Well, except for the fact that your article doesn't disprove that there were WMD in Iraq.
Further, you claimed Bush "lied" which is clearly not true and you've spent 5 posts avoiding the fact that you are incorrect.
Finally, Obama was so "right" that he and his VP were touting Iraq as a success story.
Again, you are so fucking dumb it is comical. You're also a dipshit liar who embarrasses himself here but is too stupid to understand that fact.
[h=1]IN CONTEXT OF DESERTION CHARGES, BERGDAHL SWAP WAS A ‘HIGH CRIME’[/h]
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
by JOEL B. POLLAK26 Mar 2015557
[h=2]The news that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is to be tried for desertion casts the 2014 prisoner swap in a new light. President Barack Obama traded five senior Taliban leaders, who had been imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, for Bergdahl–and did so without giving Congress 30 days’ advance notice. In doing so, the Obama administration broke the law, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That violation was not just a crime, but also, in context, a high crime.[/h]The term “high crimes and misdemeanors” is famously vague. And there is no chance of impeaching a lame-duck president with less than two years to go in office.
Yet if we accept that “high crimes” ought to cover violations that impact national security, the Bergdahl swap certainly qualifies. To trade five major enemy leaders for an alleged (known?) deserter who placed U.S. troops at risk is to undermine an ongoing war effort and to encourage future terror attacks or even kidnappings.
Earlier this year, CNN reported that the U.S. military believes at least one of the Taliban leaders released to Qatar has tried to rejoin the war effort by re-establishing contact with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Fox News now reports the number as three out of five.
The Obama administration, however, has vouched repeatedly for the deal and for Bergdahl himself, even honoring his parents with a spectacle in the Rose Garden. UN Ambassador Susan Rice claimed last year that Bergdahl had served “with honor and distinction.” Presumably, Obama would have lied to Congress even if he had obeyed the law.
The hard truth is that President Barack Obama broke the law, egregiously. The sad truth is he will not be punished.
by JOEL B. POLLAK26 Mar 2015557
[h=2]The news that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is to be tried for desertion casts the 2014 prisoner swap in a new light. President Barack Obama traded five senior Taliban leaders, who had been imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, for Bergdahl–and did so without giving Congress 30 days’ advance notice. In doing so, the Obama administration broke the law, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That violation was not just a crime, but also, in context, a high crime.[/h]The term “high crimes and misdemeanors” is famously vague. And there is no chance of impeaching a lame-duck president with less than two years to go in office.
Yet if we accept that “high crimes” ought to cover violations that impact national security, the Bergdahl swap certainly qualifies. To trade five major enemy leaders for an alleged (known?) deserter who placed U.S. troops at risk is to undermine an ongoing war effort and to encourage future terror attacks or even kidnappings.
Earlier this year, CNN reported that the U.S. military believes at least one of the Taliban leaders released to Qatar has tried to rejoin the war effort by re-establishing contact with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Fox News now reports the number as three out of five.
The Obama administration, however, has vouched repeatedly for the deal and for Bergdahl himself, even honoring his parents with a spectacle in the Rose Garden. UN Ambassador Susan Rice claimed last year that Bergdahl had served “with honor and distinction.” Presumably, Obama would have lied to Congress even if he had obeyed the law.
The hard truth is that President Barack Obama broke the law, egregiously. The sad truth is he will not be punished.
[h=1]The Wife of Army Veteran Paralyzed Searching for Bergdahl Weighs in on Who is a Real ‘Hero’[/h]
http://www.ijreview.com/2015/03/282...searching-bergdahl-thinks-man/?source=TWshare
What a great trade!
"I was a Special Forces commander in Afghanistan when Bergdahl went missing, and I experienced firsthand the effect his disappearance had on our operations. Teams that should have been going after militants, or working with the Afghan people, instead focused on searching for a man widely understood to have walked off his post. Equipment was diverted. Key missions were scrapped. We sent our men into some of the most hostile areas of Afghanistan to look for him.
The Taliban figured out what we were up to and began feeding false information to lure our men into ambushes. There is no question men lost their lives searching for him.
======
So happy President Idiot was smiling and all proud of himself.
http://www.ijreview.com/2015/03/282...searching-bergdahl-thinks-man/?source=TWshare
What a great trade!
"I was a Special Forces commander in Afghanistan when Bergdahl went missing, and I experienced firsthand the effect his disappearance had on our operations. Teams that should have been going after militants, or working with the Afghan people, instead focused on searching for a man widely understood to have walked off his post. Equipment was diverted. Key missions were scrapped. We sent our men into some of the most hostile areas of Afghanistan to look for him.
