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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDon’t Desert Bergdahl
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2014/06/the_bergdahl_prisoner_exchange_doesn_t_reward_terrorism_it_keeps_our_promise.htmlDont Desert Bergdahl
Trading Taliban prisoners for a POW doesnt reward terrorism. It keeps our promise to our troops.
The Code of Conduct for members of the armed forces, published more than half a century ago, details every service members obligations to the military and the nation, even in captivity. In exchange, the code promises:
Just as you have a responsibility to your country under the Code of Conduct, the United States government has an equal responsibilityalways to keep faith with you and stand by you as you fight for your country. If you are unfortunate enough to become a prisoner of war, you may rest assured that your government will care for your dependents and will never forget you. Furthermore, the government will use every practical means to contact, support and gain release for you and for all other prisoners of war.
Just as you have a responsibility to your country under the Code of Conduct, the United States government has an equal responsibilityalways to keep faith with you and stand by you as you fight for your country. If you are unfortunate enough to become a prisoner of war, you may rest assured that your government will care for your dependents and will never forget you. Furthermore, the government will use every practical means to contact, support and gain release for you and for all other prisoners of war.
The armys training pamphlet on being a POW repeats this commitment: Every captured US individual continues to be of special concern to the US. The US government expresses this concern by employing every available means to establish contact with you and gain your release. In light of that commitment, its unwise to focus, as many critics of the Bergdahl deal do, on the circumstances of his capture. They say he left his post without authorization, provoking search and rescue operations that endangered other troops and led to several deaths. None of these claims has been adjudicated, and some of them are already unraveling. But the larger principle is that our allegiance to our soldiers has to be as solid as their allegiance to us. We dont have to love their character, any more than they have to love the character of their commanders. In the military, loyalty transcends personality. And loyalty goes both ways.
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Don’t Desert Bergdahl (Original Post)
riverwalker
Jun 2014
OP
underpants
(182,284 posts)1. The Code of Conduct
There it is. The simple short and the stop-them-in-their-tracks reply.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)2. + 1 nt
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)3. End of story. n/t