Susan Rice: Bergdahl Was “Captured on the Battlefield”
“Sergeant Bergdahl wasn’t simply a hostage; he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield,” National Security Adviser Susan Rice asserted Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
But was he?
“We have a sacred obligation that we have upheld since the founding of our republic to do our utmost to bring back our men and women who are taken in battle, and we did that in this instance,” Rice told George Stephanopoulos.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl went missing from his base in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, under mysterious circumstances. According to press reports at the time, he simply walked away from his post.
On July 20, 2009, the Associated Press quoted “two U.S. officials” as saying that Bergdahl “had ‘just walked off’ his base with three Afghans after his shift.”
The sense of pride expressed by officials of the Obama administration at the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is not shared by many of those who served with him — veterans and soldiers who call him a deserter whose “selfish act” ended up costing the lives of better men.
“I was pissed off then and I am even more so now with everything going on,” said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl’s platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009. “Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him.”
Vierkant said Bergdahl needs to not only acknowledge his actions publicly but face a military trial for desertion under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
First we see that Rice lied about whether the U.S. government talked to the Taliban directly — and now this.
Did we trade five of the worst Taliban detainees for a guy who willingly deserted?
Don’t Do Stupid Shit, Obama.
In the words of a person that our current president embraced and originally made one of his leading advisers (certainly a spiritual one): “Goddamn America. Your chickens are coming home to roost.”
Yes, they are.
Mark (99b8fd) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:49 amShouldn’t be a surprise that Susan Rice lied. She has double immunity from consequences. Color and gender mean that anyone who calls her out is a racist and a sexist.
Glenn (647d76) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:04 am“Sacred obligation.”
Those words sound wicked coming from one of the biggest liars in this cynical, anti-American administration.
Patricia (be0117) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:13 amCan we trade Susan Rice for someone? Maybe those African girls?
Kevin M (b357ee) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:23 amThey lie. They grow up learning how to lie. If they didn’t lie as kids, they got beaten. If the first lie doesn’t fly, they trot out another. If that lie doesn’t fly, they trot out another one. And so on. It’s the trash mentality, ghetto or trailer park (Susan Rice or Wendy Davis). And, yes, it’s that simple, and that’s why pedigree matters.
nk (dbc370) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:32 amObama’s best move would be to arrest him and pretend that was the plan all along.
Kevin M (b357ee) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:38 amI just reviewed the Code of Conduct.
I didn’t Susan Rice’s sacred duty anywhere.
Did manage to spot this.
Do me a favor. Unless you are willing to win wars, not just end them, and actually sign treaties attesting to that fact, don’t make trades for me. Should I fall into enemy hands.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:41 amI pretty much agree that some effort should have been made to bring him back. After all he has not been tried or convicted of anything yet. That being said, he should have to go through the normal military procedures for a suspected deserter or traitor, certainly not given a ceremony at the freaking White House where his radical father praises Allah!!
Anything for a photo op. These cretins at the WH simply amaze me.
Patricia (be0117) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:43 amAnd I wonder if said radical father’s favorite charity is really just a device to fund terrorism back in theater.
http://www.afghanistansamsortya.org/index.html
Patricia (be0117) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:44 amAlthough I doubt I’ll fall into enemy hands, now that the rest to country has made it crystal clear it doesn’t start wars to win them. It starts wars to elect Barack Obama.
Figure the odds I’m going to stick my neck out for you, America.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:48 amWow, more confirmation that Susan Rice will tell any lie on TV for Obama.
SPQR (c4e119) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:50 amShe’s already proven she will say anything, true or false, that she is fed, or directed to say.
SarahW (267b14) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:54 amAnd of course none of it makes any sense. So what do you think this was really about? Why would he have done this? What did he hope to accomplish?
I wax and wain, hot and cold, Patricia.
In the moments when I can be roused to believe we have a country worth defending, I say yes. The circumstances of Bergdahl’s absence need to be investigated.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:57 amOh, don’t worry. Folks on the Right will be happy, all on their own, to form a nice circular firing squad for the benefit of the progressive Left. Heck, they are counting on it. And the Right has never let them down. We love just attacking folks in our own tent with exaggerations, false equivalences, and faux-hip names that drive memes that influence voters…all the while, the progressive Left just does whatever it wishes. And laughs.
The press won’t do their jobs. And the Right? Why, we help the Left.
Every freaking time. Because the correct bumper sticker is more important than getting these people out of office.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:59 amShe’s already proven she will say anything, true or false, that she is fed, or directed to say.
Liebot.
Kevin M (b357ee) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:00 amGreetings:
For a while now, the “Leave No Man Behind” (LNMB) concept has been a bit of a burr under my cerebral saddle. It seems to have a great deal of resonance, especially with military and former military webizens.