The Taliban figured out what we were up to and began feeding false information to lure our men into ambushes. There is no question men lost their lives searching for him.
======
So happy President Idiot was smiling and all proud of himself.
[h=1]Ex-U.S. Official on Bowe Bergdahl Charges: Why Are We Vilifying an Ex-POW Tortured by Taliban?[/h]
Matthew Hoh, former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Last June he wrote an article for Politico Magazine headlined, "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl: He and his parents have suffered enough—like all of us veterans."
[h=2]Related[/h]
[h=5]Father of Freed U.S. Soldier: "Nobody Can Relate to Guantánamo Prisoners More Than Our Family"[/h] [h=5]Matthew Hoh’s website [/h]
[h=5] Watch all Democracy Now! coverage of the Bowe Bergdahl case [/h]
[h=5]Read: "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl: He and his parents have suffered enough—like all of us veterans" [/h]
[h=5]Center for International Policy [/h]
With Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl facing charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the case has revived controversy over how the Obama administration won his release in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantánamo Bay. On Friday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the White House for documents related to the swap. Others have raised different questions over the Bergdahl case, including whether he is being unfairly targeted while the military and political leaders who mishandled the Afghan war evade scrutiny. We speak with Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009.
[h=2]Transcript[/h] This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: "Hero of War," Tim McllRath of the band Rise Against. The video has been viewed online more than 25 million times. This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. As we continue to look at the case of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was held in Taliban captivity for 5 years after leaving his base in Afghanistan in 2009. He was freed last year in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who’d been held for years at Gauantánamo. Last week, the Army announced it plans to charge sergeant Bergdahl with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy. If convicted, he faces life in prison. The tough military charges Bergdahl faces have revived controversy over how the Obama administration won his release in exchange for 5 Taliban prisoners. Fox News reports at least three of the five have since attempted to reconnect with their former terrorist networks.
On Friday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the White House for documents related to the swap. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki defended the trade during an interview on Fox News.
Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Last June he wrote a piece for Politico headlined "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl, He and his parents have suffered enough–like all of us veterans." Matthew Hoh now joins us from Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome back to Democracy Now! So, Matthew, we haven’t spoken since the Army has charged Bowe Bergdahl with these two counts of desertion and this rare charge that we were just speaking with Eugene Fidell, his attorney, about, desertion before the enemy. Your response?
MATTHEW HOH: Well, good morning Amy, and thank you for having me back on. My response is along the same lines that I have been saying for almost 10 months now. Give this time, no rush to judgment. Why are we vilifying and crucifying a young man who suffered at the hands of the enemy for five years? And even more so, persecuting his family as well. Just to, really, score political points. With regard to the most recent developments with sergeant Bergdahl, the most important aspect of all this is the fact, as Mr. Fidell was just explaining, the Army’s investigation has found that sergeant Bergdahl did not intend to desert permanently. He didn’t intend to quit the war, quit the Army, or join the Taliban or walk to China, but that his intention was to try and get to another base to report some kind of wrongdoing, something disturbing to a senior military officer or to an American general. Something had bothered his conscience. Something had bothered his standards as a soldier that he felt that this was the only option he had, to travel overland, admittedly a pretty crazy option, and obviously one that did not work out so well as everyone knows. But, that is what the Army has found. That this is not a case of classic desertion but of a young man who was disturbed by something, possibly war crimes, some kind of wrongdoing, something immoral, maybe, and that he took it upon himself to report this to his senior officers because he had no faith in the soldiers he was stationed with anymore.
AMY GOODMAN: According to the book "Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues," by Lawrence Morris, Article 99, misbehavior before the enemy, essentially criminalizes a soldier’s inability to overcome fear to carry out their duty. Do you think Bowe Bergdahl was afraid?
MATTHEW HOH: No. Honestly not, Amy, if he was willing to communicate with his squad leader, his team leader about this before hand. And then actually carry out this action. If we go back to information we know about this already, most of which comes from the Rolling Stone article published by Michael Hastings and Matt Farwell, we see that he actually asked his team leader what would happen to me if I went off base with my weapons and other serialized gear — so, my night vision goggles and other equipment the Army has issued to me. The team leader said you will get in trouble. And so, that is, to me, the reason why he went off base without that equipment. This was a plan he had. He obviously felt that he had no other possibility, no other option. So, for him to do that, to go overland in eastern Afghanistan to try and report this disturbing circumstances as the Army says he was trying to do, required quite a bit of bravery. With regard to this misbehavior before the enemy charge, a lot of us who are in the veteran community have never heard of that before. Obviously it is an actual part of the uniform code of military justice, but it is something that is extremely rare. And if you google it — I invite people to go and google it — you’ll see there are nine sections to this possible charge. And really it’s a catchall. If somebody does not have their boots tied properly while in their fighting position, that could be construed as misbehavior before the enemy. It really is a catchall that can be applied really to any circumstances. So, certainly i would imagine that if you were to say like he left the base, well, he left the base without permission that is misbehavior before the enemy so, I guess that you could say that he is in violation of that.
