Right now, there are those who believe this man is a traitor when only a few short months ago, those same people pleaded for his release.
War is hell. It’s never been any other way.
Before we dive in with the umpteenth discussion on recently released POW Bowe Bergdahl from his five-year captivity, I’d like to first share some facts with you.
Since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, 211,819 combat veterans serving in the US Armed Forces were treated by the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), about 16 percent of the 1.3 million who fought.
In addition, the suicide rate among full-time soldiers was recorded at 29.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2012, according to a Pentagon report. Among male soldiers, the rate was 31.8-per-100,000, with a record 164 soldier-suicides that year.
In the 10 plus years since the first bombs were dropped in Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of American men and women have been injured both mentally and physically in a war most people today couldn’t accurately give specific reasons as to why the US is involved. The term “War on Terror” has been a catchall used by politicians on both sides of the aisle to cover a conflict that resulted in the deaths of millions, including our own.
The purpose of this article is not to dissuade readers on the merits of war. War is real, these wars happened and nothing can deviate from that. What is important, however, is to discuss some of the psychology and ethos behind the perpetual selling of these wars through politics and incessant fingerpointing. Even more important is the need to discuss the value of the soldier in all of this. Not the mythical “troops”, who feckless politicians and demagogues use as a shield and a strawman.
It’s time to talk about the American Soldier as more than a political talking point.
For the record, on the night of June 30, 2009, Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl (he would later be promoted to Sergeant after his capture) went missing near the town of Yahya Kheyl in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. That’s the only verified fact. Depending on which account is true, the manner in which he fell into Taliban hands differ. In a video, Bergdahl stated that he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol. Some say he was ambushed after becoming drunk off base and others claim Bergdahl just up and walked away.
Some say he was a deserter.
To be sure, there is no greater offense in the military than desertion. If not by actual rule, then certainly from the viewpoint of morality. To leave your brothers-in-arms behind is a sin of the highest order, particularly because it is impressed upon those in the military from day one that no one is to be left behind. And it is the notion that Bergdahl may have done exactly that which fuels the very backlash that turned hope for his release during the past five years into an amplified political talking point of regret.
The “regret” comes from the idea that President Barack Obama traded away five “top Taliban leaders” for a possible deserter. To these people, Obama committed the cardinal sin of “Negotiating with Terrorism”. Because by letting these men go, he apparently put America in harm’s way, as if these men, who have been imprisoned for some time, were the missing key in turning the war around and sending us on the run.
This loose narrative snowballed over the last few days, with claims that not only is Bergdahl a deserter, good men lost their lives looking for him, which somehow now makes him a traitor. And speaking of crime, it is now “believed” by some that the prisoner swap that led to Bergdahl’s release may have been illegal. according to The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, all prisoner transfers from Guantanamo Bay require 30 days’ notice to Congress, which was not done here. However, when Obama signed the bill, he also released a signing statement saying that the restriction interfered with the president’s executive power as commander-in-chief. from a legal standpoint, this actually gives him legal wiggle room, because the executive powers of the president allows for the overriding of Congress, especially in time of war.
Contrary to what some pundits would like the public to believe, executive powers didn’t begin with the Obama White House. For those who make it a cottage industry to demonize Barack Obama, the truth is, anyone who believes the prisoner exchange is a simple decision open to immediate criticism or celebration is probably driven by politics, and not knowledge of international or military affairs.
Bob and Jani Bergdahl have been demonized for simply wanting their son to come home. Oh, and because Dad spoke in Arabic, the universal language of the enemy.
Sadly, through the use of media, most discussions surrounding Bowe Bergdahl are almost exclusively driven by politics. From the moment that Bob Bergdahl spoke in Arabic at a press conference at the White House, partisan media lit up with claims that Bowe Bergdahl was some sort of latter-day Manchurian Candidate, and the fact that his father said a pretty common Arabic phrase not only let on that something here was fishy, but that it confirmed that Obama was a dirty Muslim and this was the flashpoint where America would be turned over into Sharia law and the next step would be to come for the guns, which as we all know, is the endgame here.
