when Bush supporters accused John McCain of treason while in the Hanoi Hilton. I'm not buying into these new accusations without truth.

That was disgraceful.

Says

My point was/is, it will be an unresolved mess, another opportunity for negativity, whatever the facts, which we don't need.

on Facebook and Twitter to hype a bunch of rumors and swiftboat a POW, including "Cody" who basically calls him a Taliban operative. I guess that's what passes for news now, uncritically passing along anonymous tweets.

What is not disputed is he left his post and walked into town. He wasn't captured while out on patrol.

At the time there were different theories as to why he left the safety of his base, those ranged from buying drugs to deserting.

What we do know is he put himself and by extension others at risk.

That Qatar was involved in the negotiations is itself problematic. They have a long history of supporting the worst kind of terrorists. In particular Sunni extremists in Syria. That some Taliban killers were released in exchange for him sets a precedent that will only encourage hostage taking I the future, regardless of how dangerous the Taliban Guantanamo detainees might have been.

They have many sources that pretty much convey the same feeling. I wasn't aware so many were killed while searching for him.

It will be interesting to see if the military or the administration gets their way, the general feeling seems to be the military people want to see him face a court martial while the message coming from the administration is that he has already suffered enough.

then I agree he should be prosecuted. As I understand it, six soldiers lost their lives searching for him.

There are death threats against Bergdahl now in the comments. Jake Tapper is irresponsible to publish anonymous internet accounts as a reliable source--it appears to be simply inflammatory reporting, serves no purpose.

It means nothing.

He deserted and it is also possible that the alleged sources are liars with some axe to grind. The article states that those who knew him best say he deserted. Sounds exactly like the swift boat propaganda. They said that too, and we came to find out they never meet Kerry. The article sites emails that they themselves admit they have not verified irresponsible journalism.

Did the administration not know about these accounts?

his fellow soldiers reported that he simply walked away--only to surface later in propaganda videos, obviously captured? Even if he went AWOL (which is likely), they don't know what his mental/emotional state was like at the time, or what may have triggered his actions, and they wouldn't judge him a deserter until they got him back and questioned him anyway. Edit to add: the military/WH knew all this stuff. I heard it in 2011, it was not a secret that he probably deserted.

I figured if it were standard procedures, his former unit wouldn't be so upset over it.

The position of the US Government is that you get them back home, even if it means they face disciplinary action or a court martial. You wouldn't want the military to abandon the search/rescue for YOUR loved one based on what fellow soldiers said and thought of him, and I wouldn't either, for mine.

and of course they knew the whole story, and they knew the politics of it because the GOP threatened to make it an issue if they had made the deal before the 2012 election.

So like you I wonder why they wanted this release so badly. There must be a very good reason, and I don't think it's just about the welfare of Bowe Bergdahl.

Maybe there is some other deal in the background of which he was only part of?

"this is how wars end"

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2014/0601/Five-Taliban-released-for-Sgt.-Bergdahl-This-is-how-wars-end.-video

There are no facts, there are no reliable sources, there aren't even any facts in the reasonable doubt category.

But there is equal reason to believe it's trumped up. This is how the concocted stories meant as a political bombshells are contrived. It's been done so many times without a moments hesitation.

I could be wrong but I will not make the mistake of falling into a RW trap before seeing the hard evidence and stories well documented from Bergdahl's side. What mental conditions were present, who has an ax to grind... too many questions and nothing here is solid enough to swallow.

Someone with military experience: IF..IF...there was solid evidence he deserted and went AWOL, wouldn't he already be up on charges ?

in defense of himself. There's no telling what his mental or emotional state is like anymore, frankly.

You're right about the evidence factor. Even if he did truly desert, I think he's been punished enough. I'm sure his time with the Taliban was hardly a luxurious stay. I'm surprised news stories would bring this rumor out to the public, but then again the corporate media is biased in favor of the Republicans.

if he was in the latrine or where he was captured.

We sent him there and if he wasn't psychologically ready to handle it it is our responsibility. Good gawd, we send these youngsters to war before their brains are even fully developed. I think that alone is horrendous.

if he deserted or was captured at the latrine. People in his platoon with an axe to grind are going to say whatever they can to cast aspersions at the man.

Least he's home. Gotta be better than a prisoner. Wonder how this'll play out.

without his weapon? PTSD. A break after too much. I can understand that happening. Just putting your weapon down and trying to walk away from the source of stress but not being able to think clearly enough to understand that there was really no immediate place to go to get away from it. Some people have lower thresholds than others.

and neither is anyone else that hasn't been entrenched in the horrors he was.

People with axes to grind in his platoon could say anything. By all accounts, he didn't drink, didn't chase women and was a responsible human being. But he IS a human being, and people seem to forget that. It isn't "plug and play" to insert one soldier into a situation as though they are completely interchangeable.

He's a person.

Which is why I am giving him the room in which to be human. I lived in a war zone for several years. While I was not in combat, I understand the toll it takes. My children and I came out of that zone with PTSD of our own. I could tell you that the uncertainty and constant threat around you can make it difficult to focus. Flight is an instinct and one that is hard to achieve when surrounded. I feel for this young man and all of those in the death zones of our world.

Rushing to condemn a human being when you weren't experiencing what he did is rash and cruel.

I'm not going to judge him. We may never know his mental state and exactly what he was going through. Glad he is back. Hope he can have a decent life.

Father and son appear (to me) to be wrapped up in some kind of pious adherence to fairy tale stories. What are the odds of someone forgetting English? This thing has cluster copulate written all over it.

The "Facebook" Group named "Bergdahi is not a Hero":
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025038038

I'm sorry, but all these "sources" seem very suspect to me. This whole thing looks like another right-wing smear job, throwing a serviceman under the bus, just to make the President look bad. Don't believe any of this garbage. Let the man have his day in court if they have anything more than hearsay.

Remember, evil scheming right wings tools started working on this thing the instant they heard about the deal for Bergdahl's release. Ugly.