Bergdahl scandal; a Veteran's perspective

Allow me to calmly and unemotionally distill the essence of my feelings on this whole Bergdahl debacle.

Do I believe that Barack Hussein Obama should be impeached for his recent, ill-advised, illegal prisoner-swap gambit?
Yes.

Do I believe that PFC Bowe Bergdahl (he never rightfully earned the rank of Sergeant) should be court-martialed for Desertion under the UCMJ?
Yes.

Do I believe that the plain facts (and testimony of the men who served with PFC Bowe Bergdahl) support a court-martialed for him for Desertion under the UCMJ?
Yes.

Do I encourage the senior Army leadership, and indeed the entire senior staff at the Pentagon to pursue UCMJ charges of Desertion against PFC Bowe Bergdahl?
Yes.

Do I believe that the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and wives of the men who died attempting to track down PFC Bowe Bergdahl deserve an APOLOGY from all the persons described above if he isn’t court-martialed?
HELL yes.

Listen.
I LOVE the US Army.
I grew up as an Army brat.
I served in the JROTC in high school.
I served as an Army Aviator and warrant officer for over 26 years.
I went to war in Iraq with my Army teammates, and I am proud of that war time service.
I serve the Army to this day, in every way I can.

But my entire adult life has been a quest for a life of hard, important work among men and women of honor, integrity, and selfless service.
And I value the truth.
It took a lot of years to understand what the truth really meant, and how important it is, but here we are in 2014, and the truth (inside the Washington DC beltway anyway) is a rare and precious commodity.

I am BLESSED now to serve and work alongside men and women of integrity in my current assignment. I love my team, I treasure my team-mates, and I admire my leaders at Redstone.

Bottom line now though;
If this lawless President is not served with a notification of impending impeachment for his lawless actions of this week, there is no justice in this world.

If Bowe Bergdahl is not read his rights and charged with Desertion under all appropriate articles of the UCMJ, then all the great young men and women in the US Armed Forces will have very little to respect for the senior leadership of the US Armed Forces. (And that would be a tragedy.)

They SEE what is going on.
They KNOW what the deal is.
If all of this is swept under the rug, then the damage done to the morale, welfare, and well-being of the US Armed Forces will be irreparable.

A LOT of young men and women in uniform are looking to their senior leadership to see that the right thing (not the politically-correct thing) is done.

Senior leaders, it is up to you now to do the right and honorable thing.

I salute you for your service to this nation and for your time spend in combat, but I also challenge you to do the right thing now. NOT the politically-expedient thing.

I eagerly await your actions, your thoughtful decisions, and your demonstrated leadership.

John Sparkman
US Army Veteran

 

One of the reasons the WH so stupidly did this is that they probably thought the soldiers that signed a non disclosure agreement would not to talk about what they knew about Bergdahl. They have broken their silence due to the smoke screen the WH has put out.

 

I think obama is out of touch with America and does not understand the genuine love and pride that most Americans feel for this country.

 

this is going to be Obama's real Benghazi if he doesn't start explaining himself soon.
by all accounts he did violate the rules by not telling Congress.
and this trade was beyond idiotic - 5 of the worst Islamic sociopaths for one turncoat solider and several dead American soliders ?!
WTF, Obama ?!

 

It won't happen, John. A court-martial would make the Obama regime look like an even more disgusting, maddening pack of incompetent fools than they've already revealed themselves to be. And, quite apart from whether Pvt./Sgt. Bergdahl was a fine, upstanding soldier, or, a cowardly slacker/deserter, Obama has clearly shown the entire United States that he is quite willing to break a LAW concerning prisoner exchanges -- a LAW that he, Obama, himself, signed into law just last year! In reality, it becomes clearer every day that with Bergdahl and Obama, we see two individuals who chose to take the LAW into their own hands, and do whatever they wished.

The evidence mounts that Bergdahl deserted and actually "aided and abetted" the enemy, and he must be court-martialed in accordance with the protocols of the UCMJ. The evidence is crystal-clear that Obama broke the LAW -- a "high crime and misdemeanor" by any measurement, and he must be served Articles of Impeachment and removal from office. Other posters have said, "Aw, it wouldn't do any good to impeach Obama because Harry Reid and that bunch of radical Democrats in the Senate wouldn't support getting rid of their 'Messiah', even if he were as guilty as sin!" And this is the crux of the problem -- the minute we first allowed anyone, whether an Army Private, or a President of the United States, to break the law with impunity, and to apply "situation ethics" in place of Rule of Law, we allowed the foundation of everything that supports our Republic to decay and begin to crumble.