If we’re to believe the vocal paranoid minority, Bergdahl deserted his post so that Obama could come for your guns and bibles, and by God, the filthy socialist’ll get ’em. While that’s a bit extreme, it isn’t so far from some narratives being sold. Clare Lopez, a former CIA operations officer and senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, went out on a really thin limb to say that Bob Bergdahl “sanctified the WH and claimed it for Islam” by speaking in Arabic at the press conference.
Take this clip from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd got into an argument over Bob Bergdahl which ultimately centered around the host’s own parenting skills, as if Scarborough was actually trying to explain to the audience about how he was a better American than someone like Bergdahl’s father could ever be. It all started with the press conference photo you see above. For his part, Todd tried to steer the conversation away from from the father, rightly suggesting that Bergdahl’s parents shouldn’t be treated like criminals by a pundit, but Scarborough refused to let up, saying that he’d rather turn his son in to his commanding officer than let him desert, which hasn’t been confirmed in Bergdahl’s case.
Now conservatives would like people to believe that speaking “the truth” about Bergdahl is simply about combating terrorism and calling a traitor a traitor. What they won’t tell you, at least not willingly, is that many of the most vocal pundits, particularly Republican Fetish Model Sarah Palin, did an about face on Bergdahl, when only months or even weeks prior, they all “prayed” for his safe return. Along the way, it’s become sport to attack those who don’t fall in with the preferred party line.
As humans, we’re all prone to doubt, fear and a desire to change. Human curiosity is natural, and in some it leaves them open to a change of heart. That Bergdahl walked away from camp that night is not in dispute; he’d walked away before, and he also returned. We’ll never really know if Bergdahl would’ve returned, or kept on running. A Pentagon investigation in 2010 already determined he walked off before, but there was no conclusive evidence painting him as an actual deserter. To date, the Army does not consider Bergdahl to be a deserter, this is simply what has been served up by GOP strategists who are trying to use Bergdahl as a bullet in the gun of impeachment.
Soldiers like Bergdahl are routinely dehumanized by politics. I’ve never understood that with any level of reasonable clarity. I’ve known a good number of men and women who’ve served in the military. Guess what? They’re not all the same. The reality, and this is something you’ll rarely ever hear spoken openly, is that for a number of enlisted, serving their country is the paycheck they can’t get anywhere else. For others, it is the realization of a fever dream instilled in them of the idealistic version of America that may not exist. Every soldier comes to serve for a different reason, including those who do believe that our Armed Forces are indeed a force for good. The one thing in common each of these soldiers have is that they’re human beings.
The Army will do another investigation of Bergdahl and the events that led to his capture, but only after he’s healthy enough for it. If it is truly determined that he deserted, Bergdahl should face the full weight of military justice. However, if he is cleared, he should be allowed to not only live in peace, but also be allowed to express how he feels, particularly about the situation in Afghanistan, and I think he’s earned it, seeing as he only spent the better part of a decade there.
Now that he’s home, now that this latest war is coming to an end. We need to shift our focus away from politics and focus on these broken humans who come home to very little. People put on a good show when it comes to the troops, but much of it is lip service that dies down once the flashing lights and parades go by, as these fighting men and women often struggle to reintegrate into the very society they were told to defend. People care that Bergdahl walked away from his unit, they care about the politics of the moment, but why aren’t these same people as vocal about the disturbing surge in suicides, or homelessness or unemployment that these people, these citizens face when they return home from the war they never really understood?
It is wholly unfair to hate this man for his convictions; it’s obscene to paint him as some sort of traitor without knowing all the facts. Bowe Bergdahl, for all the questions that surround him, is every bit as much an American as those who’d choose to attack him for political gain. If we consider our men and women in the Armed Forces as deserving of our respect and admiration, the same courtesy must be extended to Bergdahl, because there is so much we don’t know about a man who, by most accounts, simply wanted to help more than he wanted to kill.
We cannot pick and choose when to support our troops. They are neither the legends or gods propaganda paints them to be when they promote an idealized version of patriotism, nor are they traitorous dogs if they experience a change of heart. They are your friends, your neighbors, your brothers, sisters and children. They are human.
They are you.
Hashim R. Hathaway (Uncle Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNet