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The Screaming Moderate

Bowe Bergdahl: Free, or not?

6/4/2014

5 Comments

 

PictureSgt. Bowe Bergdahl
Big controversy over the negotiated release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl whose freedom was won by trading five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Let’s take it step by step.

1) The President says the U.S. doesn’t leave brothers or sisters behind. Correct, and he was right to go after Bergdahl.

2) The President didn’t notify Congress 30 days ahead of time, as required by law. True, but sometimes a President has to do what a President has to do as commander in chief.

3) Will Bergdahl be prosecuted for desertion? To be determined but he will be back home when he’s investigated. If guilty, then he likely needs to be punished especially since he is alleged to have left his post voluntarily and walked away. People will argue that five years as a POW is punishment enough, but not in this case.  Still, we need to learn what really happened.

4) The U.S. doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. Correct and in this case technically we didn’t. But clearly we did, we just used Qatar as the middle man. A technicality but one that could cost us in the future.

5) The toughest one, for me, is we gave up five terrorists for one soldier. Of course, in a normal situation, five terrorists for an American is a cheap price. In this case, a closer call. We don’t know what assurances we received from Qatar about how they promise to keep these guys from rejoining the fight and, of course, logic tells us that one or more will rejoin the fight. No conclusion here, just an observation. A price that we likely will pay in the future.

These are, as Hillary Clinton would call them, the “hard choices” presidents have to make. Many times these difficult choices are never known to the public. This President made another one when he okay-ed the mission to get Bin Laden. That one could have cost him his presidency. But he made the right choice, as it turned out.

This one may have been even harder in a way because if it is proven that Bergdahl did abandon his post, many who already are questioning this decision will question it even more.

Don’t know what I would have done had I had to make the decisions. Do you?


5 Comments
Bob Damia
6/4/2014 01:14:23 am

Understand, I am not a staunch supporter of Barack Obama. Chances are, that will never happen. But, I do support our President and certainly our men and women in uniform.
The difficult decisions the commander-in-chief has to make,almost daily, will never appease his detractors. Sort of "damned if he does and damned if he doesn't".
I'm having a problem, fairly regularly, with the party I was a member of for over 35 years (the GOP). The decision by most Republicans to never agree with anything Obama does or says is just another way of telling (and showing) the American public how our political system just doesn't work . (I am now an American Independent).
This Bergdahl controversy is (clearly) another in a long line of contrarian opinions from the "Right" who are, and have been, pointing accusatory fingers at a President for every decision he has made based on nothing more than "partisan politics".
If Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is guilty of the charge of "desertion" or any other charge, for that matter, can't we at least gather all of the facts before we try and convict a young man that who unselfishly signed an agreement to protect our freedom and liberty and then went to war?
If he is found guilty, he deserves to be convicted and sentenced. No doubt. But, I do not think all of the necessary data are in to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that that is the case...at least, not yet.
The trading of 5 "terrorists" for Sgt. Bergdahl may not look like a great deal to many Americans, but consider this..if he were your son, brother or father, you'd be saying it was an absolute bargain...think about it.

BD

Reply
B. Jay
6/4/2014 01:23:17 am

Good comments, Bob. Agree with them all.

Reply
harry layden
6/4/2014 03:12:59 am

knowing some of the facts that he may have deserted and the release of dangerous men was the trade...my tough choice would be to say no...many Americans have died because of these men and you give them up.. i think not....sure i would have a different opinion if it were my kid but ........

Reply
B, Jay
6/4/2014 05:17:35 am

Thanks, Harry. Clearly that is one significant point of view. No one said it was an easy job.

Reply
Shirley Gilhuly
7/12/2014 03:59:00 pm

Hi B J Just found you on Facebook tonight. Often think of you. Belated HAPPY Birthday. Glad to see you are doing well. When Ed died I found an envelope addressed to you on his desk ready to send you a letter. He thought highly of you as well as a good friend. Fondly,Shirley Gilhuly

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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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