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27 posts
  1. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    6/3/2014 9:06 AM
    What does everyone think of the situation with the Idaho kid that we just traded terrorist for? I know we have several former military in the group and I am curious on everyone's opinion. Obviously it is tough not to have mixed feelings but it sure appears he went AWOL and may have helped thee enemy. Could have been self preservation but if he taught them about bombs, that sure isn't good. Did we rescue a soldier or trade away harden terrorist for a turncoat? I certainly haven't drawn a complete opinion because all the facts aren't out but it is sounding rather murky!



  2. Clay Putnam
    Clay Putnam avatar
    33 posts
    6/3/2014 10:06 AM
    The more I get to know the story the more I believe this was a bad deal, all around. 5:1 trade. We deliver them high ranking officials. We get a deserter in return. Several troops were killed looking for the deserter. The administration is using "we don't leave anyone behind" and his health as justification. This entire thing smells. It will be interesting to see if Bergdahl goes on trial for desertion when he gets back to the states.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/06/02/bergdahl-afghanistan-taliban/9884769/



  3. Trevor Monreal
    Trevor Monreal avatar
    5 posts
    6/3/2014 12:06 PM
    It wont be long now before we hear that our president didn't know Bergdahl went AWOL or how dangerous these released terrorist were until he heard about it in the media.
    Also...I can't help but think this was an effort to pull the attention away from the mess at the VA



  4. Jeffrey Scott
    Jeffrey Scott avatar
    8 posts
    6/3/2014 1:06 PM
    I'm not retired military, nor do I consider myself a "techie", but I would sure be disappointed in our hi-tech military leaders if those five taliban weren't surgically outfitted with Smart Bomb Magnets at some point during their incarceration. Let them get settled in at home and send in the drones to deliver a welcome home gift...
    Methinks that almost sounds too easy!!

    Jeff Scott, CGCS retired



  5. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    6/3/2014 1:06 PM
    Jeff, it actually sounds too sensible to happen. That would be the perfect solution. Might get some of their buddies at the same time. Every news clip I read, it seems to be getting worse for this guy. He and his parents better not show up at the White House later on touting his as a hero. He left a desertion note and the evidence is mounting rapidly. He might even be eligible for the death penalty but Obama has already made sympathetic symbols out of the parents. He may not even go to the brig!



  6. Wahlin Scott B
    Wahlin Scott B avatar
    6/3/2014 3:06 PM
    I am not military, but 5 of my 7 children are. One son spent much time in combat outposts which involved walking around talking to people, and then killing them in combat later in the day. The people my son was fighting never had a freaking clue about 9/11. The rank and file Taliban got sucked in because their "leaders" (loose term) allowed Al Qaeda a safe haven. Uniformed soldiers should never have gone in there. We could have eliminated the key players quietly. Can you imagine if a country did that to us? We'd all become terrorists.

    You bring your soldiers home because that is the sacred deal. Now we get him well and find out what happened.



  7. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    6/3/2014 6:06 PM
    I will let the military conduct it's investigation.

    The politicians need to keep the politics out of it. I have already seen that before the deal many Republicans were begging to do whatever to bring him home.

    As for those Taliban leaders, I have mixed feelings, they are already heros at home, don't see how that changes, but maybe they get hit by a drone strike? We don't have to pay to house them now. They should have been charged and tried in civil court if they had evidence. I don't know how we can continue to hold prisoners with no charges. Makes us no better than many other countries that we hold in contempt holding political presioners.

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  8. Wahlin Scott B
    Wahlin Scott B avatar
    6/3/2014 8:06 PM
    Is there any indication that the Taliban will allow Al Qaeda (a different ethnicity) to reestablish safe haven in Afghanistan? If the Taliban could be just left alone with a little motivation to protect their girls (and boys, they are not winning any awards in that arena either) I think they will become a nonissue. Not so for Al Qaeda. Now is the time to fight the war we should have fought to begin with, and we probably are. Kill them every where we can, every time we can, every way we can not matter what their nationality and protect those who will play nice.



