negotiating with terrorists

[Grindstone]

Per Jay Carney, American equivalent of Baghdad Bob, the Taliban are classified as "enemy combatants."

From the story linked above:

"We regard the Taliban as an enemy combatant," Carney said, adding the swap was consistent with U.S. policy and past prisoner of war releases throughout armed conflicts. "This was the right thing to do because we, in the United States, do not leave men behind."

Based on that comment from the story, I'd say that they have designated the Taliban captives as prisoners of war. So, I'd say they've been "classified" so that they could do an otherwise illegal swap with terrorists.

Except we have given them none of the rights they are due under the International laws the US has signed on to that comes with the POW designation.

Yeah, there is something wrong with the way he was "captured", and it seems like it is being overlooked.


It sounds like he was a Taliban sympathizer and he walked off his post to join them, and several Americans were killed trying to find him.

From all accounts, he wasn't so much a sympathizer as he was just a dumbass. The inevitable result was his capture, but I don't think that was his intent.

 

[Spata]

[Broken External Image]

[video=youtube_share;XeUqBNtWpig]http://youtu.be/XeUqBNtWpig[/video]

 

[uncle money bags]

Except we have given them none of the rights they are due under the International laws the US has signed on to that comes with the POW designation.

Your right, they were given much more.

From all accounts, he wasn't so much a sympathizer as he was just a dumbass. The inevitable result was his capture, but I don't think that was his intent.

I think his own words and the testimony of the soldiers who served with him would strongly disagree with your assessment.

 

[Biggsly]

First, I'm not a big fan of negotiating or whatever they want to call it.

Second, if they've been at Gitmo for years and haven't had a trial they aren't criminals are they? (the whole right to a speedy trial thing)

That only leaves they are POW's doesn't it?

There is rules and laws for POW exchanges, or as Obama calls it when it is in his favor "The law of the land".

 

[SMS]

From all accounts, he wasn't so much a sympathizer as he was just a dumbass. The inevitable result was his capture, but I don't think that was his intent.

All accounts? I don't think you are up to speed with all the accounts if you think that's the predominate idea.

 

[Grindstone]

Your right, they were given much more.

You mean men like Murat Kurnaz who were kidnapped and handed over to the US with zero evidence of terrorist ties, much less actively captured in combat like a POW? How many are held without due process? Without Habeas Corpus? If they're POWs, then treat them like POWs, don't use secret intelligence organizations of other countrys to kidnap people on a bus, toss a hood over their head, and ship them across the world without any evidence

I think his own words and the testimony of the soldiers who served with him would strongly disagree with your assessment.

I fail to see how his stated desire to go AWOL and make his way to China = join the Taliban.

All accounts? I don't think you are up to speed with all the accounts if you think that's the predominate idea.

As above, I must've missed where "I'm going to get lost in the Mountains and make my way to China" [his quote] is the same as "I'm going to join the Taliban".

 

[Spata]

Hey, weren't we talking about the VA scandal a day or so ago? What happened to that story?

 

[uncle money bags]

You mean men like Murat Kurnaz who were kidnapped and handed over to the US with zero evidence of terrorist ties, much less actively captured in combat like a POW? How many are held without due process? Without Habeas Corpus? If they're POWs, then treat them like POWs, don't use secret intelligence organizations of other countrys to kidnap people on a bus, toss a hood over their head, and ship them across the world without any evidence

The man you mention is an example of one. Tragic and wrong as it may be. I am more concerned about this.

I fail to see how his stated desire to go AWOL and make his way to China = join the Taliban.



As above, I must've missed where "I'm going to get lost in the Mountains and make my way to China" [his quote] is the same as "I'm going to join the Taliban".

As SMS and I suggested, you may need to do a little more research before coming to a conclusion.

 

[Spata]

The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching For Bowe Bergdahl

Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, and*Private 1st*Class Morris Walker, 23, of Chapel Hill, N.C., were*killed*by a roadside bomb in Paktika province on Aug. 18, 2009, while trying to find Bergdahl. Like Bergdahl, they were part of the 4th*BCT from Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss, 27, of Murray, Utah,*died*Aug. 26 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while his unit was supporting Afghan security forces during an enemy attack. Like Bergdahl, Bowen and Walker, he was part of the 4th*BCT.

2nd Lieutenant Darryn Andrews, 34, of Dallas, Texas,*died*Sept. 4 in Paktika Province when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device and a rocket-propelled grenade. Like Bergdahl, Bowen, Walker and Curtiss, Andrews was part of the 4th*BCT.

Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, 25, of Snyder, Texas,*died*Sept. 6 in Paktika province after being wounded by an IED. Like Bergdahl, Bowen, Walker, Curtiss and Andrews, Murphrey was part of the 4thBCT.

On Sept. 4, 2009,*Private 1st*Class Matthew Martinek, 20, of DeKalb, Ill., was seriously wounded in Paktika province when Taliban forces attacked his vehicle with an improvided explosive device, a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire.


http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/

 

[Grindstone]

The man you mention is an example of one. Tragic and wrong as it may be. I am more concerned about this.

You're worried about 5, but what about these 86? There are around 160 men held at Gitmo without trial. If there is clear evidence of them engaging in combat against the US, then why not try them in court and punish them accordingly?

****, if those five are so dangerous, why not just bomb them with a drone. Or should we wait for them to attend a wedding party first?

As SMS and I suggested, you may need to do a little more research before coming to a conclusion.

Literally the only sources that state this are right-wing blogs. Literally one unsourced quote: "We come to realize that the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them."

Note "came to realize". Where'as Bergdahl's reported words are not consistent with plans to join anything:

"A former member of Bergdahl’s squad who has yet to identify his last name publicly but goes by “Cody” tweeted this weekend that before he disappeared, Bergdahl once told him, “If deployment is lame, I’m going to get lost in the Mountains and make my way to China.”

Leatherman told CNN that Bergdahl “always looked at the mountains in the distance and talked of ‘seeing what’s on the other side.’"

______

Mr. Full, 25 years old, described a Sgt. Bergdahl as an unusual soldier, a recluse with odd ideas. Before he disappeared, Sgt. Bergdahl talked about walking from Afghanistan to China, Mr. Full said.

______

"But many military officers reviewing the material gathered for the investigation concluded that he had walked off the outpost because he became disillusioned with the war,"

______

Considering the information we have, it's far more likely he thought he could hike it out away from the war, rather than continue the war albeit from the other side.