Recently, I re-read Mark Bowden’s “Black Hawk Down” about the “Battle of the Black Sea” in Mogadishu, Somalia in the early part of President Clinton’s first term and that reading brought forward in what’s left of my mind a concern about what’s involved in that concept and its implications for today’s soldiers.
Admittedly, it has been a long time since my military service. That was back when the draft didn’t have anything to do with ventilation. So, I have no direct experience of today’s volunteer military. But, be that as it may, I am concerned that LNMB seems to be progressing from a mantra to something approaching a fetish and I worry about its impact on our troops.
When I went off to see what kind of an infantryman I could be, dying wasn’t my largest fear. My father had survived his infantry stint in WW II and I fancied myself as good a man as he. And, as a twenty year old, my sense of mortality was in its earliest stage of development. My greatest fear, by far, was being crippled. Secondarily, it was failing in my duties. Subsequently, when I became a squad leader, which was somewhat after I was made a squad leader, I bumped up against the LNMB concept big time. And it’s the resonance of that emotional experience that has me concerned.
Even at the mantra end of the spectrum, LNMB seems so terse as to be almost mindless. I have to wonder if there is some super-secret calculus that I failed to apprehend. I mean, are our troops all committed to dying lest one get left behind? While “Black Hawk Down” may be the exception rather than the rule, my take on it is that its “Lost Convoy” is an adequate example as to how very wrong military thinking can go when it is overly influenced by such thinking.
(For those unfamiliar with “Black Hawk Down”, the “Lost Convoy” was supposed to remove the American soldiers from Mogadishu after their raid. When the first Black Hawk was shot down, the convoy was diverted to the crash site and was exposed to heavy enemy fire while trying to follow radio directions. It ended up returning to base without ever reaching the crash site but with very heavy casualties.)
At the other end of the spectrum and in spite of all the technology, efforts, and bravery, American soldiers were tragically left behind at the second helicopter crash site.
Thus, the crux of my concern, has LNMB become some kind of unit macho fetish as opposed to say, and this will sound trite, an organizational goal? Has it become a too easy answer to too difficult problems? Are we setting our soldiers up for failure or worse by allowing LNMB too much of their and their superiors mindshare. Hopefully, nobody wants to leave anyone behind but isn’t more complex thinking better than relying on slogans?
11B40 (844d04) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:10 amcan we stop with the Right helps the Left, the establishment crushes the base like Godzilla, if one wins a primary, Rove gets a fainting spell, and pulls 7 million from Akin, meanwhile the Dems ride
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:16 amtheir candidates like Slim Pickens in Strangelove, he can be a fake indian like Red Squaw, a phony soldier like Blumenthal, a knave like McCaskill, they will stay with you,
as for Susan Rice, she was a disaster in the Sudan, in the Congo, she was picked for her anti Israel stance, and her network connections,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:19 amWasn’t that the central point of a documentary on his life released on Facebook?
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:31 amWeldome, 11B40. I looked up your MOS. All I can say is for an infantryman you have quite the vocabulary. So much so that I admit a simple deck ape like me couldn’t follow it.
I gather that “macho” is bad.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:38 am*Weldome = welcome
What can I say; they’re right next to each other
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:41 amThe “c” and “d” keys, I mean.
After rereading your comment, 11b40, for like 10 times, I think I agree with you. But perhaps for different reasons. LNMB is a useful tool, sometimes, to be invoked.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:51 amWhen she claimed he was captured on the battlefield, an actual journalist would have asked what specific battle he was involved in.
JD (065ca0) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:14 amobama can say “don’t do stupid shit” because he knows susan rice will do it for him.
I just wish he didn’t tell us “if we like our electricity we could keep it.”
Jim (145e10) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:18 amGreetings, Steve57: (@ 22 Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:51 am)
Sorry for the ordeal, reading-wise. And I think that I understand the usefulness of LNMB as a tool. But sometimes people take an idea way too far. Our military routinely classifies casualties as killed, wounded, or missing, the proverbial KIAs, WIAs, and MIAs. No one of any military intelligence or experience would stand up and pronounce “Let no man be killed.” or “Let no man be wounded.” because those events are not under anything approaching adequate control. And believe me, I know that fear of abandonment does not usually contribute to mission accomplishment. But soldiers do get lost, confused, or even vaporized and investing more military assets in their recovery is not a risk-free endeavor. Subscription to a terse mantra is not the best of reasons.
11B40 (844d04) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:32 amThe US government shouldn’t have negotiated his release. They should have given the Taliban a sharp knife and a roll of Brawny.
CrustyB (69f730) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:35 amAll part and parcel of the rapid decline into Idiocracy. Plus lying is as intertwined with the Democratic method as breathing is as intertwined with the respiratory system.