  9. Clay Putnam
    Clay Putnam avatar
    33 posts
    6/3/2014 10:06 PM
    Meanwhile back to the deserter...



  10. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    6/4/2014 11:06 AM
    It's a bit early to convict him, don't you think Clay? Anybody remember when Saint Ronnie traded missles for hostages in Iran?
    Let the kid have his day in court.

    Regards,

    Steve



  11. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    6/4/2014 12:06 PM
    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: It's a bit early to convict him, don't you think Clay? Anybody remember when Saint Ronnie traded missles for hostages in Iran?
    Let the kid have his day in court.

    Regards,

    Steve


    Republicans seem to have short term memories, especially when they want to take political advantage of it. Of course that's just my opinion.

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  12. Clay Putnam
    Clay Putnam avatar
    33 posts
    6/4/2014 1:06 PM
    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: It's a bit early to convict him, don't you think Clay? Anybody remember when Saint Ronnie traded missles for hostages in Iran?
    Let the kid have his day in court.

    Regards,

    Steve


    I suppose you're right, Steve. We should allow Bergdahl his day "in court". I'm sure the desertion note he left behind, the testimony of his platoon leaders/fellow soldiers, his father's tweets, the death of the soldiers who searched for him, and who knows what else comes down the pike will be presented as acceptable military protocol deemed honorable and distinguished service. Sure...



  13. Clay Putnam
    Clay Putnam avatar
    33 posts
    6/4/2014 1:06 PM
    Melvin Waldron, CGCS said:
    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: It's a bit early to convict him, don't you think Clay? Anybody remember when Saint Ronnie traded missles for hostages in Iran?
    Let the kid have his day in court.

    Regards,

    Steve


    Republicans seem to have short term memories, especially when they want to take political advantage of it. Of course that's just my opinion.

    Mel



    No need to qualify your opinion, Mel. Your play of the ends against the middle precedes you.



  14. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    6/4/2014 4:06 PM
    His story gets more convoluted by the day and he may well be a deserter , that said, he is still an American soldier and citizen and deserves to be judged by someone other than the press. I am against negotiating with terrorists, but this is not the first time it's happened and I suspect it won't be the last time.



  15. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    6/4/2014 4:06 PM
    Mel, I don't see this as a republican or democrat issue and I think equal feelings existed on both sides before and now. The discussion is did we do the right thing, should we have traded those particular characters and how will it come out in the long run. I don't believe politics ever really entered into my original question. The only political question now would be did Obama do something wrong in how he handled it and I believe he has enough in his own party plugging their noses so again, it isn't political. It is about a series of facts that we are all learning about each day.



  16. Keith Pegg
    Keith Pegg avatar
    0 posts
    6/4/2014 4:06 PM
    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: It's a bit early to convict him, don't you think Clay? Anybody remember when Saint Ronnie traded missles for hostages in Iran?
    Let the kid have his day in court.

    Regards,

    Steve

    Thank you Steven, well said.

    Keith



  17. Clay Putnam
    Clay Putnam avatar
    33 posts
    6/4/2014 4:06 PM
    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: His story gets more convoluted by the day and he may well be a deserter , that said, he is still an American soldier and citizen and deserves to be judged by someone other than the press. I am against negotiating with terrorists, but this is not the first time it's happened and I suspect it won't be the last time.


    Negotiating with the terrorists, albeit not the right thing to do, is a smaller agenda item to this story, for me. By all accounts other than the administration's, this guy is a deserter. He should be tried when he gets home and let the chips fall where they may. But the administration is defending this trade and soldier to the hilt. They already have listed him as a hero, honorable, and having served with distinction. How in the world can they walk that back if he is found guilty? I would not be surprised if the administration puts its weight on the Joints Chief to go easy on Bergdahl. Imagine the egg on the face of the administration if Bergdahl is found guilty of desertion. You, me, and anyone with a reasonable thought in their head knows that Obama will do everything in his power to not let that happen.



