America loves its POWs, right?
Well, maybe. Depends.
Here we have the curious case of Bowe Bergdahl.
From June 30, 2009, when Bowe, an American soldier, was captured by the Taliban, until May 31, 2014, when he was released, Bergdahl was a prisoner of war.
Those facts are not in dispute.
What is in dispute are the facts surrounding his capture.
But we have yet to actually hear a single word from Bowe himself.
The target of their ire is not so much Bergdahl, but Obama. Who released five members of the Taliban held at Gitmo in exchange for Bergdahl’s release.
Obama is the real traitor here…our sitting and twice elected President is the one that is treasonous. Really?
For starters, Bergdahl was NOT a terrorist hostage…he was a POW.
There is a difference. Just like there’s a difference between Fox News reporters who maintain their faculties of reason and those who don’t…as the video below demonstrates.
I am bothered by all this. Deeply bothered. Why?
Because the level of vehemence that the far right is displaying smacks of the deepest levels of hypocrisy. And it’s all done under the guise of “loving one’s country.”
It’s a bit sickening, really.
They have even gone so far as to attack Bergdahl’s father for growing a beard in solidarity for the release of his son.
Since when do the far right, whose support for the U.S. military is always unwavering, become so up in arms about the release of a POW?
When the President that is securing the release is Barack Obama, that’s when.
Can they not at least take a deep breath and give Bergdahl himself a chance to explain the facts surrounding his capture?
And there’s certainly no bigger nor hungrier mouth to feed than that of Fox News.
You know, I talk a lot here about things like the Big US and removing impact blinders. One of the ways to do that is to avoid rushes to judgment.
People do things for reasons that seem right to them at the time. In hindsight, sometimes those reasons are exposed as faulty. But it always pays to try to see things from their perspective at the time.
Bergdahl may indeed have become disillusioned about the war and the treatment of the Afghan people by U.S. soldiers. I would venture to say that there is a large percentage of the entire U.S. population that harbors similar sentiments.
Does that make them all un-American?
Does that make Bowe Bergdahl less than a U.S. soldier who was captured by the enemy and treated pretty badly…to the point of his health being in serious jeopardy?
Does that mean that in the future if there are more wars…something I would certainly hope against…and more POWs, that we better examine the facts of each case of captivity before taking action to secure release?
Does that mean that if there are allegations of desertion, we should just leave the POW exactly where he or she is?
Because it might just lead to a very un-American result.
If Bergdahl is really a deserter as Fox News has unequivocally declared, he should be tried and convicted of the same.
I doubt very seriously that’s actually the case at all.
In the meantime, those of you on the far right who want to try and convict him in the media, why don’t you all just shut the fuck up.
You’re behaviour is very un-American.
image credit: Steve Corey via Compfight cc