This dog & pony show already is serving and has served the administration’s purposes. This now is the lead item of the news cycle, rather than the VA healthcare disaster, the latter of which goes right to the Democrat wet dream of single payer, which in turn will finish us off as a nation.
Concerning the merits of this farce of a deal, let’s just say that it’s a good thing Team Obama wasn’t around to negotiate the end of the Revolutionary War. The British still would possess New York.
Lastly, the presidency is cloaked with vast, at times nearly plenary, powers. Keep all this in mind when in Nov. 2016 you’re thinking about staying home and not voting.
Lawrence Westlake (4fc30a) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:52 amScore, this round: Taliban, 5; USA, -1 so far, and going down.
I continue to be amazed at the increasing incompetence of the 0 administration, and begin to suspect that it is entirely intentional.
htom (412a17) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:03 am11b40, what is this “fear of abandonment” of which you speak?
If one of us should have suffered it, it should have been me. I get blown off a flight deck in the middle of the Pacific, I’m in a world of hurt. I’m not walking out of that one. Yet “fear of abandonment” never crossed my mind.
Why is it so foremost in your mind?
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:17 amA couple of points to contemplate:
a) Obama had a secret visit to Afghanistan last week. Did he go with the plan to return with Bergdahl on board Air Force One? Did the Taliban realize that and refuse to give him that political reward and photo op by delaying Bergdahl’s release?
b) For the first time ever the WH “accidentally” outed an active CIA station chief by releasing to 6000 reporters the name of the CIA station chief in Kabul. I wonder if said station chief aggressively opposed the release of 5 of the most dangerous prisoners at Gitmo for any reason let alone for a deserter and got cashiered for his efforts?
Both seem eminently possible for this administration.
in_awe (7c859a) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:24 am“Keep all this in mind when in Nov. 2016 you’re thinking about staying home and not voting.”
This is a common trope from Westlake. Seeing as though there aren’t even any candidates yet, aren’t you just a bit ahead of the game? You should stick with slamming conservatives.
JD (065ca0) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:28 amfood stamp and vajayjay jarrett have the military going along with this farce and now you have it
the US military is every bit as sick and corrupt as the Lerner IRS
how very very shameful how very very sad
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:28 amGreetings, Steve57: (@ 28 Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:17 am)
Well, my understanding of LNMB is that morale-wise it is to assure the military member that he will not be abandoned by his fellows.
11B40 (844d04) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:34 amIf “fear of abandonment” never crossed your mind during your misadventure, as all those lights grew smaller or fainter, then LNMB served its purpose. I try to keep the reason why it exists foremost in my mind so as to understand the reason why it came about and why it is effective on some level. My concern is that the rote-ness of its repetition causes neglect of the risk of further casualties in the pursuit of its objective. While assuring one’s charges as to one’s commitment to it maybe be effective at times, the cash on the barrel-head in this trade can easily be other people’s lives and well-being.
JD (065ca0) — 6/2/2014 @ 10:14 am
Expecting journalism to be committed on any show that Susan Rice is invited to these days is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:36 amYou can’t commit journalism here, this is the News Room!
The house has to vote Cry Boehner out, and then start the impeachment process.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:38 amNot because I WANT IT, but because it is the proper move to make.
Wait until the new Senate is seated.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:39 amFeel like my hot air ballon has burst above some wind-turbines.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:41 amthe boehnerpoofter contingent is corrupt Mr. mg and they’ve declared war on the people who want reform
don’t look to the Republican party for answers here
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:44 amwell, now that he’s rescued the deserter, maybe Bam-Bam can bring home the Marine held by terrorists closer to home.
i’ll be holding my breath.
redc1c4, 11H10 (abd49e) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:46 amI was expecting some conservatism from the house of “no shit, what just happened”.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:51 amThe lovely Dr Rice said:
The Administration had to say that. Even if they knew, knew! he was a deserter, they couldn’t say anything but what they put out, or they could never have exchanged prisoners for him.
And it’s just too, too bad that at least six other soldiers died trying to rescue him, right? After all, that’s part of “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
Sgt Bergdahl had better seek immediate discharge, because if he tries to remain in he Army, his fellow soldiers will show their displeasure.
The Army-daddy Dana (3e4784) — 6/2/2014 @ 12:17 pmhis hillbilly taliban daddy says he don’t even speak the english no more Mr. Dana
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 12:23 pmjohn mccain said obama paid to high a price to get our pow back. someone should ask him if he thinks nixon paid to high a price to get him back? I don’t remember him saying when he got off the plane from hanoi that nixon paid to high a price to get him back!
jay (c568ad) — 6/2/2014 @ 12:25 pmMcCain should just go to his quiet place.
He adds no value.
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 12:37 pmLying c*cks*cker Crack Whore strikes again. What are you phc@king Republican annelids going to do about it?
