Bowe Bergdahl and gotcha politics

by | Jun 4, 2014 | Editor's Blog, Foreign Policy | 8 comments

The recent swap of Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban commanders is the latest illustration of the media and partisans’ rush to judgement. For five years, we’ve been hearing about Bergdahl as the only American soldier held captive in Afghanistan. Periodically, we saw videos of a scared young soldier in Taliban custody with little criticism of him.

Now, we learn that Bergdahl may have deserted his post. Regardless, within two weeks of his disappearance, he was certainly a prisoner being held against his will. And for the past five years, the Army quite clearly wanted him back. 

While we’ve seen plenty of interviews with his former comrades, his parents and all sorts of “experts,” we still don’t know the whole story. That hasn’t stopped the Right from trying to score points and it hasn’t stopped John McCain from making himself look foolish again. They’ve already convicted Bergdahl of treason and are sure that the five Taliban leaders released are about to attack the United States.

There’s a big problem with the story line. First, the Taliban leaders weren’t terrorists unless we’ve reached the point where any military adversaries are considered terrorists. They were Taliban government and operational figures whose focus is Afghanistan, not the United States. None were accused of plotting attacks within our borders. The Taliban has shown no interest in exporting their barbaric brand of Islamic fundamentalism. They want to control their native regions and will fight governments that oppose their rule.

Second, they were probably going to be released soon anyway. With the war in Afghanistan almost over for the United States, they would be returned as prisoners of war, not held as Al Qaeda terrorists. 

Finally, we don’t know enough about those five guys or what will happen in Qatar. The internet has compared Bergdahl to Brody, the character in the TV series Homeland who went from hostage to spy. Maybe they’ve got it backwards. What if one or more of the five Taliban released have actually been “turned” and are now on the CIA payroll? Might be unlikely but it’s certainly possible. Or what if these guys never make it much past Qatar? I’m sure there are plenty of Afghans who don’t want them to be alive and Qatar is a pretty shady place. 

In the end, the whole episode is just another example of gotcha politics. The right is out looking to smear Obama by trashing Bergdahl and his family. The Obama administration had to embellish Bergdahl’s record by saying he “served with honor and distinction.” In reality, he’s being investigated as a deserter.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we voiced concerns without trying to score points? And wouldn’t it be nice if we focused on the problems with process without trying to smear that guy’s poor family? And finally, wouldn’t it be nice to get the whole story before we dug into intractable positions?

8 Comments

  1. Seward Totty

    A couple of things to ponder here, I think. As someone else commented, we have an unwritten obligation to bring home our servicemen regardless of the circumstances. Although we don’t know exactly why Bergdahl left his post, there seems to be universal (and non-partisan) agreement that he left voluntarily. It also seems that he had some misguided ideas about how the Afghans would receive him. He thought he would be taken in, not taken prisoner. So, Bergdahl did not want to be in the military and I’ll venture that the US military didn’t really want get him back and wouldn’t have bothered if not for the unwritten obligation. While I agree that we still have much to learn, given what we know currently the fact that he appears to be a deserter makes exchanging 5 high-level Taliban for him look like a bad deal. Let’s not forget that he signed up voluntarily, unlike deserters in past wars who were conscripted.

    • Thomas Mills

      Hey, Seward. Good to hear from you and thanks for reading. I think it was a pretty good deal. We were going to release those guys to Afghanistan in less than a year anyway. Now, they will be in Qatar for that time instead of Gitmo.

    • Thomas Ricks

      John McCain and other Republican senators were clamoring for his release.

  2. John

    Seems like even if he IS a deserter or traitor, we want him back. Or a loyal American. Either way.

  3. Thomas Ricks

    And Tom, I know this is in direct contrast to your point about getting the whole story before redefining reality…but that IS the whole story.

    Conservatives are a gang, a gang to define who is ‘toughest’ against the ‘evil liberal agenda’…which means to be loyal to conservatism, lying is acceptable. Every single one of them uses lying sources. No one is perfect, even liberal politicians lie, but not like conservatives (or libertarians).

    They hate Obama. That’s all that matters. Not truth. Not coming together as a country for a POW. Certainly not protecting the family of a veteran.

    If a conservative is speaking, a conservative is lying.

  4. Mick

    My view on this matter is clear. First, the US “never leaves any soldier behind.” That’s a time-honored policy of the US of which we should all be very proud. Second, the exchange process toward the end of wars is also one that has long been done and is historically appropriate. Third, I frankly don’t care how many Talibans they release, nor who they are, to get a US soldier back home. Coulda been 5 or 500 government officials, spys, or hitmen, for all I care. Fourth, you never put US soldiers (and certainly not their parents) on trial in the world press. Get them home, investigate, and them let the chips fall.

    I have always though FOX News was a sham and morally irresponsible in its “reporting” and “analyses.” Now, I also view them as treasonous and just plain evil.

    • Thomas Ricks

      If a conservative is speaking, a conservative is lying.

      Conservatives say they are patriots. Therefore, they are not.

  5. Thomas Ricks

    If a conservative is speaking, a conservative is lying.

    All libertarians are conservative.

    They will reconstruct reality to suit them at a moments notice. Reason will never dissuade them, and they will pick up facts and sources to match what they are most passionate about, in this case how evil Obama is. Even when they contradict themselves, and you can use their own words against them; it never happened, they weren’t contradicting themselves and they really meant something else.

    Is this really someone you should treat as an equitable partner? With respect?

    I know that this won’t change any minds in reality, but look at this. This is REAL. This is a REAL POW and Veteran that conservative veterans and politicians are attacking.

    Understand this reality. Conservatives only respect CONSERVATIVE veterans, not liberal or moderate ones. To a conservative, the military is conservative. All liberals are unpatriotic. They might cite a few token blue dogs, but in their heart of hearts if you listen to them, they hate all liberals, even liberal veterans.

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