AMY GOODMAN: This is a clip of Bergdahl’s father, Bob, speaking in a video produced last year by The Guardian.
MATTHEW HOH: I got to know Bob via Twitter, and we developed a friendship talking on the phone or skyping. And then we actually had dinner together, along with — the first time I met Jani as well, Bowe’s mom — just a few nights before Bowe was released. So, I think it was a Thursday evening we had dinner together in Washington, D.C. You know, Amy, like a lot of guys in these wars, you’ve seen a lot of suffering, a lot of grief, but, I had never seen anything like I saw in sergeant Bergdahl’s mothers eyes that night. This is a woman whose son was being held as a prisoner of war who was, at that point I don’t think they understood the horrors that which he was going through in terms of the constant psychological and physical torture he endured, but, they certainly knew he was suffering, and they were unsure if they would ever see him again. And I had never seen anything like that in a mother’s eyes. Like I said, I have been to a lot of funerals I’ve seen a lot of suffering and grief of mothers who have buried their sons way too early, but I had never seen anything like I had seen in Jani’s eyes that night. I think that is what is so touching about what Bob is saying in those comments. These are two people, these are a husband and wife who raised two children, raised them well, raised them in the spirit of their church, who had their son join the Army, and their suffering has been unreal, unknown to really anyone in this country.
You have to go back to the Vietnam era to understand the suffering that they must have endured in the sense of will we ever see you sons again, will we ever — what torture must they be experiencing. But, what Bob says about the duplicity of it, the duplicity of this nation, the fact that in church we can bemoan violence, we cite we are a Christian nation, but, we regularly ignore Jesus’ call to peace while we maintain 600 military bases around the world, while we occupy countries, while we conduct wars, while we bomb nations, while we support other nations that bomb nations. This past week with Saudi Arabia’s and other nations’ attacks into Yemen that is fully supported by the United States. We are providing targeting information, in-flight refueling, logistic support. So, i think Bob’s words carry a lot of weight from the kind of man he is, the principled man he is. His experiences as a father who sent his son to war as well then too as a man of the church and a man who has seen this both through a philosophical level and from a practical level.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2012, the Rolling Stone magazine published a series of e-mails from Bowe Bergdahl to his father Bob. This was the piece you referenced with the late Michael Hastings. Three days before he was captured, Bowe wrote, "the future is too good to waste on lies and life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be American. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting. I’m sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live." In that email, he also referred to seeing an Afghan child run over by a U.S. military vehicle. So, can you talk more about what he was trying to do? What we were discussing with Eugene Fidell, to report misdoing to a higher level general at another military post.
MATTHEW HOH: Yes, and again, this is not the defense team, this is not Sergeant Bergdahl saying what his intentions were, this was a team of, as Eugene Fidell explained, 22 investigators working for many months interviewing everyone involved to determine that he left his — Sergeant Bergdahl left his post to report disturbing circumstances which may have been wrongdoing, which may be related to the death of this child, which will most likely be related to his views of his unit, his shame at the actions he has seen there. So, we may have very possibly, this may be a story of a young man obeying his conscience, obeying the standards of the army and trying to tell the truth. Trying to report wrongdoing. Who then was captured en route to trying to — on his mission and then held in captivity for five years, tortured, and then come home to the most disgraceful and shameful attacks to score political points by the media, by politicians. And I will say that, while the Republicans tend to be leading these assaults against Sergeant Bergdahl, I’m not hearing a lot of Democratic voices and Democratic politician speaking in defense of this young man or his family. So, I think it’s shameful not just the attacks but also the silence that has occurred over his treatment; the lack of men and women willing to stand up and defend him in his family.
AMY GOODMAN: But —
MATTHEW HOH: Go ahead, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you finally, last week President Obama reversed course and announced he is going to keep nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan at least through the end of the year and downplayed the extension, saying it would be well worth it. I wanted to ask you Matthew, you quit over the war in Afghanistan — that was back in 2009, this is, what, six years later. It is the longest war in U.S. history. Your response?