Yeah, we thot so.
gary gulrud (46ca75) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:06 pmnicely put Mr. gary
i’m smellin what you’re sellin booba
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:10 pmEddie Slovik would get a ticker-tape parade with todays govt.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:29 pm“Captured on the Battlefield”
If you define all of Afghanistan as “the battlefield”
The story was told in Rolling Stone magazine. Go to bottom of online page 4:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:43 pm(He didn’t want to cause trouble for the other soldiers)
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:44 pmIf president lackluster had a son, he would be a deserter.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:52 pmwonder how many water pipe summits our prezzy has had with the tally-band.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:54 pmNational Soros Radio doesn’t find the facts to be very clear at all Mr. Sammy
lil bowe peep was a lost lil sheep until lord food stamp found him
the question today is should we obey the command to rally round him
he’s back and we’re glad he’s not hurter
but with sadness we learn that he was a deserter
oh pickles
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 1:58 pmSusan (Kneepads) Rice being interviewed on national TV by always reliable Candy (House Organ) Crowley – Wow, just Wow! These two Obama lapdogs put the embarrassing antics of Walter Duranty so deep in the shadows that even Diogenes would have to flick-on the high beams to illuminate the 18 wheel deception barreling down the freeway at us in the oncoming lanes.
ropelight (ae008d) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:01 pmclick through for the actual whole National Soros Radio quote
there must be some kind of glitch in Pale Moon that’s making it hard to copy it verbatim
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:03 pmRolling Stones interviewed his fellow aoldiers, who know exactly how it happpened.
Now he probably had to lie to the Taliban (he did not want them to think he was deserter, so they wouldn’t kill him out of hand) and the Taliban also lied.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:03 pmhmmm I wonder how it is that National Soros Radio is so in the dark about the details?
Maybe we need to give them more tax monies?
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:04 pmAnd candy Crowley corrected Susan Rice. She didn’t pursue it.
How is The Haqqani network the same as the Taliban?
It is, in fact, but it is not supposed to be.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:04 pmwhat makes you think the First Failure can even produce viable sperm, let alone an erection in the presence of a female?
if he actually has an biological children, they would have to have been via artificial insemination with the help of a sperm donor. he’s only good for contaminating the water of a hot tub down at the local bath house…
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:12 pmgive back the 50 million illegals for the marine in mexi-coo-coo.
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:14 pmreally Sam the Sham?
you want to try and spin his treason as “concern” for the Soldiers he was putting into danger with his illegal acts? if he was that “concerned” about the Soldiers he lived with, his sorry ass would have stayed in the bunker and done his duty, instead of deserting to give aid & comfort to the enemy.
do us all a favor and just STFU on this subject: it’s bad enough that you go through all sorts of contortions to try and cover for Ear Leader for his day to day stupidity, but this traitor got Americans killed via his actions when he deserted his post in the face of the enemy then, and will get more killed going forward, due to the boost to the Taliban getting their leaders back in this political victory over the US, arranged by your hero.
now that they know they can get prisoners released from Gitmo by capturing Americans, i’d be amazed if there wasn’t a concerted effort throughout the world to capture Americans for barging purposes.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:21 pmhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/02/sources-intelligence-community-investigated-bergdahls-conduct/#
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:43 pmAnd some more details here;
http://www.weeklystandard.com/keyword/Bowe-Bergdahl
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:50 pmSammy ain’t no Israeli, he’s a modern Amerikin fella, he worships the liberal elite, he obsessively carries their water and he makes excuses for their bloody terrorist crimes, he knows all the words to Pete Seeger’s old union songs, he never misses the Sunday NY Times, and he’s convinced Palestinians are the chosen people.
ropelight (ae008d) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:55 pmthis story has gone ‘pear shaped’ as the last two items indicate,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 3:35 pmSammy… was it Mick or Keef that interviewed them? God help us if it was Ronnie Wood!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 3:44 pmFaithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama’s Impeachment
Its a book now!
DejectedHead (a094a6) — 6/2/2014 @ 3:47 pmnarciso, could it go any other way?
Look at all the indicators. Such as, we didn’t see a video of Bergdahl getting his head sawed off. That’s rare.
The indicators didn’t point to a Fabrizio Quattrocchi. Which is why I’ve been leaning Charles Jenkins.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 3:59 pmif everyone involved had followed the law it might could have gone another way
this was a lawless rogue enterprise on behalf of a deserter that promises to undermine national security in new and exciting ways and it’s very creepy
it’s creepy that food stamp did this
and it’s creepy that the military released the terrorists knowing that it was an illegal order
fascism…
ugh
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:05 pmThe next few months will be interesting. The Army has to look into the circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture. If the evidence points to where I, and pretty much everybody, thinks it points then there has to be a court martial. Jenkins was held for nearly 40 years because of his stupidity. In terms of a prison sentence the Army only gave him a slap on the wrist. 30 days in the brig. But then, 40 years.
Will Obama allow what under any other President would happen to happen?
Will there be a revolt?
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:09 pmSammy,
We cannot discount the possibility that Bergdahl was simply lost trying to find a 7-Eleven.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:10 pmHey, the man just wanted a slurpee.
no ES, he just wanted to by some Skittles.
fortunately for him, he ran into the Talitubbies instead of a “white hispanic” vigilante…
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:13 pmredc1c4,
Yeah, shouldn’t Bergdahl be pressing charges against the Taliban for profiling him ? Can’t a white man go for a walk after dark in Afghanistan without having to explain himself ? It’s not like he was wearing a hoodie and walking too closely to people’s homes. Or something.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:21 pmFor Susan Rice, love is a battlefield. Bergdahl was repeatedly buggered by his Taliban captors and so Rice figures he was captured on the battlefield?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:21 pmGotta stick up for the military. A little bit.
I doubt anybody knew it was in illegal order, because it’s sort of beyond the scope of anybody’s job to monitor whether or not the CinC is complying with other laws to keep Congress informed of certain decisions. His order to the military would have appeared lawful, since such prisoner transfers are normally within his authority.
There is as far as I know, no such office that keeps track of Presidential legal compliance. H3ll, up until we got Prom Queen nobody thought we needed such an office.
The military is FUBAR in a lot of ways, but President Myley Cyrus has introduced something new that, to be fair, they never expected to have to deal with.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:22 pmES @68, Bergdahl was just following Biden’s advice to head toward India.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:23 pmPossibly, although the Robert Garwood case, comes to mind, I’m surprised no one has made the ‘Homeland’ connection, maybe because there’s no Claire Daines character,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:24 pmGarwood, AFIK, didn’t give any indication that he intended to collaborate with the enemy before his captivity.
Which is why I think the Jenkins analogy is more apt in the Bergdahl case.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:29 pmthe defense department had to know Mr. 57 that what it was doing was illegal
whether you want to lay all the blame on that p.o.s. Chuck Hagel or on the DoD more broadly, it remains true that what we have learned is that nobody nowheres in the military is a bulwark against lawlessness… even when that lawlessness threatens to greatly undermine national security
and honestly, if the commanders at Guantamo just plain didn’t know whether or not there was a legal justification for the release of the terrorists they were releasing, that’s very very sad
America deserves better than this
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:36 pmAlso, how the heck do you get promoted the SGT without actually being present? Is it a participation prize military now?
Gazzer (0e6aeb) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:37 pmYes.
nk (dbc370) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:42 pmas I put it, on another blog, you get jail for a filmmaker, parole for Gitmo’s murderer’s row,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:42 pmMr. feets, yes, America deserves better. I’ve been alternating between saying that and saying America is getting exactly what it deserves since 2008.
But I have to be insistent. There would appear to be nothing unlawful down the chain about this prisoner transfer. There’s just nothing about that order that screams UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Like an order to fire on Americans or execute EPWs would.
Where you want to place the blame is up to you. Personally I’m comfortable with spreading it around from the P.O.S. to the Joint Chiefs.
Just saying that to some Major or SGT or Petty Officer at GITMO it never would have occurred to them to ask, “Did Food Stamp check all the boxes before giving me this order?” It would have appeared to be a lawful order, similar to other such orders they carried out. You would have to know about the statutes that Prom Queen was supposed to comply with, and most grunts and squids and jarheads wouldn’t have that knowledge. Nor would they need to, nor should they.
They deserve better, too, Mr. feets.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 4:59 pmLet’s cut a deal, Mr. feets. Howzabout the next time you all elect a Preezy that instead of a $20B helicopter fleet really deserves a parole officer and an ankle monitor.
We can start by not electing Hillary!, who already has some former Navy SEAL and FSO notches on her belt.
And then if the job doesn’t kill you, the VA will.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:13 pmWhat a creepy couple of parents, as Larry Mondello would say.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:27 pmnobody in the military – certainly not the lapdoggish and sleazy p.o.s. Chuck Hagel – put policies and procedures in place to make sure that all prisoner releases were performed in accordance with the law
and whoopsies
we up and illegally release five murderous fiends and – bonus – burnish the target on the back of every soldier and many non-soldiers in combat theaters and elsewhere
this does not give me a lot of confidence in our armed forces
perhaps the duty of guarding terrorists should be given to a more responsible organization
holy moly!
