Why the Silence on Sgt. Bergdahl Court Martial Investigation?

In early October, TheHill.com reported that the Bowe Bergdahl court martial investigation was complete.  The investigation was conducted to determine if Bergdahl was guilty of desertion and gave material support to the Taliban that could have resulted in directed attacks on U.S. military positions in Afghanistan.

Now, if you are not familiar with the Bergdahl story,  this soldier's release from being held by the Taliban was done in an exchange for 5 extremely high value detainees at Guantanamo Bay.  This in Obama's quest to empty the Guantanamo Bay detention facility so it could be closed, as he promised all the way back to his campaigning days in 2008.

It seems to me that if Bergdahl was innocent of desertion and collusion with the enemy, we would have heard it by now and he would have been free to either stay in the Army or be discharged.  However, the four months of silence since October seems to imply that he is guilty and, because of that, Obama has a problem on his hands.  If, in fact, Bergdahl is a traitor to his country, the President made a massive mistake by trading him for those Taliban commanders.  And, the public outcry will be massive.

I am assuming that he has been found guilty and, it will be interesting to see how Obama plans to keep that fact secret over his next two years in office.   Obviously, something's afoot because, not once, has this country's press/media been able to question Bergdahl about how he came to be captured by the Taliban and the rumors that he provided them with material assistance.

The only way Obama will be forced to disclose the Bergdahl investigative report is if the media starts pounding the desk for that report.  But, given the their liberal slant and constant protection of the President, don't count on it.

References:

Report: Bergdahl investigation completed | TheHill:  http://thehill.com/policy/defense/220359-report-bergdahl-investigation-completed

Bowe Bergdahl was traded for 5 Taliban commanders: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/02/bowe-bergdahl-was-traded-for-5-taliban-commanders-heres-who-they-are/

Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the Gitmo5 Aren't a Danger to Americans

While in Europe, and in response to concerns that the release of 5 Taliban leaders might put Americans at risk, Obama said this:

'I wouldn't be doing it if I thought that it was contrary to American national security.'

Well, that statement would have been believable if there hadn't been the Benghazi attack on the U.S. mission in 2012; resulting in a dead Ambassador and 3 other dead Americans.

Prior to that attack there were all kinds of warning signs that said we shouldn't have even been in Benghazi.  The Red Cross, sensing an increasingly dangerous situation, pulled their people out. Following an RPG attack on their Ambassador, the Brits shuttered their doors and left.  Our mission in Benghazi had already seen two attacks prior to 9/11, and, Ambassador Stephens was so concerned about the situation there that he expressed it in various communiques back to the State Department.  Yet, we stayed, with only a dozen out-sourced security personnel; of which, only half were armed.

Now, fast forward to today and the Taliban prisoner swap for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  Any sane person -- I guess except for Barack Obama -- understands that the release of these people is "absolutely" putting Americans at risk.   These aren't some grunt Taliban followers who fought against us in the Afghan war.  These are all smart people. These are Mullah Omar's top lieutenants who helped him take over Afghanistan; impose and execute the most extreme punishments of Sharia Law; and, who invited in and protected Bin Laden and the rest Al Qaeda to set up their training camps.  In essence, the Taliban is simpatico to the goals of Al Qaeda.

All of these people have spent more than a decade imprisoned by the United States.  They have had years to harden themselves against this country and its policies.  And, because they are the most dangerous of the Taliban, you can be assured that they spent every waking hour plotting against America and praying to Allah for help and guidance.  Just because they are going to spend a year under Qatari monitoring and surveillance doesn't mean that they can't conduct operations against the Afghanistan government; or, more importantly, against the U.S. and it's citizens.  For decades, in this country, mob bosses were able to run their operations from behind bars with less communication capability than these 5 Taliban leaders will have access to.

What Obama has done is show the entire world that we, as country, can be had.  That we are willing to negotiate with terrorists in order to get Americans back.  And, those Americans need not be military. Because of that, almost ever American overseas, is now at risk.  Some predict that the taking of American citizens will only escalate as a result of Obama's actions; with no amount of U.S. security available to protect most of them.

Lastly, the President said that "prisoner swapping" is the normal course of winding down wars.  Yes, but this country has never swapped such high level and dangerous personnel. Need I remind the President of the Nuremberg trials!  In fact, two of these released prisoners are wanted by the U.N. for war crimes.

References:

Obama defends trading five Taliban leaders:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2647208/Obama-defends-efforts-rescue-deserter-Bowe-Bergdahl-insists-administration-did-consult-Congress-despite-GOP-claims-prisoner-swap-illegal.html

Libya: Red Cross pulls out of Benghazi fearing attack: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12767759

Benghazi timeline: How the attack unfolded: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/benghazi-timeline-how-the-attack-unfolded/

US consulate attack in Libya: the warning signs were there in Benghazi: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9539148/US-consulate-attack-in-Libya-the-warning-signs-were-there-in-Benghazi.html

 Who Are The 5 Guantanamo Detainees In Prisoner Swap?: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/31/317704932/who-were-the-five-guant-namo-detainees-released-in-prisoner-swap

The Gitmo for Bergdahl Swap: A Question of Why Now?

According to the President, securing the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been an ongoing process for five years.  That may well be the case.  But, it wasn't until about a year ago that the Taliban floated the idea of swapping five of the most highly valued and dangerous former Taliban leaders -- currently serving time at Gitmo -- in exchange for Bergdahl.  Apparently, the U.S. had resisted the swap until now.

Think about it.  A trade of one U.S. soldier -- one who might have actually been away-without-leave (AWOL) when taken -- in exchange for five of the highest valued Taliban prisoners we had under lock and key.  It doesn't make sense.  There are so many other higher valued "deals" we could have made in exchange for these particular prisoners.  Such as, perhaps helping to kick-start or solidify the peace process in Afghanistan. There has got to be a question as to why such a lopsided deal would have been made; and made at this particular time.

Call me a cynic when it comes to anything that the President does but, I really think the Gitmo5 deal was purely political.  In the past few weeks, Obama has been taking heat over the Veteran's treatment at the VA hospitals and his slowness to act in responding to that situation.  Then, there was the criticism--  by some in his own party and the usually liberal media -- over the tepidness of his speech at the West Point commencement ceremony where, even the cadets gave their Commander-In-Chief very lukewarm applause.  What better way to reverse an apparent "veteran" problem than to suddenly secure the release of one of their own?  This also helps to explain why Congress didn't get their lawfully-binding 30-day notice that prisoners were being transferred out of Gitmo.  That's because Obama needed the release now while the heat was still on over the VA scandal.  And, let's not forget that the President made sure that he could have speech time and a photo-op with Bergdahl's parents, as props, standing at his side.  See how caring he looks!

Of course, this is pure speculation on my part but, I think the timing of this deal stinks like a dead fish in the hot sun.

References:

Bergdahl release arrangement could threaten the safety of Americans, Republicans say: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bergdahl-release-arrangement-could-threaten-the-safety-of-americans-republicans-say/2014/05/31/35e47a2a-e8ff-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_print.html

Five of the Most Dangerous Taliban Commanders in U.S. Custody Exchanged for American Captive: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/five-most-dangerous-taliban-commanders-us-custody-released-pow-exchange_794017.html

the Taliban floated the idea of exchanging U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-five-guantanamo_736892.html

U.S. Pays High Price To Free POW Bowe Bergdahl: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/31/us-pays-high-price-for-last-pow-in-afghanistan.html