MATTHEW HOH: Well, it is also, Amy, the most unpopular war in U.S. history. We see around four out of five Americans opposed to this war. As many americans think the war has been a mistake since 2001 as think it was worth it. And what we have seen occur in Afghanistan, and which was I thinks was really quite striking, Last week, President Ashraf Ghani, the new president of Afghanistan who stole his elections in such a manner that the ballots have never been released, we do not even know how many people voted in total the theft was so great in Afghanistan in those elections. He is surrounded by the same warlords drug lords that Hamid Karzai surrounded himself with. The Taliban is stronger than it’s ever been, record numbers of security forces and record numbers of civilians are killed every year. And the only thing that is doing well in Afghanistan is the drug trade, something that the Afghan government is involved in. Every year there are bumper crops of poppies in Afghanistan. So, somehow President Obama thinks that it is worthwhile to continue propping up this government while millions of Afghan people suffer. As I said, tens of thousands, the report is about — a recent report is that about a quarter million Afghans have died since 2001 because of this war. That President Obama somehow thinks it is worth it.
I think, while I don’t want to see Sergeant Bergdahl go to trial because of the toll that will take on him and his family, I would like to see a discussion about this war. I would like to see a more open dialogue about this war. And these platitudes and certitudes that come from our officials that this war was somehow worth it and that somehow we have achieved some level of security from it, I would like to see that debated in a formal setting and possibly, as a friend of mine described it, maybe Sergeant Bergdahl’s trial could turn into some type of Scopes Monkey trial for our foreign policy and our wars overseas.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Matthew Hoh, I want to thank you for being with us. And by the way, while Fox News had said, citing unnamed government officials, that three of the five prisoners released in exchange for Bergdahl had attempted to reach out to their former militant networks, a state department official disputed the account saying, "none of the five individuals has returned to the battlefield and none of the five have left Qatar. Since their transfer, many actions have been taken to restrict the actions of these individuals and they are all being closely monitored by the United States and Qatar." Matthew Hoh, thanks so much for being with us. Matthew Hoh is a former marine, state department official who resigned in protest of the war of Afghanistan in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He’s now a fellow at the Center for International Policy. We’ll link to your piece called "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl, He and his parents have suffered enough — like all of us veterans." When we come back, we’ll find out what is happening in Lausanne, Switzerland around the talks of a Iran nuclear deal. Stay with us.
- [h=5]Attorney for Bowe Bergdahl: Army Report Shows Ex-POW Left Base to Report Wrongdoing, Not Desert Unit
[/h]
- [h=5]Brutalized in Taliban Captivity After Fleeing War He Opposed, Bowe Bergdahl Charged with Desertion
[/h]
Matthew Hoh, former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Last June he wrote an article for Politico Magazine headlined, "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl: He and his parents have suffered enough—like all of us veterans."
[h=2]Related[/h]
[h=5]Father of Freed U.S. Soldier: "Nobody Can Relate to Guantánamo Prisoners More Than Our Family"[/h] [h=5]Matthew Hoh’s website [/h]
[h=5] Watch all Democracy Now! coverage of the Bowe Bergdahl case [/h]
[h=5]Read: "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl: He and his parents have suffered enough—like all of us veterans" [/h]
[h=5]Center for International Policy [/h]
With Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl facing charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the case has revived controversy over how the Obama administration won his release in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantánamo Bay. On Friday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the White House for documents related to the swap. Others have raised different questions over the Bergdahl case, including whether he is being unfairly targeted while the military and political leaders who mishandled the Afghan war evade scrutiny. We speak with Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009.
[h=2]Transcript[/h] This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: "Hero of War," Tim McllRath of the band Rise Against. The video has been viewed online more than 25 million times. This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. As we continue to look at the case of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was held in Taliban captivity for 5 years after leaving his base in Afghanistan in 2009. He was freed last year in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who’d been held for years at Gauantánamo. Last week, the Army announced it plans to charge sergeant Bergdahl with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy. If convicted, he faces life in prison. The tough military charges Bergdahl faces have revived controversy over how the Obama administration won his release in exchange for 5 Taliban prisoners. Fox News reports at least three of the five have since attempted to reconnect with their former terrorist networks.
On Friday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the White House for documents related to the swap. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki defended the trade during an interview on Fox News.
JEN PSAKI: Was it worth it? Absolutely, we have a commitment to our men and women serving overseas — or serving in our military, defending our national security everyday that we are going to do everything to bring them home if we can. And that’s what we did in this case.
