The Political Fish

There are a lot of questions surrounding the disappearance and capture of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. Last night, the Fish ran an article documenting the disappearance and propaganda video dispersed by his Taliban captors. The many questions surrounding his disappearance have, as one might expect, generated a lot of speculation. There are multiple accounts of exactly how he disappeared, leaving much to the imagination

On July 2, two U.S. officials told the AP the soldier had “just walked off” his base with three Afghans after his shift. He had no body armor or weapon and they said they had no explanation for why he left. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

On July 6, the Taliban claimed on their Web site that five days earlier “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and was captured by mujahadeen.

In the video, Bergdahl said he was lagging behind a patrol when he was captured.

Details of such incidents are routinely held very tightly by the military as it works to retrieve a missing or captured soldier without giving away any information to captors.

Afghans in contact with the Taliban told the AP that the soldier was held by a Taliban group led by a commander called Maulvi Sangin. They said the fighters initially planned to smuggle the soldier across the border into Pakistan but ruled that out because of U.S. missile strikes and Pakistani bombing attacks against militant targets in the area. Instead, they decided to move him north into Taliban-controlled areas of Ghazni province.

While all of these questions need to be hashed out, and are to be expected in this type of situation, this summation struck me as a bit over the top, and I am sure you would agree. Fox News had Lt. Col. Ralph Peters on today to discuss the issue. Sadly, Lt. Col. Peters never answered the questions posed to him, and went on a rant based on hardline conjecture, eventually leading up to his assumption that Pfc. Bergdahl deserted his unit, and even went so far as to suggest that the Taliban should do us a favor and kill him.  Watch this video, to me it was shocking. Many thanks to the anchor Julie Banderas for attempting to soften  his hardline rhetoric, indicating that we do not want to see any US soldier killed or captured. Lt.Col. Peters was doing his best not to allow her to do that, but she prevailed and got the last word in. If his claim is true, that Bergdahl is a liar and a deserter, than the US military should follow its protocall in dealing with this type of behavior. But Lt. Peters was way over the top in his implication that the Taliban should save us the legal hassle and take care of the problem for us. I mean, who is this guy!!!?

Here is the video, enjoy!

We should for the near future pray for the safe return of this young US soldier. The military is well equipped to deal with the facts when they come out, and they certainly will. If Peters is correct, than so be it..the military will deal with it. It is however, entirely too early to make the leap into these type of conclusions. The facts are not in. Lets just continue to hope and pray that Pfc. Bergdahl is brought back safely.

Here is the video clip from a CNN report followed by raw video at the 4:15 mark

The soldier is Pfc Bowe Bergdahl, from Ketchum Idaho.

The Defense Department said in a statement Sunday that the soldier is Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho. The statement also says his status is now classified as missing-captured, rather than whereabouts unknown.

In a video posted online by the Taliban on Saturday, he’s heard saying he’s “scared I won’t be able to go home.”

Before the Pentagon released Bergdahl’s identity, two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the 28-minute video was the captured soldier.

The military said on July 2 that a U.S. soldier had disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts and was believed to have been taken prisoner

While the video itself is disgusting use of propaganda by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, it is good to see that Pfc Bergdahl is doing well. Continue to pray for our troops overseas, they need it. We can all join together in prayer for the safe return of this young American hero.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Greg Julian said: ‘We condemn the use of this video and the public humiliation of prisoners. It is against international law. We are doing everything we can to return this soldier to safety

Colonel Julian said Washington would not give in to the captors’ demands. ‘Basically they would like us to go home,’ he said. ‘That is just simply not going to happen.

What will we see from the administration, so far it appears not much has been said, and giving the sensitivity of the situation, that may in fact be the proper move. The Pentagon has received word from the WhiteHouse that they are to win his safe return, no matter what. Lets pray that is the case.