Rolling Stone: 13 Things You Need to Know About Bowe Bergdahl

[nationalize the fed]

Key facts from the late Michael Hastings' profile of the freed Taliban POW
By Tim Dickinson June 2, 2014



The late Michael Hastings wrote the definitive magazine profile of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for Rolling Stone in June 2012. Now that America's Last Prisoner of War has been released, in a prisoner exchange for five high-ranking Taliban officials, Hastings' piece continues to offer crucial context – about why Bergdahl volunteered for service in the first place, about how this intense, moral young man became so horrified by America's "good war" that he walked away from his unit's remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan in 2009, and about the abortive negotiations that could have secured Bergdahls release years ago.

Here 13 things you need to know about the American POW who is coming finally home, in the words of Hastings' 2012 feature.

Read Hastings' full feature on Bowe Bergdahl, "America's Last Prisoner of War"

1) Bowe grew up near Hailey, Idaho, the son of California expats and ski bums Jani and Bob Bergdahl, who lived "nearly off the grid" on 40 acres, home-schooling Bowe and his sister Sky in a demanding curriculum:...

...4) Bergdahl's unit in Afghanistan — part of the Obama surge — was beset by deficits of leadership, "a collapse in unit morale and an almost complete breakdown of authority."...

...5) As his tour dragged on, the hellish reality of war — including seeing an Afghan child run over by an American truck — weighed on Bergdahl, who came to see America's presence in Afghan as "disgusting."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/13-things-you-need-to-know-about-bowe-bergdahl-20140602

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Hm...

11) But the swap didn't have the backing of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Pentagon chief Leon Panetta, who weren't ready to negotiate an end to the war, preferring the bloody path of counterinsurgency operations.

[betsuni]

2. That made me wonder, too

Does it mean that John Kerry was necessary to do the deal?

[JI7]

8. decision was Obama's but i thought this was interesting, when Kerry was still Senator

below is a part of an article. so it shows Obama did talk to congress about it. mccain had the expected reaction . but looks like Kerry had the opposite.

<There are a couple more misconceptions in this saga. First, while Obama and his diplomats made the deal on their own (in line with his powers as commander-in-chief), it’s not true that he left Congress out of the picture. He briefed a small group of senators in January 2012, when a deal first seemed in the offing. Sen. John McCain reportedly threw a fit, objecting that the detainees to be released had killed American soldiers, but after talking with John Kerry (at the time, still a senator and a friend), came around to the idea. (This may be why McCain, though displeased with the detainees’ release, is not raising his usual hell in public appearances now.)>

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/06/bowe_bergdahl_and_negotiating_with_the_taliban_why_the_deal_to_free_this.html

[TwilightGardener]

3. This makes me sad. Really and truly sad. Who knows what happened

to that poor fucked-up kid that fucked him up some more in the years that he could have been brought home but wasn't? Was he starved, beaten, tortured for another 2, 3 years? Wondered if every day was his last? This is why I don't support Clinton--all politics, no conscience. Panetta is just her worthless sidekick, probably installed at the CIA and Pentagon for her purposes.

[Cha]

4. Well. President Obama and Defense Sec Hagel have gotten him home now.. wonder if

Bowe likes that? It seems his parents are thrilled.

From your link.. thank you, ntf..

9) At one point during his captivity, Bergdahl escaped:

For his part, Bowe does not appear to be a willing hostage. [In] August or September [of 2011], he reportedly managed to escape. When he was recaptured, he put up such a struggle that it took five militants to overpower him. "He fought like a boxer," [said] a Taliban fighter who had seen Bowe.

[Oakenshield]

5. I feel sorry for the guy.

He clearly didn't know what he was getting himself mixed up in when he enlisted. I'm only sorry we dumped him over there in the first place.

[another_liberal]

6. The Right Wing "Swift-boated" John Kerry to win an election.

Now they intend to win another one by doing the same to a just returned POW.

They are truly despicable.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. bump... nt