we’ve come to a place where even a pitiful shriveled bought and paid for soroswhore like the president of the united states can break the law and nobody but nobody in the DoD or military will even lift a finger to slow him down
this is shocking
something is out of whack here
this may be the military we have
but it’s not the one we should have
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:27 pmwell they saw what happened to Gens,McCrystal, Petraeus, Mattis, Allen by proxy, Flynn of the DIA
http://therightscoop.com/walid-shoebat-reveals-disturbing-comments-and-youtube-activity-of-bowe-bergdahls-father/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:43 pmIf Bush had swapped five for one, he would be accused of “racism,” in the context that it takes FIVE Afghans to equal one white American.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:49 pmFrom Hot Air:
He’s been a lying stammering weasel of a press sectretary but I wonder if this might have had something to do with Carney finally deciding he’d had enough.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/jay-carney-2013-no-decisions-about-bergdahl-detainee-deal-without-consulting-congress_794088.html#
elissa (8fc081) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:49 pmIt’s so much that they lie. It’s that they don’t truth.
Amphipolis (e01538) — 6/2/2014 @ 5:50 pmMr. feets, what I’ve been trying to explain is that someone would have lifted a finger to stop Tiger Beat, but we’re talking about a pretty obscure point. Most people in the military would have no way of knowing if Prom Queen had provided the requisite notice to Congress or not.
Since it would have been unknowable to most, then those people who complied with the order are blameless.
By all means, feets, direct your ire at people who should have known. H3ll, I’ll even put together the firing squad. But I’m not going to start blaming everybody who may have been involved.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:00 pmI don’t see that it’s very helpful to pile on Bergdahl. If we were to do a statistical analysis of how soldiers get killed, wounded, or captured we’d probably find the commonest factor is that they’re dumbasses. But the old men in Washington who send them out to kill people and blow things up under our flag are not supposed to be. I think it’s better to focus on whether the Gitmo 5 were dangerous enough to keep on keeping prisoner or not because that’s where the real f***up would be.
nk (dbc370) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:01 pmmister happy,
you sound like you could use a taco.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:06 pmor maybe you should drive down to riverside drive and get yourself a milkshake at bob’s big boy. or go see what garry marshall has playing at the falcon theatre.
well ok i guess Mr. 57
but something has gone very wrong
is anyone even now calling for safeguards to be put in place that will prevent this reckless release of murderous terrorists into the wild?
I hope so
they should at least have to wear a band around their neck that explodes if they try to remove it or come withing 500 yards of any soldier with a functionally transmitting anti-terrorist head-exploding transponder
but nobody ever asks hey what does happyfeet thing
but I’m still going to continue to explore maionese
which is a brazilian potato salad
none of the pictures seem to really approximate the dish as I first encountered it, which basically consisted of potatoes, black olives, a little mayo (much less than most of these recipes call for) and a basic garlic oregano sea salt parsley seasoning
it was deliciousness, and I’m a take some to NG when she gets home from the hospital
we’ll have to revisit this conversation after I make my first batch
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:15 pmI agree, nk. Which is why I’ve tried to stay out of the fight. But apparently there’s no such thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bergdahl was a 23y.o. screw up. Lord knows I’ve had my share, but the overwhelming majority weren’t. Now, it must be remembered that if Bergdahl was a deliberate screw up, that cost lives.
Which is why I say the next few months will be interesting. And as important as the question of whether the terrorists we released will return to the battlefield.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:16 pm.85 At least obama didn’t trade military equipment for hostages as reagan did in iran- contra or help eden pastore and ollie north finance the war in central america by selling dope to school children with the help of bill clinton alowing it flown in to mena arkansas when he was governor!
jay (c568ad) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:18 pmhah yes Mr. Stone that is my zone
I used to go to Bob’s a lot when i first moved here
now there’s this place kinda nearby there down Pass called Bea Bea’s
god bless america
so much there still to explore … start with the omg french toast if you ever get a chance – this is a good one to start with cause it’s super-easy to do at home if you get inspired
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:18 pm*within* 500 yards i mean
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:19 pmoh and that should say
but nobody ever asks hey what does happyfeet *think*
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:20 pmoh –
also – in the maionese as i had it the other day the reason there was less mayo was cause some small amount of olive oil stood in for the absent mayo – to give the dish a better nutrition profile
also the black olives were sliced, just so you picture it right
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:23 pmYeah, Mr. feets @91 something has gone wrong. It’s called the election and reelection of Barack Obama.
I would like to point out that as much as I fault the military, I can’t fault them for not planning for this.
Thanks for the recipe.
In return:
http://icuban.com/food/papas_fritas_con_mayonesa2.html
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:26 pmyou notice how the details of how and where he was held, have been nebulous;
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/negotiating-with-terrorists-inside-the-capture-and-release-of-sgt-bowe-bergdahl/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:27 pmLet’s take a break and listen to a little Whistling Death. Whistling Death always makes life more worth living.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQxb-V-rZqA
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:36 pmDear Barack,
Thanks for bailing me out of the “Worst Prez of All Time” sweepstakes.
