It is summer(y) and already the slow-news season, unless you’re one of the millions still hyper-ventilating over last weekends’ party conventions here in Minnesota. (By all indications, this guy McFadden will be an endless supply of good copy.) But knowing how desperately politicians and news organizations require conflict to spike fund-raising and traffic I knew within a half a heart beat that this “prisoner swap” business was headed for the Great Conflictinator.
Why? Because … A. Obama did something, and B. It involved “sworn enemies” of the American way of life.
And so, like mushrooms after a rain, the talking heads — several poisonous — sprouted, outraged (“Outraged!” I say!) that “Congress wasn’t informed”, and that “Obama had released the worst of the worst” in exchange for one piddly U.S. soldier. Who was … a deserter at that … .
But the real hook wasn’t releasing five cunning, homicidal Muslim psychopaths against whom all of America stands helpless for a nutty kid who probably should never have been in the Army, it was that … six brave soldiers died while out looking for this squirrely Bergdahl deserter guy. I’m sure you’ve seen that. Their pictures have been on all the best cable channels … over and over again. To the point that as far as any single-source cable viewer cares, that Bergdahl killed them is God’s honest truth.
Except for that part where no one can say for certain … .
From this morning’s New York Times:
“The furious search for Sergeant Bergdahl, his critics say, led to the deaths of at least two soldiers and possibly six others in the area. Pentagon officials say those charges are unsubstantiated and are not supported by a review of a database of casualties in the Afghan war. …
The most intense search operation, leaked war reports show, wound down after eight days — well before the deaths of six soldiers on patrols in Paktika Province in late August and early September. But, complicating matters, some soldiers contend they were effectively searching for 90 days because of clear orders: If they heard rumors from locals that Sergeant Bergdahl might be nearby, they should patrol the area. …
“A review of the database of casualties in the Afghan war suggests that Sergeant Bergdahl’s critics appear to be blaming him for every American soldier killed in Paktika Province in the four-month period that followed his disappearance.”
To which I say, “Well, hyeah!? That’s what you do when it’s goddam June and ratings and fund-raising need a good goosing.” Let the nuancy pointy heads figure out what’s what later. Right now we need an audience, preferably a pissed off one.
Though not a big military guy — I’ve skipped the last half dozen Little Big Horn reenactor get togethers — I am aware of the hard and fast military policy that “we bring ours home”, and that fine, decent and brave soldiers have died picking dead bodies off battlefields. I’m also aware that to date, Comrade/King/Mullah Obama has not ruled out young Mr. Bergdahl facing the music once back in the States.
But how many dottering old codgers are going to get purple-faced with rage over Standard Military Procedure?
– Lambert