Serial Season 2: Bowe Bergdahl

So, I burned through a podcast called S-Town, a fascinating look at a small town in the south. That led to Serial season 1, which was a lot like the plot of "The Night Of" from HBO. Anyway, I'm on Season 2 about Bowe Bergdahl.

If you're wondering how this is Dungeon material - you may remember Bergdahl was the accused deserter who ended up captured after walking away from an Army installation in Afghanistan. It documents what he suffered for 5 years as a prisoner of the Taliban, how he tried to escape multiple times, and gets into the reasons why he did it (wasn't a traitor at all). It even discusses the rift between enlisted and officers in Afghanistan, the disconnect between the CIA and military (as to how we were doing and whether we should pull out) and how it caused confusion in the Whitehouse. It even talks about how complex and difficult it is to recover anyone who's a hostage or POW. There are actually people who lobby on their behalf and try to drum up sponsorship (sort of like The Hunger Games). Some of this is no surprise, but it's fascinating anyway. It confirmed a few things I already believe about the military (in some situations), and I learned a few more.

 

Fiction or real?

 

Jury selection will begin October 16 and the trail is set to begin October 21. He faces multiple charges. His defense team will have a tough time convincing the 3 jurors that he shouldn't be given life for his actions.

 

Bergdahl is a piece of shit. He is in fact a fucking traitor. He abandoned his post, got people killed. Gave intel to the Taliban. He'll get what he has coming to him. There's always some kind of disagreement between the enlisted side and the officer side. Doesn't mean you just say fuck it and do your own thing. And the "rift" would not have pertained to him at all. Not how the rank structure works. He's just a selfish piece of shit private


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Sorry - delay cuz I was deplaning. Real.

 

Totally agree. He should do jail time, and the military doesn't take kindly to the publicity from all this. No way they'll go easy on him.

 

I couldn't make it past about 3 episodes of serial #2 and neither could the NPR people it seems because I think that's about when they did the recap of serial 1.

S Town is great though. How lucky were they to stumble onto such a guy

 

A. I know how the rank structure works and how the reality of "open door policy" works, especially in a foreign, hostile environment.

B. He was a Sergeant, not a Private. Talk about how the rank structure works - he was promoted twice while in captivity. LOL

C. He was definitely stupid and misguided and should do jail time for being a deserter and a bad soldier, but it's hard to call him a traitor. If you were tortured for basically 5 years, what would you give up? I mean, they beat the bottoms of his feet with a hose, kept him chained spread eagle for so long he couldn't stand and got open sores on his back, and cut him ~600 times with a razor blade. You wouldn't tell them anything?

 

He deserted. He deserves an execution.

 

Misbehavior before the enemy carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. The desertion charge is up to 5 years.

5 prisoners from GitMo were traded for him. The misbehavior charge is a rare one but IMHO 100% warranted in this case.

I see him serving out the remainder of his life behind bars. I can't see three combat officers or 2 and 1 NCO coming to any other verdict than guilty on all counts and the harshest penalty given out.

 

He was a private when he deserted his post. The only reason he got promoted was because why he was being held "captive" he was still in the system so he was automatically promoted because of TIS. So you know they tortured him so because of what source? Because I can start sourcing individuals that served with him that will tell you just how ignorant it is to think he's not a "traitor"


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You know what, I had a much different response all typed out, but in the interest of being less difficult, I want to listen for a change. Lay out your best case as to why he's a traitor. I'm interested.

 

Dart, the definition of traitor: a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc.

By definition, him leaving his post while on duty is traitorous, defined by: faithless, false, disloyal, traitorous, treacherous, perfidious mean untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance. faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty.

Bergdahl is both a traitor and by his behavior, traitorous.

In simple terms he is a useless bag of meat stealing air.

Joe

 

I guess that's the problem - it's all in the definition. He's totally a deserter, guilty of dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming a US service member, especially in a hostile environment.

But traitor, to me, and by most definitions, carries with it a connotation of willfully operating to defeat or undermine the U.S. military, government, etc. Those guilty of treason generally seek out information of distinct value to provide to the enemy for profit, position, or some other compensation. This guy didn't do any of that.

We'll agree he's a bad soldier and is responsible for putting his unit and the mission at risk, but not treason.

Interestingly, Newsweek did a few articles on the subject:

- Soldiers involved in the search were required to sign NDAs before they were allowed to come home. Why? What's not covered under existing rules for classified material?

- They said 6 soldiers died during the search for Bergdahl. But the timelines don't match up - according to one article, the search had largely ended, and the soldiers actually died on missions related to securing the elections.

I think it's embarrassing as hell for the military and to that end, the military thinks he needs to be the example for what happens when people do this, so if he's perceived as a traitor, all the better.

 

You think that a deserter, a soldier who deliberately put himself in enemy hands, isn't a traitor?

 

Did you listen to the story?

He did not deliberately put himself in enemy hands. And no deserter does not equal traitor, or we wouldn't have a separate term for it.

Not that I agree with it, but there is a completely rational argument for him not actually being a deserter. His defense is going to use this argument. I don't think it will help though, but it is rational.

 

So what did he think? He was going to walk away from his post, find a friendly 7-11 in hostile territory and catch an Uber home?

You need to convince me he didn't deliberately put himself into enemy hands. If he has an IQ above 5, he knows damn well he is going to get picked up by the enemy.

 

He was trying to create a DUSTWUN condition to get an audience with those above his local chain of command. The plan: get everyone riled up to create awareness, then turn himself in. They'd be forced to deal with him. Sort of the stuff a kid does to get attention from their parents. He had beef with his commanding officer and wanted to go higher.

So, most don't know this apparently - he was kicked out of the Coast Guard following a psych evaluation. The army recruiter knew this and coached him through an exemption to enlist. That fact was lost along the way. The army never should have let him into a combat zone to begin with.

 

Is to reasonable to expect that in such a situation, fellow soldiers would have to leave the base to go look for him?

 

So he has an IQ below 5. Awesome.

Yes but, please see above.