POW or DESERTER

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last known American POW, was freed after five years in captivity — an ordeal that began and ended in Afghanistan under a shroud of mystery."

The shroud of mystery becomes pretty clear once you read the exchanged emails between the soldier and his dad. In the weeks before he walked away into the shadows, he was becoming more and more disillusioned. Going AWOL in the Afghanistan environment would have to be some kind of dumb move. It is not like an experience I had in Germany with a LT who had orders for Vietnam. I had just come back and he was quizzing me. He left my office, got into his MGB and went to Sweden. Afghanistan ain't Sweden. 

There are so many issues surrounding this soldier. His email messages are crucial as examples of the type of wars we've been fighting and what role social media plays in them--crazy. Us Vietnam vets can't conceive of being in a firefight at war and it is over, "have to email home." What the heck is this! 

Unbelievable. Think about it: a lonely, disillusioned emotionally unsophisticated soldier in the wilderness of Afghanistan emailing his Dad these views of what is going on. At best the emails are a distraction and at worse, they often destroy morale or create disillusionment like that of Bergdahl. Bergdahl appears to have brought with him ideas that are wacky (at least to me) and at the same type, "Alice in Wonderland," wakes up in a new world every morning. 

I've read the Rolling Stone article. Good writing but with RS, always an angle. A Rolling Stone reporter did in General McChrystal. And, who knows about that. My Gen. Chrystal conspiracy theory is that he outsmarted the reporter. McChrystal knew that Afghanistan was a "fast train to nowhere" and this was a chance to escape. How best to do it, criticize the commander. 

In order to really get it, you have to understand the mindset of soldiers. It is a herd mentality and one that is geared, under almost any circumstance, to bitch and piss and moan as we call it, about their leaders. Look at Bergdahl's emails, putting the bad mouth on "Merica's" approach to the war. (This guy is a private, in military parlance, he is only allowed to breathe, not think).

"I am sorry for everything here," Bergdahl told his parents. "These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live."

 Is this true? Probably, but, his "perception" (a person's perception is his reality but does not mean it is accurate) of what is. (Tom, you are the first one I heard this from). He then referred to what may have been a possible traumatic event: (RS) seeing an Afghan child run over by an American vehicle. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them."  

According to Rolling Stone, he concluded his e-mail with what, in another context, might read as a suicide note. "I am sorry for everything, the horror that is America is disgusting." Then he signed off with a final message to his mother and father. "There are a few more boxes coming to you guys...feel free to open them, and use them."

Bob Bergdahl responded to his son's final message not long after he received it. His subject line was titled: OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE!

"Dear Bowe," he wrote. "In matters of life and death, and especially at war, it is never safe to ignore ones' conscience. Ethics demands obedience to our conscience. It is best to also have a systematic oral defense of what our conscience demands. Stand with like minded men when possible." He signed it simply "dad."

His dad is also culpable in my opinion. Knowing his son, this is not the message to give hIs son in the wiles of Afghanistan. He gave his son permission to go AWOL. (Absent Without Leave). 

We too are at fault. It is a sorry war and we have put our soldiers in impossible situations. Did the president do the right thing in getting Bergdahl home? I think so but now Bergdahl has to face the consequences of his actions. I feel sorry all the way around. There are no winners here. We could learn valuable lessons but I doubt we will.