There’s no question, you are, indeed, President # 44.
Signed,
James Buchanan
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:39 pmi already want to add sriracha to the mayo for that one Mr. 57
i have trouble with impulse control
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:41 pmThink of all the people who the Feebs have induced into believing they were helping AQ and who then have been arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned.
It can be argued that the POTUS and his administration have just done something far, far worse by freeing the upper echelon of the Taliban.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:48 pmNo entiendo papas fritas con mayonesa,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:48 pmI could tell, Mr. feets.
Speaking of which, the Ike shooters doing it Gangnam style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqlwAWuMTg
Why, there autta be a law!
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:49 pmI worry about you, happyfeet. I am afraid that you are becoming a sybarite. Food should be primarily a fuel, and secondarily an occasional pleasure to be indulged sparingly. But when the pleasure part becomes an obsession, where you are ruled by your tastebuds, it becomes an addiction which threatens to consume you. The next thing you know, you will not be able to button your shirt collars and possibly even scrounging Kohl’s for Hagar Expandabelt pants.
nk (dbc370) — 6/2/2014 @ 6:59 pmnonono Mr. nk I am cautious and wise in the way of the carbs
you haven’t spied the over-arching trend so just for you i will tell you
what i do since i do cook anyway is i look for healthy low-cost tasty foozle, and then I propagate the recipes among my friends, many of which are not very savvy in terms of their lifestyle choices (no savings leased bmw lots of restaurant meals people)
it’s a small way to help them
i still worry to death about them
so far the biggest most propagated hit is just regular old egg casserole
I think my next step will be to move away and then let people know they’ll always have a guestroom at my new place if they want to get away from failifornia
but for a lot of people here the story is not going to have a happy ending
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:19 pmI just read the following. In it is listed the son of a friend of mine, one of the people listed as killed in some way responsible because of the search for Berghal.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:27 pmI’m a bit stunned.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/02/we-lost-soldiers-in-the-hunt-for-bergdahl-a-guy-who-walked-off-in-the-dead-of-night.html
Can anyone guess wtf shoe will drop tomorrow?
mg (31009b) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:31 pmThis scandal is unlike the others because only one person had the “authority” (and I do use the term loosely) to effect this unlawful travesty and blow off congress. He can’t blame an underling, he can’t blame a rogue employee in Cincinnati, and he can’t say he was shocked and angry when he read about Bergdahl in the newspaper. I think we all know it was done at this moment as a squirrel to get the VA off the front page, but it has backfired mightily. This scandal has the potential to stick.
elissa (fa1249) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:46 pmthe stickier this scandal is the better diversion it is from laughable failure of the buffoonishly incompetent United States government to provide healthcares for veterans
plus the average american public school graduate will be left wholly and utterly in the dark about the vile and obscene molestations of our economy being committed by Gina McCarthy’s perverted EPA
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:50 pm*the* laughable failure i mean
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 7:53 pmWell, the one thing I learned at my “independents” monthly meeting is that “scandal fatigue” is reaching a saturation point with us. Not everyone is really an independent; some are “moles” who really think they can fool us. The give away (and I hesitate to type this) as when they say “I’m one of you“.
Please don’t yell at me, I’m only being honest. I don’t speak for any Independent but myself when I say that my world (and I am not suggesting “only” my world) goes from God, to loved ones, to friends, then to state (TEXAS!) and then country. Nowadays, the word “patriot” ,IMHO,is used as a means to divert my assent to authority, away from God, to, well, whomever is in power.
felipe (098e97) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:03 pmWell, if this kid was not a genuine casualty in Afghanistan it looks like he’s going to become one in the publicity war. I’m sorry for the soldiers who were killed searching for him, but going to look for a missing comrade is as good a reason for getting killed as going looking to shoot some illiterate goatherders on the other side of the hill.
nk (dbc370) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:06 pmMD, please be assured of my prayers for your friends loss, and please let them know of my spiritual closeness to them.
felipe (098e97) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:10 pmthe daily beast is doing real journalism on this
what’s up with that?
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:17 pmthanks, felipe
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:25 pmnk, if he walked away on his own, he should have left a note to not come after him.
It is weird they outed the station chief as they were negotiating the release, isn’t it? Has anyone on twitter pointed this out to reporters like Tapper?
