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Thursday, June 5, 2014

What Were They Thinking?


For John, BLUFThe Bergdahl rollout was a blooper.  Nothing to see here; just move along.



There has been some talk that Republicans, by raising questions about the release of US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, held POW by the Taliban, are politicizing the issue.  Maybe they are, but frankly my EMails suggest most of the folks, including lots of current and former Service members are unhappy.  For one thing, they think that Sergeant Bergdahl has been mischaracterized by the White House, e.g., calling him a hero.

The other thing is that it seems not just Republicans are voicing concern.  For example, Reporter David Conti of The Pittsburg Tribune reports on Former SecDef and former head of the CIA, Leon Panetta saying, while on a visit to Pittsburg,

I don't fault the administration for wanting to get him back.  I do question whether the conditions are in place to make sure these terrorists don't go back into battle.
It isn't just Republicans.

Even Academics are joining in the discussion.  Here is Professor Jonathan Turley, of George Washington University, granted speaking with Sean Hannity:

Well, unfortunately our system is changing, and it's changing without a debate.  Or even a discussion about what we're going to do in the future when we have a three branch system, a tripartite system but one branch is so dominant.  What's emerging is an imperial presidency, an uber presidency as I've called it, where the president can act unilaterally.  This is only the latest example of that.  What's troubling is that we have a system that has been stable precisely because these are limited and shared powers.  This president has indicated that he's just not willing to comply with some of those aspects.  He told Congress he would go it alone and in our system you're not allowed to go it alone....  Well, I think that the biggest problem we have is that the system itself, if we have a dominant branch, simply begins to shut down in terms of the safeguards.  People don't seem to understand that the separation of powers is not about the power of these branches, it's there to protect individual liberty, it's there to protect us from the concentration of power. That's what is occurring here.  You know, I've said it before, Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be.  You know, he's been allowed to act unilaterally in a way that we've fought for decades...
I don't think it would be a stretch to say that the White House misjudged this action, or properly judged the public reaction, hoping to use it as a smoke screen to cover other ongoing issues.  Given the basic rule, I attribute this to error rather than malice.

Regards  —  Cliff

  Professor Turley's writeup at Wikipedia reads like the author is a disappointed Democrat or Progressive.
  In case you care, I believe it was right and necessary to bring back Sergeant.  I believe that when he gets home the Army should do a debriefing and if facts warrant, take action, which might include reduction to Private E-1.  That said, I am not advocating a Court Martial and something of that ilk.  Regarding the five released, I don't believe it is the sky falling even some portray it as.  These are mid-level bureaucrats who will be bureaucrats back in Afghanistan in a year.  And, being Aghanis, they will likely not be traveling to far away places.

3 comments:

C R Krieger said...

COMMENT FROM LANCE:

To me there was only one choice.  I don't think we wanted to see an American soldier die in Taliban custody.  And the Taliban has been doing fine without these five for several years and I am not sure there is anyway to quantify the impact of them back in the fight versus the ones that have been substituting for them.  But I guess I am in the minority of your emails.  Still a POW dying in Taliban hands is pretty unthinkable to me.

And I would suggest that there are at least some trying to use this for political gain.

Regards

Lance

C R Krieger said...

So I am trying to figure out if Lance and I differ?  Maybe as to who is looking for political gain.  I think every side.  Maybe Lance thinks it is just one side.

Regards  — Cliff

Neal said...

Politicians respond to their constituents, thus, "political gain" is the response to the perceived demands of those constituents. Some will take a pro position thinking that their voters will approve while others will take a con approach. Controversy allows everyone in politics to feed at the trough.

I am not ready to accept that this guy is a real POW. He is an American, but apparently rescuing Americans from foreign powers is passe with this President....unless there is tangible and immediate fodder involved for the current news cycle. We have Americans languishing in foreign prisons all over the world, and the Administration responses are impotent "warning" letters and other assorted pleas.

When I was assigned to Clark AB in 1967, the local police captured an entire busload of American school children headed to an off-base housing complex. The crime was that one of the kids threw something at a local cop. The terrified kids were herded into a local jail and placed behind bars. After a number of phone calls that ended in escalating demands, the Base Commander called in his Security Police Commander and together, they headed up an armed motorcade into the depths of Angeles City whereupon they surrounded the police station. When the chief of police obstinately suggested that the Americans were in no position to negotiate...given their location...the BC told the chief of police to go outside and look around. Parked outside were a number of SP trucks, each with 50 cal automatic weapons mounted on a swivel....and manned.

The kids made it home for dinner....and the American buses were never detained again....and I did two tours there.

THAT used to be American power projection.