Can we NOT disseminate the right wing meme that Bergdahl was a deserter here at DU?

[MADem]

77. It doesn't matter. He couldn't have been a deserter, though, because he was captured before he was

gone for 30 days, and the jury has not yet met to decide if he left with the intent "never to return."

We do know he likely went AWOL. He took off his helmet, his body armor, his specialized gear, and piled all that up with his weapon, and then went outside the wire. He left notes that suggested he might head to India. His father told him to "Follow his conscience" but I rather suspect his father meant "Make a CO declaration" not "Run away."

I don't think he's the brightest bulb on the holiday tree, frankly. He was home schooled, and he never had to compete with other children or be exposed to those kinds of stressors. He lived "off the grid" in rough surroundings, but I don't think he counted on the kind of stress that involves being surrounded by people determined to kill you.

But as I said, it doesn't matter. It's unlikely the Pentagon is interested in some kind of "Kick him when he's down" show trial. They want to patch him up, detach him from the service, and send him home.

He spent five years in a shithole. He is very malnourished. His mental state isn't very good. There is no "gain" in sticking it to him--he's already learned his lesson.

Don't worry about what "other people say." People can say what they'd like, and they aren't members of the Army JAG Corps, nor are they on the Pentagon legal team that will be deciding how this kid is going to be handled. Like it, or not, no matter what missteps this individual made as a result of intemperate reasoning or poor impulse control or what-have-you, the disposition of his case is in their hands, not the hands of a clamoring crew of wingnuts in Congress or in the hands of a bunch of armchair generals on the inter-tubes.

Chuck Hagel understands the "Fog of War." He realizes that not every schlub issued a weapon is Audie Murphy, Rambo, or John Wayne. Some soldiers are simply what's called a "Low Quality Recruit" and they can't handle the stress. I think that's where this kid falls.