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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:16 AM Jun 2014

Exclusive: Bergdahl Explains in Prison Letters Why He Vanished

Kimberly Dozier

In a pair of letters, the captured U.S. soldier asks his government to reserve judgment about his disappearance—and complains about the officers leading his unit in Afghanistan.


Writing from a Taliban “prison,” Bowe Bergdahl urged his family and his government to wait until they had all the facts before judging him for leaving his base. Then Bergdahl explained, at least in part, why he left his fellow troops in 2009.

“Leadership was lacking, if not non-existent. The conditions were bad and looked to be getting worse for the men that where actuly (sic) the ones risking thier (sic) lives from attack,” he writes in a letter dated March 23, 2013 and obtained by The Daily Beast. It’s one of two letters sent by Bergdahl to his parents during his five years held by the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network in the tribal region of Pakistan.

“If this letter makes it to the U.S.A., tell those involved in the investigation that there are more sides to the cittuwation (sic),” he adds. “Please tell D.C. to wait for all evadince (sic) to come in.”

The copies of the two letters were given to The Daily Beast by sources in contact with the Taliban. U.S. and western officials confirmed they were the same letters delivered by International Red Cross from the Taliban to Bowe Bergdahl’s family. Together, they represent the first comment from Bergdahl himself on the controversy over his departure from his base in June 2009, leading to his capture. Fellow troopers have attacked Bergdahl, saying soldiers were injured and killed as military resources were devoted to the search for him.

Bergdahl was freed last month when the White House agreed to swap him for five senior Taliban members who had been jailed in Guantanamo Bay prison since 2002. The Obama administration has been assailed by Congress for making the trade without notifying them in advance, and for releasing the former Taliban fighters into the custody of Qatar, where they will be allowed to reunite with their families and live fairly freely though they’ll be monitored.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/12/exclusive-bergdahl-explains-in-prison-letters-why-he-vanished.html
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randys1

(16,286 posts)
1. He was home schooled, in a libertarian house, right? I know this is a side note
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:21 AM
Jun 2014

but it is important.

It is just so frustrating to be surrounded by so much illiteracy and I just dont know what to do...

I am on the side of course of the soldier, but i couldnt help but point out the libertarian home schooled background and the spelling and grammar...

 

KittyWampus

(55,894 posts)
2. poor spelling doesn't equate with illiteracy. He wrote letters and expressed himself fairly well.
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:27 AM
Jun 2014

I understood what he wrote. He spelled phonetically.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, btw.

As someone who used to LOVE diagramming sentences and writing, I've found my skills deteriorating with passage of time and internet usage.

One of the whackiest laughs I got from Palin was when someone tried to diagram one of her sentences LOL

And I also lament the degradation of status that academic learning held for many people.

randys1

(16,286 posts)
3. Yeah, i dont disagree with you but I instantly thought of this when i saw it and remembered his
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:32 AM
Jun 2014

background, i am piss poor too at a lot of stuff, and I probably shouldnt have pointed this out now considering what else he is dealing with

It just seems like this country is getting dumber and dumber

Denzil_DC

(7,187 posts)
4. Yeah, I edit books for a living.
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 10:40 AM
Jun 2014

"Illiterate" is a harsh term. By those standards, some of the academics etc. whose writings I work on would be classed as illiterate too.

I don't know the guy's normal standards of literacy. Stress, tiredness, emotionality, distraction, and a whole host of other factors can affect how well someone writes at a certain time, so it's difficult to judge from one example.

The danger is to infer from poor writing that someone's intellectually challenged. I don't know whether that was being implied above, but it's not a reliable indicator. For all I know, the guy could be dyslexic anyway, which is a whole other issue.

Schema Thing

(10,283 posts)
5. I've been tossing these words around for almost 50 years...
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 12:19 PM
Jun 2014


and yet I rely on spell-check more than ever. I'd look illiterate w/o spell-check.
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