Bowe Berghdahl, POW in Afghanistan, to return to the US

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I feel like there has to be more to this that we don't know about. There's no way the white house didn't think about the potential backlash of the exchange. They knew exactly what they were getting themselves into freeing those five and they also knew he was a deserter. Yet they thought it was worth it anyway. Whether it's just some random attempt at a step towards peace when they're pulling out of Afghanistan (yeah right) or something bigger, I don't know.

I always hate when people bring up conspiracy theories about the government but I think this is the first time I'm genuinely wondering about something like that. Someone else mentioned that maybe the guy was possibly an informant and the thought crossed my mind. Maybe they had to make a move asap when they realized they might just let the guy die. It's pretty far fetched but who knows. I can't see them doing this exchange just for the hell of it though. There's no doubt in my mind that they knew they would get just as much negative press as positive press from this.
 
The truth is if we had President Johm McCain, he never would have been able to wander off and get captured in Afghanistan because he would have been in Iran or Russia or...
 
They knew exactly what they were getting themselves into freeing those five and they also knew he was a deserter. Yet they thought it was worth it anyway. Whether it's just some random attempt at a step towards peace when they're pulling out of Afghanistan (yeah right) or something bigger, I don't know.
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Again, they CANNOT legally be held after armed conflict in Afghanistan ends. This is a HUGE part of this debate but no one seems to be explaining that to the public. These guys are sensationally being described as terrorists but they are really POWs. They were going to be released eitherway regardless of it was now for Berghdahl or later for nothing (That would have gone over well lol)

Also here's an interesting article on why the deal was done last week

http://online.wsj.com/articles/army...pearance-1401821702?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
 
Cloudy said:
Again, they CANNOT legally be held after armed conflict in Afghanistan ends. This is a HUGE part of this debate but no one seems to be explaining that to the public. These guys are sensationally being described as terrorists but they are really POWs. They were going to be released eitherway regardless of it was now for Berghdahl or later for nothing (That would have gone over well lol)

Also here's an interesting article on why the deal was done last week

http://online.wsj.com/articles/army...pearance-1401821702?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
Click to expand...

Not to mention, it's a basic tenant of all military branches that you do what you can to never leave a man behind. Did he defect? More than likely. But if there is even the slightest chance that he was a POW, then we had to bring him back. We owed it to him, his family and in my mind, most importantly, the families of the men who were lost trying to find him.

If he is a deserter, then he deserves the full brunt of the UCMJ. But leaving him there wasn't the right thing to do.
 
homeland.jpg



Hmmm I wonder ...
 
WanderingWind said:
Not to mention, it's a basic tenant of all military branches that you do what you can to never leave a man behind. Did he defect? More than likely. But if there is even the slightest chance that he was a POW, then we had to bring him back. We owed it to him, his family and in my mind, most importantly, the families of the men who were lost trying to find him.

If he is a deserter, then he deserves the full brunt of the UCMJ. But leaving him there wasn't the right thing to do.
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Exactly, and it's so disgustingly disheartening to see people now question the mantra of leaving no one behind. I don't know if it's just obama hate, or right wing propaganda but I don't want to hear people thinking that it's ok to leave soldiers behind even if they did go awol or desert.
 
They're probably going to track those guys via drones and take them out anyway. One way to close Gitmo down is to slowly release the prisoners into the wild and take them out via drones which seems to be the palatable way to execute people. It's like a politically acceptable death penalty for the Gitmo prisoners.
 
illmatic24 said:
I feel like there has to be more to this that we don't know about. There's no way the white house didn't think about the potential backlash of the exchange. They knew exactly what they were getting themselves into freeing those five and they also knew he was a deserter. Yet they thought it was worth it anyway. Whether it's just some random attempt at a step towards peace when they're pulling out of Afghanistan (yeah right) or something bigger, I don't know.

I always hate when people bring up conspiracy theories about the government but I think this is the first time I'm genuinely wondering about something like that. Someone else mentioned that maybe the guy was possibly an informant and the thought crossed my mind. Maybe they had to make a move asap when they realized they might just let the guy die. It's pretty far fetched but who knows. I can't see them doing this exchange just for the hell of it though. There's no doubt in my mind that they knew they would get just as much negative press as positive press from this.
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The VA scandal was effectively pushed out of the news cycle. Not that they're that smart and coordinated, but it sure didn't hurt.

And the Sunday talk shows that record on Friday barely caught a whiff of the actual story.
 
You know, I wonder if its possible for Obama to do something slick like plant tracking devices inside of these 5 guys and have them lead the CIA to the Taliban leadership or something like that so they can drone strike them.

I see folks are already talking about it in the thread. I think it is a distinct possibility. But if we thought about it so did the Taliban. Unless the government has something undetectable (which they might). If true though, then releasing these 5 might not be such a dumb move.
 
Zeth said:
The VA scandal was effectively pushed out of the news cycle. Not that they're that smart and coordinated, but it sure didn't hurt.

And the Sunday talk shows that record on Friday barely caught a whiff of the actual story.
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Have you paid attention to the news in like, the past 10 years? News doesn't stick in the public consciousness. The Kanye wedding got more attention that this did. People don't give enough of a shit for there to be some conspiracy to push a news story away. People naturally stop caring once it's old news.
 
