There are a lot of things to write about this week, to be sure, but I just wanted to get something down about Bowe Bergdahl and the political shit storm that erupted around his disappearance and release from his imprisonment by the Haqqani Taliban network. This is prompted in part by the current season of the Serial podcast, which is focusing on Bergdahl’s case, but also by the fact that Republicans – and particularly Donald Trump – regularly hold this guy up as emblematic of everything that’s wrong with America. (On this they appear to be in agreement with the Haqqanis.)
I won’t run through the particulars of the story. For that, I suggest you listen to the podcast. Suffice to say that Bergdahl suffered grievously over his five years as a guest of the Taliban. He attempted to escape several times, once for as long as nine days, escaping barefoot into the Hindu Kush, injuring himself severely, eating grass, etc. He was beaten badly, cut with razors, kept in a cage not fit for a chimp, threatened with beheading – you name it. He was the first P.O.W. held for anything like this long since the Vietnam War, and under conditions that rival any horror stories from that conflict. Frankly, it’s a testament to his physical and mental strength that he survived.
When he got home, though, he received something less than a cordial reception from his fellow Americans, aside from the folks in his home town and the Obama administration. Now, of course, he’s facing court martial. This is more a political response by the military than anything else, given the heated rhetoric that has accompanied his return. John McCain has insisted that Bergdahl is “clearly a deserter” and threatened to haul top military brass in front of his Senate committee if they didn’t prosecute him as such. Something to bear in mind the next time you consider using the words “McCain” and “integrity” in the same sentence. Mean as a snake.
This is the flip side of the “hero” treatment we give our military personnel – specifically, referring to them as heroes without actually doing anything substantive to help them, keep them from being deployed pointlessly, etc. Bergdahl made a mistake under a great deal of pressure; he did so with the best intentions, and he has more than paid for it. The vast majority of those who criticize him now wouldn’t last five minutes under the conditions he suffered for five years. Time to let him continue with his life and move on.
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