AMY GOODMAN: Others have raised different questions as Sergeant Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and the very rare charge of misbehavior before the enemy. Reporter Peter Maass wrote for The Intercept, "What punishment should Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl receive for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan? The answer comes by asking another question, what punishment has been handed out to American generals and politicians whose incompetence caused far more bloodshed and grief than anything Bergdahl did?" Well, for more we are joined by Matthew Hoh, a former marine and state department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009.
Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Last June he wrote a piece for Politico headlined "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl, He and his parents have suffered enough–like all of us veterans." Matthew Hoh now joins us from Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome back to Democracy Now! So, Matthew, we haven’t spoken since the Army has charged Bowe Bergdahl with these two counts of desertion and this rare charge that we were just speaking with Eugene Fidell, his attorney, about, desertion before the enemy. Your response?
MATTHEW HOH: Well, good morning Amy, and thank you for having me back on. My response is along the same lines that I have been saying for almost 10 months now. Give this time, no rush to judgment. Why are we vilifying and crucifying a young man who suffered at the hands of the enemy for five years? And even more so, persecuting his family as well. Just to, really, score political points. With regard to the most recent developments with sergeant Bergdahl, the most important aspect of all this is the fact, as Mr. Fidell was just explaining, the Army’s investigation has found that sergeant Bergdahl did not intend to desert permanently. He didn’t intend to quit the war, quit the Army, or join the Taliban or walk to China, but that his intention was to try and get to another base to report some kind of wrongdoing, something disturbing to a senior military officer or to an American general. Something had bothered his conscience. Something had bothered his standards as a soldier that he felt that this was the only option he had, to travel overland, admittedly a pretty crazy option, and obviously one that did not work out so well as everyone knows. But, that is what the Army has found. That this is not a case of classic desertion but of a young man who was disturbed by something, possibly war crimes, some kind of wrongdoing, something immoral, maybe, and that he took it upon himself to report this to his senior officers because he had no faith in the soldiers he was stationed with anymore.
AMY GOODMAN: According to the book "Military Justice: A Guide to the Issues," by Lawrence Morris, Article 99, misbehavior before the enemy, essentially criminalizes a soldier’s inability to overcome fear to carry out their duty. Do you think Bowe Bergdahl was afraid?
MATTHEW HOH: No. Honestly not, Amy, if he was willing to communicate with his squad leader, his team leader about this before hand. And then actually carry out this action. If we go back to information we know about this already, most of which comes from the Rolling Stone article published by Michael Hastings and Matt Farwell, we see that he actually asked his team leader what would happen to me if I went off base with my weapons and other serialized gear — so, my night vision goggles and other equipment the Army has issued to me. The team leader said you will get in trouble. And so, that is, to me, the reason why he went off base without that equipment. This was a plan he had. He obviously felt that he had no other possibility, no other option. So, for him to do that, to go overland in eastern Afghanistan to try and report this disturbing circumstances as the Army says he was trying to do, required quite a bit of bravery. With regard to this misbehavior before the enemy charge, a lot of us who are in the veteran community have never heard of that before. Obviously it is an actual part of the uniform code of military justice, but it is something that is extremely rare. And if you google it — I invite people to go and google it — you’ll see there are nine sections to this possible charge. And really it’s a catchall. If somebody does not have their boots tied properly while in their fighting position, that could be construed as misbehavior before the enemy. It really is a catchall that can be applied really to any circumstances. So, certainly i would imagine that if you were to say like he left the base, well, he left the base without permission that is misbehavior before the enemy so, I guess that you could say that he is in violation of that.
AMY GOODMAN: This is a clip of Bergdahl’s father, Bob, speaking in a video produced last year by The Guardian.
BOB BERGDAHL: We teach two generations, at least, of children in this country that we had zero tolerance for violence but we can occupy two countries in asia for almost a decade. It’s schizophrenic. No wonder this younger generation is struggling psychologically with the duplicity of this, the use of violence. The purpose of wars is to destroy things. You can’t use it to govern.
AMY GOODMAN: You are friendly with the family, how did you come to know the family, Matthew? And what about what Bob is saying here, Bergdahl’s father?
