Bergdahl is doing the right thing: Analysts who second-guess the captured G.I. are a disgrace

[laststeamtrain]

Bergdahl is doing the right thing: Analysts who second-guess the captured G.I. are a disgrace

By Malcolm Nance
Special to NYDailyNews.com

Tuesday, July 21st 2009, 1:45 PM

U.S. Army Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, is no longer a combatant in the Afghanistan war. Instead, he is now playing a part in an increasingly desperate information war being waged by the Taliban. Pfc. Bergdahl was recently identified in a video distributed by his captors, the Afghan Taliban, a religious-based insurgent group now fighting American, NATO and Afghan government forces under the command of Mullah Omar.

Despite the nature of the conflict, Bergdahl is not a prisoner of war - he is a terrorist hostage. The difference is important. The United States government classifies persons held against their will in several different categories, depending on the captor and the circumstances of conflict. In a war where one state is a signatory of the Geneva Convention, the soldiers taken off the battlefield are prisoners of war. In an insurgency war against irregular and unlawful battlefield combatants - bandits, terrorists or even armed civilians or vigilantes - soldiers captured are considered hostages.

Like all hostages, Bergdahl is under immense psychological stress. His fate rests on the unknown and his life and freedom are in the hands of others. Already, he has managed to make it well past a point where other, more hardnosed soldiers would have been killed.

This is impressive. Servicemembers whose deployment demands special skills to resist intense captivity situations are given Level "C" Code of Conduct training at the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) schools, where I have been an instructor.

From what we know, Bergdahl did not receive this intensive training. He did, however, receive the introduction to the Code of Conduct, military guidelines set down to help a captive keep the faith with his country and other captives. Before deployment almost all U.S. servicemembers and government civilians watch a one-hour video on surviving hostage imprisonment. In this video, which was developed using in-depth intelligence about terrorist captivity, I played the role of an Al Qaeda cell commander who educates the viewer that a hostage does have cards to play.

The message we communicate is this: The duty of an American soldier in hostage captivity is to resist wisely; comply but not collaborate; attempt to escape if possible, and return home with honor.

Bergdahl seems to be succeeding so far.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/07/21/2009-07-21_bergdahl_is_doing_the_right_thing_.html
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It's just really. really hard to get an idea of what this guy must be going through.

I do know that Ralph Peters is a punk.

[FrenchieCat]

1. I'm still trying to figure out why it was good to show this captured man

stating over and over again how scared he was.

What is that supposed to do for him and for us....
or for anyone other than benefitting those who are holding him?
His family and his town didn't say anything about this capture
although they knew about it until the news decided that the public should see this man
making those statements over and over again.

Why is CNN an arm of Taliban Propaganda?
That's what I want to know.

[grahamhgreen]

4. An arm of the Taliban - did you know we've set up and Islamic republic in Afghanistan? GI's are

dying for an Islamic republic - whose side is who on????

[sabrina 1]

5. It is news, and the public has a right to know

the cost of the wars they are forced to pay for.

The alternative to NOT showing the video, ignoring it, delivers a message to the Taliban that this soldier is disposable, that he has no value. As long as it appears to them that he does have value, the chances of them killing him are less. I have not heard any objections from the military to the airing of the video, so I assume CNN checked with them before airing it.

Now that the world has seen the video, the Taliban has a choice. They can win this war of propaganda by treating their prisoners humanely, contrary to what is being said of them. Or, they can be stupid and play into the hands of THEIR enemies.

They can also offer to trade this soldier for one of theirs now that they know the American people do care about him.

If we were kept in the dark, the soldier might be dead by now as he would be of no value to them. I can't think of any reason why, especially considering the safety of the troops, the public should not be informed when soldiers are captured, by either side.

If the US had not been so secretive about those they captured, if they had simply treated them according to the rules of war, there would not have been an Abu Ghraib and the Taliban would not now have a moral advantage, if they are smart enough to use it.

We should not be there, the American people need to know that war isn't a video game and when you invade someone else's country, you ARE endangering your own citizens and troops. I see no reason to protect a society that is all too willing to wave the flag for war, assuming we can win without much cost to us. Captured soldiers, just like dead civilians are a reality of war and this country protects its citizens far too much from reality to prevent them from thinking a little more before being so gung-ho for dropping bombs on people in far off lands.

It's hard to look at captured soldiers, as your post demonstrates. Imagine how hard it was and is for the families and countries of those held without charge for years, tortured, dehumanized by the US. If this video can cause even one former supporter of those gulags to think, it's worth it. If we weren't there, this video wouldn't exist. If we don't want to see stuff like this, then let's stay out of other people's countries.

[grahamhgreen]

2. These right wingers will throw a GI under the bus faster than you can say Abu Grhaib...nt

[Arctic Dave]

3. I guess we could ask a lot of the people in Gitmo for the answer.