Zeth said:
The State Department wouldn't tell you it's a scandal. They believe only Bergdahl himself will be able to accurately tell his story.
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A guy who said he was ashamed to be in the US Military and intentionally abandoned his post? I'm sure he's got a great story.
 
WanderingWind said:
Not to mention, it's a basic tenant of all military branches that you do what you can to never leave a man behind. Did he defect? More than likely. But if there is even the slightest chance that he was a POW, then we had to bring him back. We owed it to him, his family and in my mind, most importantly, the families of the men who were lost trying to find him.

If he is a deserter, then he deserves the full brunt of the UCMJ. But leaving him there wasn't the right thing to do.
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Well said
 
Yooo is this the beginning of a real life Brody from Homeland?

also whats up with his dad doing Arabic religion like verses in the WH?

But most importantly this event came out of now where to cover up

the whole VA fiasco, you noticed that?
 
Will we see video of the 5 Talibans being handed over?, I think thats part of the deal watch, those Tier 1 blackops guys will shake hands with them and all that.

Sidenote, did ya see the raw video?, they padded the guy down before getting into the blackhawk, they didnt trust him and thay showed it.
 
I think before Obama leaves office he will actually release about 75 or 80 Taliban from Gbay and eventually close it all down.
 
Joeki11a said:
Yooo is this the beginning of a real life Brody from Homeland?

also whats up with his dad doing Arabic religion like verses in the WH?

But most importantly this event came out of now where to cover up

the whole VA fiasco, you noticed that?
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what does this even matter?

yo don't get all religious on me unless its GOD BLESS AMERICA, K thanks. -White House
 
JetBlackPanda said:
what does this even matter?

yo don't get all religious on me unless its GOD BLESS AMERICA, K thanks. -White House
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It kinda does, god blessed america they got his son back

I dont know his fathers history but dude looks like he chilled with the Taliban more than his son, did you see that beard?. I expected his son to look like that, he looked all groomed up heading into the blackhawk.
 
Joeki11a said:
Will we see video of the 5 Talibans being handed over?, I think thats part of the deal watch, those Tier 1 blackops guys will shake hands with them and all that.

Sidenote, did ya see the raw video?, they padded the guy down before getting into the blackhawk, they didnt trust him and thay showed it.
Click to expand...

Joeki11a said:
I think before Obama leaves office he will actually release about 75 or 80 Taliban from Gbay and eventually close it all down.
Click to expand...

Joeki11a said:
Remember in 2010 when US&Russia made a "spies swap", this event didnt get tons of buzz and only that sexy red head Anna Chapman got All the attention.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070901956.html

This event proved spies are real and are still here
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Dat triple post.

And who seriously doubts that spies are still around? As long as there are intelligence agencies there will be spies (unfortunately).
 
Siegcram said:
Dat triple post.

And who seriously doubts that spies are still around? As long as there are intelligence agencies there will be spies (unfortunately).
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Many believe spies dont exists or went away during the cold war, we saw just 3 years ago that isnt the case, also keep in mind those were just the russian spies, pretty sure others from other nations are still at it, maybe even living next to you.

The crazy part of that story was how these spies were on all kinds of realms even some prentended to be Latinos working in a newspaper clearly to push propaganda, the red head probably doing sexual things to get info.
 
I know this is shocking, but it's actually possible to have problems with this trade for reasons unrelated to who the current occupant of the White House is.

No, seriously.

You might need to sit down until everything stops spinning. Just breath. There you go.
 
Coketruck said:
I know this is shocking, but it's actually possible to have problems with this trade for reasons unrelated to who the current occupant of the White House is.

No, seriously.

You might need to sit down until everything stops spinning. Just breath. There you go.
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The patterns are undeniable and this is far from a one off incident that is being called out.
 
There was one guy retweeted who asked for the guy to be released like 3 days ago, and then changed his tune a few hours ago.
 
Joeki11a said:
I think before Obama leaves office he will actually release about 75 or 80 Taliban from Gbay and eventually close it all down.
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I think he will leave this to the next administration, especially if for some reason it isn't looking good for Hillary in early 2016.


.
 
Been doing some reading and I can't help but think that Bergdahl had some serious mental issues. It'll be interesting to see how all this pans out in the end but his release and the swap were absolutely the right thing to do...we don't leave men behind.

For the younger set here that didn't live through the POW/MIA drama of the 70's and 80's...believe me when I say that it's better to have your boys home than a prison full of enemy combatants.
 
andymcc said:
matt binder's twitter is fucking killing it.

BpTsNpiCIAAuJZ_.png
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The others are obvious but I don't see the inconsistency here. Charlie Daniels suggested in 2012 that Bergdahl be "rescued," not traded 5 for 1 with Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo. Being disgusted with the trade deal isn't the same as saying the guy should've been 'left behind.'

Might not be realistic to think Bergdahl could've been rescued, I dunno. But the Bin Laden raid worked, and raids to save American POW's in Iraq worked too. (Jessica Lynch, etc)


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