I am still in a dizzy regarding my reaction to the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity and all the accusations and critical shots being taken at the White House, Bergdahl’s Father, and Bergdahl himself in it’s wake. So I’m awaiting the facts before making any bold decisions in the form of a post. But I will say that the politics being played around this event by the Right is striking.
Let’s first look at the accusations against Bergdahl through quotes from a NYT article from June 2nd:
The furious search for Sergeant Bergdahl, his critics say, led to the deaths of at least two soldiers and possibly six others in the area.
Yet…
Pentagon officials say those charges are unsubstantiated and are not supported by a review of a database of casualties in the Afghan war.
A second former senior military officer, who also was briefed on the Bergdahl investigation, said there was no direct evidence that diversion of surveillance aircraft or troops to search for Sergeant Bergdahl encouraged the Taliban attacks, or left other American troops vulnerable. “This was a dangerous region in Afghanistan in the middle of the ‘fighting season,’ ” the officer said in an email, adding that although the search “could have created some opportunities for the enemy,” it is “difficult to establish a direct cause and effect.”
And…
A review of the database of casualties in the Afghan war suggests that Sergeant Bergdahl’s critics appear to be blaming him for every American soldier killed in Paktika Province in the four-month period that followed his disappearance.
Now, I am not calling anyone a liar and I’m sure that these men in uniform believe what they believe, but the most troubling Republican antic is this:
Two of Bergdahl’s former comrades – Joshua Cornelison and Cody Full – gave interviews to the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Daily Mail suggesting the soldier had endangered the lives of fellow soldiers by voluntarily leaving his base.
They pair also spoke to the New York Times, which disclosed the interviews had been “arranged by Republican strategists”….
The series of interviews was facilitated by Capitol Media Parters, a PR firm owned by Richard Grennell, Mitt Romney’s former foreign policy spokesman.
This was from The Guardian yesterday.
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