swap a while ago, and this was his answer back then:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs...ing-congress_794088.html#.U4zTbUANajs.twitter
Bowe Bergdahl is a soldier who was "captured" by the Taliban. His fellow soldiers claim that he abandoned his post in Afghanistan in the middle of the night. Many soldiers died trying to get him back:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/bergdahl-deserter-or-hero/index.html
Here is a message making the rounds from an anonymous soldier claiming to be from Bergdahl's unit. It was originally posted at Free Republic, but obviously we can't confirm it's origin:
"We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday."
There's more from this Twitter user claiming to be from his unit:
https://twitter.com/CodyFNfootball
Here's a story from back when he was captured where they claim he just "walked off the base":
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32007586/...arents-captured-gi-plead-privacy#.U40WtPldURp
In 2012 the Rolling Stone wrote an article about it too:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607
The CIA thought Bergdahl might be directly helping the Taliban
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nce-community-investigated-bergdahls-conduct/
Anyways the big news is that the administration made a trade. They released 5 Taliban leaders from Gitmo in exchange for Bergdahl. Doing so directly violates a law that Obama signed several months ago that required the administration to give 30 days notice before releasing prisoners from Gitmo:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/obama-guantanamo-bay-107333.html?hp=t1
The media asked Jay Carney about this specific swap a while ago, and this was his answer back then:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs...ing-congress_794088.html#.U4zTbUANajs.twitter
As we have long said, however, we would not make any decisions about transfer of any detainees without consulting with Congress and without doing so in accordance with U.S. law.
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