  18. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    6/4/2014 5:06 PM
    Interestingly enough, Clay, we sort of agree on this, but I think you should allow your countryman to be tried by a jury of his peers instead of in the partisan press. You might do a bit of a google search on how many Republican politicians were tweeting and posting on their websites how happy they were that he was released. Then they started hearing from their constituents and started frantically erasing their posts.
    http://mashable.com/2014/06/03/republic ... hl-praise/

    Regards,

    Steve



  19. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    6/4/2014 6:06 PM
    Retired Gen. Stanley McCrystal on Wednesday said it was too soon to "judge" Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and the Obama administration's decision to negotiate for his release from the Taliban.

    "I think we're going to have to wait and talk to Sgt. Bergdahl now and get his side of the story," McCrystal told Yahoo News about the soldier, who has been characterized as a deserter by some of his platoon members. "One of the great things about America is we should not judge until we know the facts. And after we know the facts, then we should make a mature judgment on how we should handle it."

    The retired general defended efforts to return Bergdahl after he left his post in Afghanistan.

    "We did a huge number of operations to try to stop the Taliban from being able to move him across the border into Pakistan," McChrystal said. "And we made a great effort, and put a lot of people at risk in doing that, but that's what you should do. That's what soldiers do for each other."

    "We don't leave Americans behind. That's unequivocal," he said when asked if he would have authorized the prisoner swap. "There will be a lot of discussion on whether the mechanism for getting Sgt. Bergdahl back was right – and I'll leave it to people to argue that."



  20. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    6/5/2014 10:06 AM
    Sandy Clark, CGCS said: Mel, I don't see this as a republican or democrat issue and I think equal feelings existed on both sides before and now. The discussion is did we do the right thing, should we have traded those particular characters and how will it come out in the long run. I don't believe politics ever really entered into my original question. The only political question now would be did Obama do something wrong in how he handled it and I believe he has enough in his own party plugging their noses so again, it isn't political. It is about a series of facts that we are all learning about each day.


    Sandy it shouldn't be a republican or democrat issue, since both sides wanted him returned. It was after the fact that the republicans and some democrats made it a political issue when criticizing the president which is ok if they didn't agree with the exact way he made the exchange, but they in turn don't offer up what they would have done differently, or acknowledge that originally they wanted the same outcome and why they changed their stance on the issue, and from what I see they trying to get political gain from it.

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  21. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    6/5/2014 11:06 AM
    Many of them may have but my questions was what did the crew on this forum think rather than what politicians were saying. Politicians of both stripes have been known to be idiots more often than not.



  22. Steve Nelson
    Steve Nelson avatar
    0 posts
    6/5/2014 12:06 PM
    Forget all the politics, we have a responsibility to bring all our vets home, dead or alive-even if all that is said of him is true. If it is true then he wouldn't be the first nor the last combat soldier to go a little mental. Bring him home, get him stable, then start the process of coming to the truth of what happened.

    This is just another reminder war affects those we send into battle in many ways, and underscores the responsibility to get the VA fully funded and fixed. The true costs of these wars are only just beginning and we need to be prepared to reintigrate the soldiers into society and give them all the help they need.



  23. Trevor Monreal
    Trevor Monreal avatar
    5 posts
    6/5/2014 1:06 PM
    Steve Nelson, CGCS said: Forget all the politics, we have a responsibility to bring all our vets home, dead or alive-even if all that is said of him is true. If it is true then he wouldn't be the first nor the last combat soldier to go a little mental. Bring him home, get him stable, then start the process of coming to the truth of what happened.

    This is just another reminder war affects those we send into battle in many ways, and underscores the responsibility to get the VA fully funded and fixed. The true costs of these wars are only just beginning and we need to be prepared to reintigrate the soldiers into society and give them all the help they need.

