OK I am not going to post a link to the video of PFC Bergdahl there is a link from the AP article I linked below.
This story stinks to high heaven.
WTF ever happened to name, rank and serial number?
A captured US Soldier should be ashamed of himself being video taped saying such things about his country, his branch of the military and his countrymen.
OK so I was never captured by terrorists while I served in the Army, but OMG does no one else think its interesting this young man is saying the things he is on this video clip?
Am I wrong here? This just doesn't seem to add up for me.
It is of no importance. Everyone knows he is under duress. Even other Taliban people will just snicker that they made him say stuff, not that it was true or of any importance. The geneva convention and the American code of conduct are artifacts of a different time and a different war. They really have no place in modern conflict. The Taliban have no intention of giving this guy any protections. When I was in Iraq, I taught my soldiers to give the enemy no information at all, not even thier names, but that in the end, it was going to go badly for them. The geneva convention forbids prisoners to kill guards to escape. Modern prisoners should create a river of blood if it will get them free. No one should fault this guy for saying anything that he thinks will prolong his life long enough for his friends to find him.
ReplyDeleteA few classes in basic training is not enough to prepare that poor guy for what he will be dealing with. Fortunately, there are very few American captives so this isn't something we need to train for.
Hmmmm I just find it hard to believe in less than 20 years time we can go to the things this man was saying as acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI guess I won;t judge him but from what was drilled into me from basics and OBC etc to say such things would assure you of a prison cell or worse if you ever did get "freed".
I didn't know about the geneva convention and killing guards either though. I don't remember any such thing before but admitedly I didn't study it as much as I was suppose to.
...but admitedly I didn't study it as much as I was suppose to.
ReplyDeleteNo one did. It was never worth the paper it was written on. Most soldiers made up stuff and passed it along as if it was law.
Example: You can't shoot people with the .50 cal machine gun. Yes, you can. No problem at all.
Example 2: You should not shoot at paratroopers under parachute. Truth: Shoot them all you like. They are there to do the same to you.
There is nothing "fair" about war. Nations resort to war when "fair" no longer works. War is by its very nature inhumane.
20 years ago we were in the cold war. Today, we are not at war with any nation. You cannot be at war with a non-nation. Under the Geneva Conventions, groups like Taliban and AlQuaida are illegal combatants and signatory nations can shoot them for sport. They have no protection. Nor do we.
I have mirrored your views on Al Quaida several times here. They are not enemy combatants nor soldiers and the geneva convention does not apply.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other areas I remember being told over and over when going through 50 cal training that you could only use it on equipment.
I always said aim for the helmet lol.
Still all that aside no captured soldier should be saying the things he said regardless but I guess we are more tolerant today.
Then again as I said I could only stomach watching about 6 minutes worth anyway.
I suspect we will never know how he ended up in enemy hands. The straggler story and the "walked away" story both sound equally implausible. in places like Afghanistan, junior US soldiers don't just leave the camp. There are guards on the gates. They watch both ways. I also find it hard to believe any soldier is that stupid, unless he grew up in the California Public School system. Even in Iraq, we don't go outside without a three vehicle convoy and 10 armed American people.
ReplyDeleteYou don't straggle. No one lets you. They wait. If you do it too often, they leave you behind at the camp.
Something important is not yet known and heads are going to roll over it when the truth is known.