US does prisoner swap with Taliban

[lfd0311]

his mothers version of what happened was pretty believable, thats the only explanation that I know of

I do know that if you get on the road/bridge leading into Mexico there is no exits or turnarounds past a certain point

I'm also pretty sure if you get anywhere near crossing the Mexican border, there is no confusing where you are or where you're going.

 

[Protectandserve]

So this quote supposedly from someone who served with Bergdahl's unit has been floating around the comments sections of various news articles. Not sure on how good the source is but lays out a lot of what I had heard about the circumstances of his capture/dessertion. And why so many soldiers are adamantly against him.

Sorry for the wall of text but here it is.

"We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize that the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday."

 

[Ruprecht]

Without a named source, or some other way to confirm the allegations, that's hearsay, and personally I'd feel bad about repeating it.
Especially when the guy is in no position to defend himself or his actions.

 

[tkotom]

What I want to know is that if he didn't desert then how did he end up with the Taliban if there were no kidnappings, attacks on bases or convoys or stuff like that?

 

[lfd0311]

Without a named source, or some other way to confirm the allegations, that's hearsay, and personally I'd feel bad about repeating it.
Especially when the guy is in no position to defend himself or his actions.

Most of this is common knowledge in the Military, which is why it hasn't been made a big deal of. How many people knew about this guy until his "release"? It's because he just flat out deserted, and nobody wanted to touch it.

 

[second sight]

looks like a convert not just a desert

 

[Ruprecht]

Most of this is common knowledge in the Military, which is why it hasn't been made a big deal of. How many people knew about this guy until his "release"? It's because he just flat out deserted, and nobody wanted to touch it.

"Common knowledge" is hearsay. Anonymous comments in online news sections are about as shit a source as it's possible to have.
People died looking for the guy, the details of his capture are unusual (to say the least) and they've just swapped five fairly high profile Guantanamo inmates for him. I wouldn't expect him to be popular. Apparently he is also "having trouble speaking English", which sounds bizarre to say the least.

Still, personally I wouldn't be reposting hearsay and internet rumours. Especially ones saying he not only deserted, but did so in order to join the enemy. I'm sure more actual information will come out.

 

[lfd0311]

"Common knowledge" is hearsay.

No, it's not. That's what happened. You don't just drop your gear and go for a stroll by yourself in a combat zone. That isn't even close to how it works.

 

[Ruprecht]

No, it's not. That's what happened. You don't just drop your gear and go for a stroll by yourself in a combat zone. That isn't even close to how it works.

Maybe you're not clear on what "hearsay" means...

 

[lfd0311]

Maybe you're not clear on what "hearsay" means...

Maybe you aren't clear with how the Military works. That's offically what happened to him, that's why zero fuss has been made about this for a long time, and it's also more then likely the reason he wasn't just summarily executed

 

[Strychnine]

Maybe we should have given them weapons in exchange for hostages like Reagan did.

This post isn't getting anywhere near enough attention^

 

[Ruprecht]

Maybe you aren't clear with how the Military works. That's offically what happened to him, that's why zero fuss has been made about this for a long time, and it's also more then likely the reason he wasn't just summarily executed

That has no bearing on the fact that the claim "he deserted to join the Taliban" is hearsay.
...but hey, if you're happy spreading gossip and leaping to conclusions based on gossip, good luck to you. I personally wouldn't.

 

[lfd0311]

That has no bearing on the fact that the claim "he deserted to join the Taliban" is hearsay.
...but hey, if you're happy spreading gossip and leaping to conclusions based on gossip, good luck to you. I personally wouldn't.

Sure thing dude. Have you ever been to a COP? Tell me all about how you just decide to leave one day...

 

[Protectandserve]

That has no bearing on the fact that the claim "he deserted to join the Taliban" is hearsay.
...but hey, if you're happy spreading gossip and leaping to conclusions based on gossip, good luck to you. I personally wouldn't.

The official stuff I was told about him, by trainers, people high up and guys with TS level clearances was he walked away from base to join/find the Taliban. This was told to me prior to deployment, during train up and in country.

The Aerostat video shows him sneak off base without a weapon into the local village. That is not hearsay.

Have you deployed? You don't just walk off the FOB because you are feeling confused, depressed, etc. He left all his sensitive items on post, mailed a bunch of his stuff home and emailed his parents about his thoughts.

 

[KOQ24]

No, it's not. That's what happened. You don't just drop your gear and go for a stroll by yourself in a combat zone. That isn't even close to how it works.

sounds like he had psychological problems which completely answers this

 

[gigantalor]

This post isn't getting anywhere near enough attention^

You're right. Good catch.

But then again, are you really surprised that he played the moral equivalence card?

 

[lfd0311]

sounds like he had psychological problems which completely answers this

Was kind of thinking this, it looks like there is some weird nonsense going on in his family.

 

[Byron Carter]

I like this outrage over the U.S dealing with the Taliban. My brother was in Afganistan in civil affairs, building schools and hospitals and stuff. He basically said that you have to deal with the Taliban because in certain areas there are just too many of them. You can't kill everyone and if you want to get anything done you have to make deals.

Or, you know... stop building schools and hospitals, and stop dealing with anti-American, anti-freedom scum. Kill them all, or let them rot in their shit-hole they call home.

We shouldn't be helping these people.

 

[Captain Davis]

I'd rather just give them the 5 and let them keep his punk ass.

 

[Ruprecht]

The official stuff I was told about him, by trainers, people high up and guys with TS level clearances was he walked away from base to join/find the Taliban. This was told to me prior to deployment, during train up and in country.

The Aerostat video shows him sneak off base without a weapon into the local village. That is not hearsay.

Have you deployed? You don't just walk off the FOB because you are feeling confused, depressed, etc. He left all his sensitive items on post, mailed a bunch of his stuff home and emailed his parents about his thoughts.

That's a pretty unusual use of "join/find" given the disparity of the implications.
I understand that the guy's name is mud because of the resulting situations, but the degree of speculation and repetition of online hearsay outright branding him a traitor doesn't seem worthwhile. Not when more information is surely on it's way and there's already official indications of a questionable mental state.