MayBee (846936) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:26 pm116. And all the networks and CNN too. They need to start to take down Obama so he’ll not be an undue drag on Hillary or Fauxachontas’ 2016 aspirations. Plus, when the released Talibaner prisoners spring back to jihadist action they know it’ll be Washington D.C. and NYC that are most at risk–and that’s where most of the talking heads live and work.
elissa (fa1249) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:27 pmthat’s weird but i thought it was just a coincidence food stamp was there last week
but yes
taking the CIA guy off the board and putting 5 primo terrorists in play at the same time is just the kind of masterstroke you expect from Team America these days
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:34 pmelissa it saddens me that you’ve evolved into this scintillatingly devious and cynically perspicacious creature
you are indeed become the maleficent of the pontifications
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:36 pmI’m guessing the station head was outed because he would not go along with this cockamamie scheme.
Gazzer (0e6aeb) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:39 pmOccam’s razor, Gazzer. They’re just f*** ups.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:53 pmAlso, did you see TFG in the Rose Garden with deserter’s folks. He had the temerity to say we never leave anyone behind. Chris Stevens was unavailable for comment.
Gazzer (0e6aeb) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:56 pmOk. Clueless f*** ups.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:00 pmIf this doesn’t shock the sleeping people out of their complacency and send them to the voting booth come November, I don’t know what will.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 9:55 pmDon’t Do Stupid Shit, Obama.
The majority of what he’s done in his time in office so far is stupid.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (d3cdd0) — 6/2/2014 @ 11:33 pmTurning off cable TV or restricting the availability of gasoline might arouse a few of the sleepers to look around and bellyache a bit, but it wouldn’t motivate Joe Sixpack to discard his rose colored glasses, much less acknowledge the ability to rectify his discomfort was already well within his grasp. All he has to do is get off his knees, stand up, and get ready to take some heat for doing what he already knows is right for him, his family, and the nation.
ropelight (334856) — 6/3/2014 @ 5:21 amAnd while you’re at it, don’t breathe.
Because that’s about the only way it ain’t gonna happen….
Smock Puppet, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d) — 6/3/2014 @ 6:02 amThanks to the media, the man has more teflon protection than Reagan ever had.
Hard for shit to stick when they keep putting up plastic tarps in the way.
Smock Puppet, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d) — 6/3/2014 @ 6:07 am63. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/2/2014 @ 3:44 pm
Sammy… was it Mick or Keef that interviewed them? God help us if it was Ronnie Wood!
Michael Hastings wrote the article – the same person who interviewed General Stanley McChrystal (one of the maybe half a dozen people fired in he Obama Administration – and actually replaced by somebody better, although that was probably not the reason for him being fired. I am not ure if you could count the number of people fired during the Obama Adminsitration on one hand. or need to go on to a second.)
Hastings died in a car accident one year later.
Sammy Finkelman (8423d6) — 6/3/2014 @ 11:42 am124. Gazzer (0e6aeb) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:56 pm
He had the temerity to say we never leave anyone behind. Chris Stevens was unavailable for comment
What do you mean? They didn’t leave Chris Stevens behind!
They didn’t leave Benghazi until they had his body, which was delivered to the airport to prevent a unit from going out looking for him, and if Libyans hadn’t brought him to he airport, they would have gone to the hospital, or whereever they said Chris Stevens was.
Sammy Finkelman (8423d6) — 6/3/2014 @ 11:45 amYou’re being obtuse Sammy, as usual, you know full well what I meant Rainman.
Gazzer (0e6aeb) — 6/3/2014 @ 11:47 am47. SF: (He didn’t want to cause trouble for the other soldiers)
58. redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/2/2014 @ 2:21 pm
really Sam the Sham?
How else do you explain his asking his superior, according to Rolling Stone,
And he left with only water, a knife, a digital camera, and his diary, and, according to one source, also a compass. (Now of course the Taliban could find that digital camera, with its pictures, and his diary, useful, but he was probably not thinking about that.)
117. MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/2/2014 @ 8:25 pm
nk, if he walked away on his own, he should have left a note to not come after him.
The New York Times doesn’t give, the text of that note, and maybe does not know, or can’t get two witnesses to agree on too much detail, but that’s precisely what he may have done:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/us/us-soldier-srgt-bowe-bergdahl-of-idaho-pow-vanished-angered-his-unit.html?hp&_r=2
They spent eight days looking for him before giving up. That what they say 6 soldiers were killed because of him, is because they count every American soldier killed in Paktia province over the next four months.
Bergdahl deserted on June 30, 2009. Two American soldiers were killed by an IED on August 18, 2009; anoother was killed on Aug. 26 (I don’t know how); two more were illed on Sept. 4, and the 6th was killed on September 6.
Now it is possible that knowledge that he was out there affected some of what they did, and that they were interested in him affected some of what the Taliban did. And maybe their tactics were affected by something they learned.
Soon after deserting, apparently, he was asking villagers to please put him in contact with the Taliban, but that could easily be all garbled.
Sammy Finkelman (8423d6) — 6/3/2014 @ 12:05 pm