MATTHEW HOH: I got to know Bob via Twitter, and we developed a friendship talking on the phone or skyping. And then we actually had dinner together, along with — the first time I met Jani as well, Bowe’s mom — just a few nights before Bowe was released. So, I think it was a Thursday evening we had dinner together in Washington, D.C. You know, Amy, like a lot of guys in these wars, you’ve seen a lot of suffering, a lot of grief, but, I had never seen anything like I saw in sergeant Bergdahl’s mothers eyes that night. This is a woman whose son was being held as a prisoner of war who was, at that point I don’t think they understood the horrors that which he was going through in terms of the constant psychological and physical torture he endured, but, they certainly knew he was suffering, and they were unsure if they would ever see him again. And I had never seen anything like that in a mother’s eyes. Like I said, I have been to a lot of funerals I’ve seen a lot of suffering and grief of mothers who have buried their sons way too early, but I had never seen anything like I had seen in Jani’s eyes that night. I think that is what is so touching about what Bob is saying in those comments. These are two people, these are a husband and wife who raised two children, raised them well, raised them in the spirit of their church, who had their son join the Army, and their suffering has been unreal, unknown to really anyone in this country.
You have to go back to the Vietnam era to understand the suffering that they must have endured in the sense of will we ever see you sons again, will we ever — what torture must they be experiencing. But, what Bob says about the duplicity of it, the duplicity of this nation, the fact that in church we can bemoan violence, we cite we are a Christian nation, but, we regularly ignore Jesus’ call to peace while we maintain 600 military bases around the world, while we occupy countries, while we conduct wars, while we bomb nations, while we support other nations that bomb nations. This past week with Saudi Arabia’s and other nations’ attacks into Yemen that is fully supported by the United States. We are providing targeting information, in-flight refueling, logistic support. So, i think Bob’s words carry a lot of weight from the kind of man he is, the principled man he is. His experiences as a father who sent his son to war as well then too as a man of the church and a man who has seen this both through a philosophical level and from a practical level.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2012, the Rolling Stone magazine published a series of e-mails from Bowe Bergdahl to his father Bob. This was the piece you referenced with the late Michael Hastings. Three days before he was captured, Bowe wrote, "the future is too good to waste on lies and life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be American. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting. I’m sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live." In that email, he also referred to seeing an Afghan child run over by a U.S. military vehicle. So, can you talk more about what he was trying to do? What we were discussing with Eugene Fidell, to report misdoing to a higher level general at another military post.
MATTHEW HOH: Yes, and again, this is not the defense team, this is not Sergeant Bergdahl saying what his intentions were, this was a team of, as Eugene Fidell explained, 22 investigators working for many months interviewing everyone involved to determine that he left his — Sergeant Bergdahl left his post to report disturbing circumstances which may have been wrongdoing, which may be related to the death of this child, which will most likely be related to his views of his unit, his shame at the actions he has seen there. So, we may have very possibly, this may be a story of a young man obeying his conscience, obeying the standards of the army and trying to tell the truth. Trying to report wrongdoing. Who then was captured en route to trying to — on his mission and then held in captivity for five years, tortured, and then come home to the most disgraceful and shameful attacks to score political points by the media, by politicians. And I will say that, while the Republicans tend to be leading these assaults against Sergeant Bergdahl, I’m not hearing a lot of Democratic voices and Democratic politician speaking in defense of this young man or his family. So, I think it’s shameful not just the attacks but also the silence that has occurred over his treatment; the lack of men and women willing to stand up and defend him in his family.
AMY GOODMAN: But —
MATTHEW HOH: Go ahead, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you finally, last week President Obama reversed course and announced he is going to keep nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan at least through the end of the year and downplayed the extension, saying it would be well worth it. I wanted to ask you Matthew, you quit over the war in Afghanistan — that was back in 2009, this is, what, six years later. It is the longest war in U.S. history. Your response?
MATTHEW HOH: Well, it is also, Amy, the most unpopular war in U.S. history. We see around four out of five Americans opposed to this war. As many americans think the war has been a mistake since 2001 as think it was worth it. And what we have seen occur in Afghanistan, and which was I thinks was really quite striking, Last week, President Ashraf Ghani, the new president of Afghanistan who stole his elections in such a manner that the ballots have never been released, we do not even know how many people voted in total the theft was so great in Afghanistan in those elections. He is surrounded by the same warlords drug lords that Hamid Karzai surrounded himself with. The Taliban is stronger than it’s ever been, record numbers of security forces and record numbers of civilians are killed every year. And the only thing that is doing well in Afghanistan is the drug trade, something that the Afghan government is involved in. Every year there are bumper crops of poppies in Afghanistan. So, somehow President Obama thinks that it is worthwhile to continue propping up this government while millions of Afghan people suffer. As I said, tens of thousands, the report is about — a recent report is that about a quarter million Afghans have died since 2001 because of this war. That President Obama somehow thinks it is worth it.
