U.S. soldier released by Taliban in prisoner exchange
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl soon to return home.
A U.S. soldier held for nearly five years has been released by the Taliban in exchange for five detainees held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.
From the New York Times:
The lone American prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict, captured by insurgents nearly five years ago, has been released to American forces in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility, Obama administration officials said Saturday.
The soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, was handed over to American Special Operations forces inside Afghanistan about 10:30 a.m. Saturday by a group of 19 Taliban, officials said.
American officials said that Sergeant Bergdahl was in good condition and able to walk.
Bergdahl was captured on June 30, 2009, the circumstances of which have long remained unclear.
From the Wall Street Journal:
On June 30, 2009, then-Pfc Bergdahl was captured by militants after leaving his U.S. base in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding his decision to walk of[sic] the base have remained murky.
While a prisoner, he has received regular military promotions. However, the circumstances of his captivity have never been clear. U.S. officials have said he was believed to be held for most of the last five years in Pakistan by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group that is allied to but separate from the Taliban, and not directly by the Taliban.
But officials said he was handed over by Taliban, not Haqqani militants.
Qatar is said to have played a role in the negotiations, and the five detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be flown to Qatar on Saturday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. says it has assurances from Qatar that the detainees won’t pose a threat to the U.S.
A U.S. Defense official described Bergdahl’s reaction once he boarded a U.S. helicopter after being recovered.
From CNN:
A senior Defense official told CNN that the U.S. military recovered Berghdahl from his captors around 10:30 a.m. ET in a peaceful handover in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. special operations forces conducted the rescue.
The official said that once on the U.S. helicopter, Berghdal wrote on a paper plate, “SF?” meaning, “Special Forces?” He wrote because of the noise. The operators sitting with Bergdahl responded loudly, saying, “Yes, we’ve been looking for you for a long time.” Berghdal broke down crying, the official recounted.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in a statement Saturday that Congress has been informed of the decision to transfer detainees. He also indicated that the Bergdahl family has been notified of Sgt. Bergdahl’s recovery, according to CNN.
“A few hours ago, the family of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was informed by President Obama that their long wait for his return will soon be over,” Hagel said.
“Sgt. Bergdahl is now under the care of the U.S. military after being handed over by his captors in Afghanistan. We will give him all the support he needs to help him recover from this ordeal, and we are grateful that he will soon be reunited with his family.”
Video report below from CNN.
[Featured image: CNN video]
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Comments
Captured as a pfc., and five years later he’s released as a sgt?
Does one automatically qualify for promotion based solely upon time served?
yes as a POW
I meant to say yes, in army e1 to e4 (specialists) are often always just time in service, e4 corporal and upwards are time and performance but a pow is (iirc) assumed to have good performance.
“The U.S. says it has assurances from Qatar that the detainees won’t pose a threat to the U.S.”
BS.
Obama: “Sergeant Bergdahl’s recovery is a reminder of America’s unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind* on the battlefield.”
*Offer void in Benghazi.
Ambassador Stevens was unavailable for comment.
I rejoice for him and for his family on his release. I hope in due time some explanation of how he was captured will be offered to the public.
simple.
he deserted and got “caught” somehow.
There’s been a good deal of speculation, but do you know that?
he walked away from the base on his own.
he wrote many letters saying he wanted out and disagreed with the fighting.
these are not in dispute and are well known to those who looked around about him. but the media here didn’t really say much on it.
same stuff I looked for as MP when checking for missing people suspected of awol/desertion/missing movement.
If that’s the case then the White House had no business paying five Taliban for him. The only excuse would be if they think he has valuable information about Taliban locations.
Guys who served with him and have publicly commented have suggested he willingly “went off the reservation”. There was a lot of discussion about that back in 2009.
@ThomasD, yes a soldier on “POW Status” is considered to be in service and under the “Code of Conduct” is to be eligible for promotions as if he was still present in his unit.
back pay should be in escrow too, not too many remember that.
forgot to add UCMJ
and Code of Conduct.
Good thing we kept Gitmo open. The five jokers we used for trade are worth far less than one American soldier.
Is it treason YET?
I hesitate to pose the following, but Obama’s apparent absence of a moral compass makes it, I think, a legitimate question or concern and not merely cynical opposition on my part……..
Jay Carney has been publicly wanting to resign since early April, but it happened on the same day Obama was forced by his own party (and media) to fire Shinseki. Obviously not a coincidence – Carney’s resignation was kept on the shelf till it could be politically useful to Obama, on Friday executed as a needed diversion from yet another Obama scandal, the VA thing.
The very next day this American POW is traded for five high ranking terrorists out of Guantanamo. We don’t negotiate with terrorists, till now, and released Gitmo prisoners have regularly gone right back to the battlefield.
The Taliban sat on this guy for five years. Why? I think they’ve been offering him up for a prisoner swap the whole time. I think the Obama admin had told them from the beginning, yes, we’ll trade, but not now, be patient. Further, I think that the current VA scandal, given that his own party is busting him on it, liberal media too, brought the Obama team to decide that now was the most politically opportune time to make the 1 for 5 swap with the Taliban.
Did anyone see the CNN segment where the parents of a veteran who had committed suicide after his inability to get help via the VA read his suicide note out loud on camera? The CNN talking head was driven to tears. This must have absolutely spooked the Obama team as the worst thing possible on the usually reliable shill station, CNN.
Next thing I see is the Obama presser today, side by side with Bergdahl’s parents, walking them off stage arm in arm.
I asked myself, is it possible that Obama could be so cold, so political, as to shelve this prisoner swap until the most politically opportune time to spring it? And I have to admit, the answer was a swift yes.
Yes.
This too will blow up in his face because he traded a deserter for five terrorists who will kill more American soldiers and civilians.
heres his dads twitter
https://twitter.com/bobbergdahl
yeah hes a friggin deserter
SooperMexican posted the Twitter feed of a soldier from the guy’s unit, which contends he sent his personal effects including computer home as soon as he found out the unit would be visiting that given outpost for the last time, only halfway through his scheduled 12 month deployment. Who does that?
He apparently left at the exact place where there was a gap in guard coverage at 3 a.m., and locals who first saw him said he was crawling on his belly.
His father’s Twitter feed includes exhortations to Allah, calls to release all the Gitmo prisoners, and a link to Barbara Lee’s speech after 9/11 on voting to deny Bush war powers.
It looks increasingly likely he intended to desert and defect.
This is the soldier’s feed: https://twitter.com/CodyFNfootball
The tweets began around 5 pm EDT Saturday, so go down the feed to “F*** what you know, I was there” and work back up the feed for his full story.
feed is protected now so I cannot see it
This is really disgusting. Thanks to commenters who have pointed to the evidence for desertion. Obama’s parading with his parents after releasing five Taliban for him is nauseating.
This puts a new angle on the press story that he burst into tears when he heard Special Forces were on the helicopter, and their saying they’d been looking for him for a long time. I hope the debriefing is thorough.
The more I read about this “soldier” on the ‘net, the more I’m convinced that he is an Islamic terrorist whose actions were taken with the intention of achieving the exact outcome that has been realized. Why did the Taliban not chop off his head? Why was he in good physical condition? Why did his father recite Islamic prayers? Why did his father tweet about working to release all Gitmo prisoners? Why did Obama, who has vowed to release all the Gitmo terrorists, cut a deal of five major Taliban baddies for this Muslim soldier? Why were there none of the usual vids concerning this guy? Did Obama have foreknowledge of this guy’s desertion? When will the GOP find its balls and begin impeachment proceedings on his lawbreaker in the WH?