Nothing is going to happen to Bergdahl, and nothing is going to happen to Obama. We have become too distracted, too fractured, and too separated from the principles and Rule of Law that have guided this nation since its creation to expect justice any longer... not for an Army deserter, and not for a President of the United States who deliberately broke the law in his rush to grab what he thought would be a glorious headline during these times when he is repeatedly criticized for being a power-grabbing autocrat, a fraud and a liar!

 

Taxcutter says:
Thank you for your service.

My family is mostly Navy and Air Force but I agree with your post 100%

I fear that Hussein Obama will abuse his status as Commander-in-Chief to short-circuit any court-martial of Bergdahl.
Hussein Obama looks foolish enough in that he swapped five low-lifes for an alleged deserter. It will look even worse if the alleged deserter is proven to be a deserter in fact.

 

Well said.

Maybe there is a flicker of JFK style common sense remaining in you after all.

 

i'm worried something's wrong with me - i've been leaning right on gun issues as well

 

“We had to act fast. Bergdahl had a cold and was running low on Vitamin C.”

- Barack Obama

A note from our attorneys: This is not a real quote

 

Dont worry, you can still bash me for my uncompromising attitude toward welfare bums.

 

and you may do likewise for me being ok with dudes marrying each other in fabulous weddings
but i also recently made a thread in favor of making welfare recipients work for money
i swear, if i end up a conservative because of years on this forum debating guys like you, i'll never forgive myself !
hehe

 

You are starting to sound more like a Libertarian.

 

Ok, scratch the welfare bums and substitute homosexual perverts.

 

Maybe this thread is a good place to bring up another notion.

In the early days of the Republic, there was a lot of fear the federal government would be dominated by military men. And with a degree of justification. George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Ulysses S. Grant were successful field command flag officers who became President.

Harrison and Taylor had very short tenures in the Presidency (due to the Grim Reaper), but Washington, Jackson and Grant were successful and popular Presidents. Three successful "men on horseback) in 86 years.

It was a long pull (three quarters of a century) to the next one (Ike). Like Washington, Jackson, and Grant, he had a generally successful tenure in office. In the intervening half-century there have been no field command flag officers elected or even nominated.

Despite the fears of the early days, only 31 years of the 225 years of the US (14%) have seen the "man on horseback" as President. Given the worldwide commonality of military leaders who arrogated head of state unto themselves, truly the US is exceptional.

Maybe its about time that a retired field flag officer make a real run at the office.

Could he possibly be worse than a community organizer?

 

I salute you Sparks,thank you for time served and thank you for keeping a free mind in a politically correct world. I agree and support all of your above statements and hope the U.S. citizens will get out during the next two election cycles and depose the King and his court. The problem is that this regime should have been ousted in the last election so it's obvious that the American dream is dieing and we are responsible for it. We took our freedom in moderation and protected it but their are others that have gotten obese off the thoughts and blood of the protectors. George Orwells 1984 and Animal Farm predicted it and look what we have.
Obama will NEVER be impeached and there is only one reason for that ,(Here come the Racist and Uncle Tom replies).
We as Americans who have and will give blood for our county and respect all our countrymen and that includes any assinine category the left will use to divide us know the lies and premises the socialists have used to facilitate the current political climate .Step up America and take control as we have a drunk driving the bus.
Not all liberals are idiots but all idiots are liberal.
BRING BACK MOMS APPLE PIE AND WHITE PICKET FENCES
Common sense from your Daily Bread

 

Your coming around Channe ,your coming around !

 

i probably am in my views, but i haven't voted for a Republican since 2000 because I feel the GOP has become too socially conservative and have lost touch with the middle class on some issues.

 

Its going to happen if its the last thing I do

- - - Updated - - -

They really haven't. Free trade killed the middle class...............and we cant stuff Pandora back in the box

 

Veteran's perspective is no more relevant than a civilian's perspective insofar as the soldier's fate is concerned. It is an opinion. No more, no less, no better, no worse. I suggest some people here read some Andrew Bacevich.

 

Thanks again.

Nat the Irrelevant......

 

De nada, gringo. Nat the Authority On Foreign Affairs Because He Has Lived Overseas

 

lmao..I guess that makes you a professional like Obama then.

 

Thank you for your service and this insightful, well though-out assessment of this. It is nice to read something like this for a change.

Dale Day
Master Sergeant, US Army, Retired

 

I saw a scroll on the bottom of the screen on the news that said the WH was claiming they did in fact, consult with congress.

 

No they didn't. They said they wanted to do this trade YEARS ago and they said NO. So he went around them. The WH is saying that since they proposed this deal years ago, that they knew. The reality is that they said NO and had no idea Obama was going to do this over the weekend like the snake that he is.