I think, while I don’t want to see Sergeant Bergdahl go to trial because of the toll that will take on him and his family, I would like to see a discussion about this war. I would like to see a more open dialogue about this war. And these platitudes and certitudes that come from our officials that this war was somehow worth it and that somehow we have achieved some level of security from it, I would like to see that debated in a formal setting and possibly, as a friend of mine described it, maybe Sergeant Bergdahl’s trial could turn into some type of Scopes Monkey trial for our foreign policy and our wars overseas.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Matthew Hoh, I want to thank you for being with us. And by the way, while Fox News had said, citing unnamed government officials, that three of the five prisoners released in exchange for Bergdahl had attempted to reach out to their former militant networks, a state department official disputed the account saying, "none of the five individuals has returned to the battlefield and none of the five have left Qatar. Since their transfer, many actions have been taken to restrict the actions of these individuals and they are all being closely monitored by the United States and Qatar." Matthew Hoh, thanks so much for being with us. Matthew Hoh is a former marine, state department official who resigned in protest of the war of Afghanistan in September 2009. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, he served in Iraq. He’s now a fellow at the Center for International Policy. We’ll link to your piece called "Stop Persecuting Bowe Bergdahl, He and his parents have suffered enough — like all of us veterans." When we come back, we’ll find out what is happening in Lausanne, Switzerland around the talks of a Iran nuclear deal. Stay with us.
All I can say is HOH, HOH, HOH. This guy resigned his post in Afghanistan, enough said. This guy is Lib, Lib, Lib. He even says that Bergdahl was captured while on a mission. Again, HOH, HOH, HOH. I guess he is also trying to make it look like none of the five traded for Bergdahl are going to return to the batttlefield because they have not done so yet. Really. The question he raises is has Bergdahl suffered enough. We are not talking about torture at this point. It is now all about justice, military justice. Deserters are the lowest of the low. Anyone who thinks he is deserving of the 300 grand in back pay needs help. I say give him some military priviliges like medical (yes he could go to one of our fine VA Hospitals), etc, but back pay no. He should get educational benefits also. Maybe it is not too late for him to learn something useful.
[ Good thing Obama traded 5 Taliban captives for this fucking roach. ]
[h=1]owe Bergdahl was traded for 5 Taliban commanders. Here’s who they are.[/h]
By Adam Taylor and Kevin Sieff June 2, 2014
Play Video 1:15
The 5 Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bowe Bergdahl
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In exchange for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. agreed to free five Taliban commanders from the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were among the Taliban’s most influential commanders. (Tom LeGro and Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post)
The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl this weekend was greeted at first by elation. But among some, the positive feelings have given way to more mixed emotions as some of the worrying implications of his release become clear.
One big concern is that the U.S. will be releasing five Taliban commanders in exchange for Bergdahl. So who are these men? And what might they do when released?
When the five Taliban commanders were detained by the United States, the American war here had only just begun. Though most of them held high-profile positions in the Taliban regime, they had little experience in the protracted insurgency that followed the American invasion. The Taliban to which they will return looks much different from the one they were torn from.
A decade or more later, they could be seen as martyrs, buoyed by the sacrifices made for the group’s cause and their role in its formation, or, alternatively, perhaps as men unfamiliar with the Taliban’s new mission – the 13th year of trying to destabilize the Afghan government.
In the years that the five detainees spent at Guantanamo, the Taliban mission has evolved in large and small ways, from shifts in roadside bomb construction to changes in the geography of the battlefield. It is unclear what role they will play in the current fight when they leave Qatar in 12 months.
Are their years-old Al Qaeda links still relevant? Could their experience be used as a recruitment tool? U.S. officials considered those questions before the prisoner exchange, but there are no conclusive answers. They could again ascend the insurgency’s ranks, or they could be marginalized as outsiders by new leadership.
Critics of the deal say the release has served as a moral victory for the Taliban at a critical time – just before next month’s presidential elections and as Afghan forces look to prove their superiority over insurgents.
The little information we know about them comes from their Guantanamo case files. All of them are described as "high risk, as he may pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies."
[h=2]Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa[/h]
This 47-year-old was once the Taliban's interior minister, actually helping to create the Taliban movement in 1994. His Guantanamo case file, released by WikiLeaks, described him as a “hard-liner in his support of the Taliban philosophy” and “known to have close ties to Osama bin Laden.”
Captured by Pakistani border patrol on Feb. 16 2002.
