Originally posted by old_goat_23:
What we know:
1. Guy was a deserter. He left his gear, weapons and military ID and crawled under the wire (literally). We don't know if he actually deserted with the intention to commit treason or if he just wanted to "walk to India".
2. Contrary to Obama's statements, we do not make deals or sacrifice lives to bring home deserters. We have never done this in the history of the US Military. If we happen to get them back, we normally put them on trial and stuff them in a cell. Obama never served and knows nothing about the military. None of his inner circle served or know anything about the military. I can't really fault him for being clueless on this one but maybe a history book or two would be in order?
3. Based on the never ending line of clueless twits paraded in front of the press, State appears to be getting ever more insulated from reality under this administration. They have always been a government unto themselves but for a twenty-something female wearing a dress and pearls to call a bunch of guys who in the unit at the time of the "event" liars is pretty far down the road of self delusion.
4. Bergdahl was not "captured by the Taliban". He either was captured by or defected to the Haqqani Network. The Haqqani Network is a crime syndicate based in Northern Pakistan. They run guns, drugs and have a significant kidnapping for ransom/human slavery presence in the area. While they trade with the Taliban (money and guns for raw heroin), are Muslim and have massive influence with the ISI (Pak intelligence service) via bribery they are neither Taliban nor Al Quaeda. Neither the press or the administration appear to be capable of making the distinction amongst the groups but they are all different with unique agendas.
What we suspect:
1. Most significantly it would appear that this has nothing to do with Bergdahl but is instead the first step in a desperate plan for flushing the detainees and closing the facility at Gitmo. My best guess is that Obama's advisers looked at the Bergdahl situation and thought it would be a way to dump the five worst guys back on the world while counting a political coup for the administration. Whoops.
2. As noted above, the Haqqani could care less about freeing 5 Taliban leaders. They most likely made a deal with the Taliban and our representatives from State in which the Taliban got their guys, the Haqqani got some raw heroin (or influence in the Afghan government after we leave and the Taliban take it back) and State/Obama get the political "win" of freeing a captured soldier (or so they thought).
3. JSOC knew where Bergdahl was and thought about going to get him. However, due to the group holding him and his status as a deserter, they opted to leave him in place. No desire or need to expend assets and lives for a deserter or to kill a bunch of guys who are part of a crime syndicate. (JSOC = Joint Special Operations Command .... this is a group that has units from the Army, Navy and controls the USAF 160th SOAR assets. Each military branch also have their own SpecOps group which are SOCOM for the Army, NAVSOC for the Navy and MARSOC for the USMC. US Army Special Forces Detachment Delta and US Navy DEVGRU are both under JSOC while the rest of the Green Berets and Rangers are under SOCOM .... and the other SEAL Teams are under NAVSOC ...... it gets complicated.)
4. Never underestimate Obama. He may be clueless regarding the larger geopolitical issues but he always has a carefully crafted political agenda. In this case, the agenda is Gitmo. He missed the potential for a domestic backlash but his actual plan was pretty solid. Just a small matter of being confused as to the difference between "deserter" and "prisoner" in the minds of the military.
Thanks!