The first details of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s nearly five years in captivity are starting to emerge, as he told the medical personnel in Germany that he was tortured and held in a cage at one point during his time held by the Taliban.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in 2009, and was confirmed to have briefly escaped in June 2010 before being recaptured. The torture was apparently Taliban retaliation for the attempt, and he was held in a cage for quite some time to try to prevent future escapes.
The Pentagon, as usual, is mum on the matter, while Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who loudly opposed the POW trade that secured Bergdahl’s release, downplayed the news, saying there was no way to readily validate the claims of torture.
Opponents of the POW trade have been trying to portray Bergdahl as a Taliban sympathizer and a “deserter,” while suggesting Bergdahl was in no immediate danger in custody.
If anything, his danger may be more palpable now that he’s been released, with ongoing efforts to vilify him having already resulted in death threats against his parents, according to the FBI.
Businesses in Bergdahl’s hometown of Hailey, Idaho have been reporting hostile phone calls with growing regularity these days, and the town cancelled the planned homecoming celebration over fears of out-of-town protesters.
Israel tortures people by keeping them in cages over night, outdoors, in winter. Children, to be specific.
I think those alleging desertion and/or treachery/impure-thoughts should be on record as to which details they take to support their assertion. E.g., someone who both called him a deserter and endorsed the 'renounced his citizenship' theory should, when the latter proves unfounded, find that mark on his credibility following him the rest of his life. And there should be a name for such people that captures it. Anybody?
That is probably not how MSM will be handling it. Will the nutjobs, instead, be pundits forever? …just how does one get elected to punditry?
Sen. John McCain, standing at the front of the pack of Bergdahl's accusers, had a well documented history of "collaboration with the enemy" in Vietnam, yet came home to a hero's welcome, and a presidential pardon. http://www.veteranstoday.com/2009/10/01/john-mcca…
Bergadahl's mistake was being born the son of a beard wearing, Pashto speaking father rather than the son of a man who wore Admiral's stars.
Republicans can't seem to hate vets enough:
Zionists vs. Veterans
"Since 2001, American soldiers have been risking their lives in a crusade whose main beneficiary is the Israeli regime. Nearly 5,000 US troops have been killed in Iraq – almost 4,500 of them since Bush declared “mission accomplished.” Another 4,000 US troops and contractors have died in Afghanistan. An estimated 320,000 veterans have brain injuries, and about 18 commit suicide every day according to Dr. Ira Katz, the VA’s head of Mental Health."
continued – http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/06/08/zio-v-vet…
Katz may or may not have done it intentionally, but I think the casual reader of that paragraph will half-consciously link 'brain injuries' and 'suicide.' That list could tend to affirm or contribute to the general impression that vets are damaged-goods…in-the-head. Just catches my attention because Jerry Lembcke thought this was effectively the gov't agenda with the now popular 'PTSD'; the idea was that Vietnam-vets were troublesome enough to gov't that an ever-present insinuation that they're nuts might help neutralize them. Pretty sure it partly has done that.
Still wondering what happened to the Moral Injury idea. PTSD doesn't cover the vets issue in my mind at all …how popular it got shaded out the idea that there is a problem with the constant circumvention of legitimate shame and contempt in the military member's expression (e.g., as if all contempt had to be for 'the enemy' … and perhaps their children… …and perhaps all the alien folks who's land your in… vice, say, the chain and the morons at home who bought another war and called it 'support.'). Moral Injury might cover that.