[h=2]Mullah Mohammad Fazl[/h]
Also 47, Fazi was a senior commander in the Taliban army during the 1990s, eventually becoming its chief of staff. He is thought to have personally supervised the killing of thousands of Shiite Muslims near Kabul between 1998 and 2001. His Guantanamo case file also describes him as being present at a 2001 prison riot that led to the death of CIA operative Johnny Michael Spann, the first U.S. citizen killed in the Afghan war. "If released, detainee would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with ACM elements participating in hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan," his case file reads.
Fazi surrendered to a Northern Alliance commander in November 2001, and was transferred to U.S. custody in December.
[h=2]Mullah Norullah Noori[/h]
Noori, 47, was a provincial governor in several areas during the Taliban regime. He is also believed to have been present during Spann's death and may have also been involved in the Shiite massacre. His Guantanamo case file says that he "continues to be a significant figure encouraging acts of aggression."
Noori turned himself in to a Northern Alliance commander in November 2001.
[h=2]Abdul Haq Wasiq[/h]
Wasiq, 43, was the deputy chief of intelligence for the Taliban. According to his Guantanamo case file, he “utilized his office to support al Qaeda” and was “central to the Taliban’s effort to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups.”
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Wasiq was detained in November 2001.
[h=2]Mohammed Nabi Omari [/h]
Omari, 46, was a member of a joint al-Qaeda-Taliban cell in eastern Khost province, according to his case file, and “one of the most significant former Taliban leaders detained” at Guantanamo.
Omari was captured in September 2002.
[h=1]owe Bergdahl was traded for 5 Taliban commanders. Here’s who they are.[/h]
By Adam Taylor and Kevin Sieff June 2, 2014
Play Video 1:15
The 5 Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bowe Bergdahl
Embed
Share
In exchange for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. agreed to free five Taliban commanders from the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were among the Taliban’s most influential commanders. (Tom LeGro and Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post)
The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl this weekend was greeted at first by elation. But among some, the positive feelings have given way to more mixed emotions as some of the worrying implications of his release become clear.
One big concern is that the U.S. will be releasing five Taliban commanders in exchange for Bergdahl. So who are these men? And what might they do when released?
When the five Taliban commanders were detained by the United States, the American war here had only just begun. Though most of them held high-profile positions in the Taliban regime, they had little experience in the protracted insurgency that followed the American invasion. The Taliban to which they will return looks much different from the one they were torn from.
A decade or more later, they could be seen as martyrs, buoyed by the sacrifices made for the group’s cause and their role in its formation, or, alternatively, perhaps as men unfamiliar with the Taliban’s new mission – the 13th year of trying to destabilize the Afghan government.
In the years that the five detainees spent at Guantanamo, the Taliban mission has evolved in large and small ways, from shifts in roadside bomb construction to changes in the geography of the battlefield. It is unclear what role they will play in the current fight when they leave Qatar in 12 months.
Are their years-old Al Qaeda links still relevant? Could their experience be used as a recruitment tool? U.S. officials considered those questions before the prisoner exchange, but there are no conclusive answers. They could again ascend the insurgency’s ranks, or they could be marginalized as outsiders by new leadership.
Critics of the deal say the release has served as a moral victory for the Taliban at a critical time – just before next month’s presidential elections and as Afghan forces look to prove their superiority over insurgents.
The little information we know about them comes from their Guantanamo case files. All of them are described as "high risk, as he may pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies."
[h=2]Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa[/h]
Captured by Pakistani border patrol on Feb. 16 2002.
[h=2]Mullah Mohammad Fazl[/h]
The photograph included in Fazi's Guantanamo case file.
Fazi surrendered to a Northern Alliance commander in November 2001, and was transferred to U.S. custody in December.
[h=2]Mullah Norullah Noori[/h]
The photograph included in Noori's Guantanamo case file.
Noori turned himself in to a Northern Alliance commander in November 2001.
[h=2]Abdul Haq Wasiq[/h]
The photograph included in Wasiq's Guantanamo case file.
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Wasiq was detained in November 2001.
[h=2]Mohammed Nabi Omari [/h]
The photograph included in Omari's Guantanamo case file.
Omari was captured in September 2002.
Flashback:
After Bergdahl’s release, a sickening spectacle in the Rose Garden
But the Rose Garden production sticks in my craw – Obama leaving with his arms around Bergdahl’s mother and father. So touching. So warm. So utterly repellent! Did the president know that their son was being accused of desertion? Did he care?
After Bergdahl’s release, a sickening spectacle in the Rose Garden
But the Rose Garden production sticks in my craw – Obama leaving with his arms around Bergdahl’s mother and father. So touching. So warm. So utterly repellent! Did the president know that their son was being accused of desertion? Did he care?