    If our president feels the same way you do, why hasn't he done anything to bring Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi home from being imprisoned in Mexico??
    If this administration had any brains it would be working overtime to get this done.
    This would help draw attention away from the Bergdahl and the VA fiasco
    But...I won't hold my breath.



  24. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    6/5/2014 2:06 PM
    Trevor Monreal said:
    Steve Nelson, CGCS said: Forget all the politics, we have a responsibility to bring all our vets home, dead or alive-even if all that is said of him is true. If it is true then he wouldn't be the first nor the last combat soldier to go a little mental. Bring him home, get him stable, then start the process of coming to the truth of what happened.

    This is just another reminder war affects those we send into battle in many ways, and underscores the responsibility to get the VA fully funded and fixed. The true costs of these wars are only just beginning and we need to be prepared to reintigrate the soldiers into society and give them all the help they need.

    If our president feels the same way you do, why hasn't he done anything to bring Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi home from being imprisoned in Mexico??
    If this administration had any brains it would be working overtime to get this done.
    This would help draw attention away from the Bergdahl and the VA fiasco
    But...I won't hold my breath.


    I am posting a link that shows this does happen on a frequent basis and most cases get resolved in about a month. He has been there for about a month. It took 5 years for Bergdahl. I would hope that something is being done as it has in the past, and one would think Mexico would be more cooperative in cases like these. But just because there is no news coming from the US, doesn't mean work is being done on the case.

    http://www.boston.com/news/world/latin- ... story.html

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  25. Canedo Alberto J
    Canedo Alberto J avatar
    6/5/2014 3:06 PM
    This is part of the article about Sgt. Tahmooressi. Researching more of what happened is very interesting. I enter Mexico the same way ZSgt. Tahmooressi did and there is a bunch of signs saying Guns/Ammunition are Illegal in Mexico. He could of made the U-Turn at many locations before the border crossing. Who would go into another Country with some of the most strick gun laws in the World unless they were going to be sold Illegally. This will be very interesting case.

    "Mexican authorities stopped Tahmooressi on the night of March 31 after he had entered Mexico with a 5.56-caliber rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a .45-caliber pistol, as well as more than 400 rounds of ammunition. Alejandro González Guilbot, chief Mexican customs officer at the Tijuana-San Ysidro border, told VICE News that the firearms found on Tahmooressi were not locked in a container, out of reach, and unloaded, as required by California law."

    "They were all just wrapped in his belongings — clothes, a blanket," the official said. The rifle was found behind the driver's seat, the shotgun on the passenger seat, and the pistol was in the driver-side door pocket, along with several cartridges. "They were all loaded… and ready to fire," Gonzalez said.

    "He never indicated that he was armed," Gonzalez told VICE News. "He entered the country around 10.30 PM and he made his 911 call an hour later… once he was practically in military custody."



  26. Steve Nelson
    Steve Nelson avatar
    0 posts
    6/6/2014 9:06 AM
    Trevor Monreal said:
    If our president feels the same way you do, why hasn't he done anything to bring Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi home from being imprisoned in Mexico??


    I don't know the presidents opinion on this, next time I see Barry I'll ask him. Did anybody say Tahmooressi shouldn't come home? Look, the shore patrol has been transporting sailors and marines from the TJ jail back to San Diego for about a hundred years now. It's probably all pretty routine, no prisoner swaps required :) . This guy did something out of the ordinary, and the Mexicans were correct to treat it seriously. A marine being actively treated for PTSD cruising around with an AR-15, assault shotgun, and a sidearm with several hundred rounds is a dangerous situation regardless of the location. I am confident he will be back in the US soon where he can get the treatment he obviously still needs for his PTSD. Like Bergdahl, after he gets some treatment he will probably face some disciplinary action.



  27. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    6/7/2014 2:06 PM



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