http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/

Looking at the soldiers mentioned in the story on the above website, there are six names seemingly from his unit apparently listed as being killed in action looking for Bergdahl around three months after his disappearance; they appear to be no more than losses in action by IED’s – you could make the same claim about any of the other US soldiers killed around the same time in Afghanistan, and in fact only two of them are said (in the story, anyway) to have been searching for the missing soldier. when killed.

Maybe they were all involved in the search but, equally. after looking through the casualty lists for the period ( http://icasualties.org/oef/Fatalities.aspx, pages 41-45), it also appears to be the units casualties… Was the unit taken off all other duties for several months to search for Bergdahl? No, one of the KIA’s died supporting Afghan forces at the end of August; others died from IED’s and rocket propelled grenada attacks – more likely moving targets of opportunity rather than part of a deliberate search operation.

So if we are allowed to make stabs in the dark without solid facts concerning this story – just like apparent former colleagues have – then I would say Bergdahl is rather unfairly being blamed for all his units KIA’s. Shoot me down if you like (and you will, undoubtedly…) but a convenient coincidence?

Anyone thought about his complaints, given prior to his walkout?

I think the words “is believed” ,so no facts yet.

Well, the republicans really do believe it – gives them another reason to slag Obama…

If these stories about him are true then i suspect he could be in for a rough ride when he gets home–almost an embarrasment to the USA government if this is the case.
We do need to know what happened.

Guess we will, unless he happens to ‘forget’ whilst being questioned…

US army chief Dempsey: Bowe Bergdahl could be prosecuted

The top-ranking US military officer has raised the possibility Sgt Bowe Bergdahl could be prosecuted if he abandoned his post before his capture.

Gen Martin Dempsey said the Army would not ignore misconduct but the 28-year-old was “innocent until proven guilty“.

The US Army later confirmed it will launch a new review into the circumstances surrounding Sgt Bergdahl’s capture.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27682668

“Innocent until proven guilty“… At the moment that appears to be a forgone conclusion as far as the reports so far go.

Apparently good men died trying to get this guy back so I can understand their reaction. This is the 21st Century I am sure that if he went to his superior officer and said he had lost his nerve he would have been on the first plane out 100 years ago he probably would have been shot but I don’t believe the USA do that now.

Not read anything about others apparently being killed in the search – guess you’ve got a link?

Truth. The Saville inquiry investigated what happened that day – are you saying you have information or detail that was not brought up at the inquiry? The truth should have come from those in authority that day – I can’t imagine you taking the word of an opposing terrorist group as the truth despite the fact that some of those present gave evidence to Saville.

Confused. Just taking the information that is available; the Saville inquiry has pretty well covered all corners, even after the obstruction of imagery and weapons by the MoD. Once again, if you have info that disproves anything…?

Mistake. I expect nothing of the sort. It just seems totally obscene that against an unarmed crowd there appeared to be some sort of mindset that allowed the soldiers to fire on people fleeing gunfire, shoot samaritans as they tried to assist the wounded, even ‘execute’ an injured man as he lay on the ground. Should we change the ideal in the public’s mind that this is what should be expected, rather than be concerned at the one-sided death toll in, ahem, ‘combat’?

No, obviously not every para. Just those who, after that day and to the investigators, knew they were lying, covering up the actions of their mates and not giving the full honest facts at the time. After all, some of them had to have had nothing to hide personally since only 108 bullets were apparently fired by the army that day…

Much as it pains me to use the Daily Mail as a source, this article gives the view of one soldier who testified to Saville that some appeared to demonstrate a disturbing enthusiasm to kill without justification, rather than through necessity or fear:

Bloody Sunday soldiers ‘fired without justification’

A Bloody Sunday paratrooper today said that his colleagues fired without justification.
The former para, identified only as Soldier 027, said just two soldiers – identified as Lance Corporal F and Soldier G – were probably responsible for eight or 10 of the deaths of the 13 unarmed men killed on 30 January 1972 on a Londonderry civil rights march.
The witness, in his statement to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, sitting in London, recalled that one colleague from 1 Para was “exuberant” as a terrifying display of firepower was unleashed against civilians.
Soldier 027’s eyewitness account of the bloodshed in the Bogside is hotly contested.
Dozens of other soldiers are expected to say they fired within rules of engagement and only at threatening targets.
Soldier 027 was giving his live evidence today behind a screen, just yards away from bereaved relatives who believe their loved ones were killed without proper reason.
Several of the 14 injured in the shootings also attended.
The ex-para is in a special protection scheme, paid for by the Northern Ireland Office, to ensure he co-operates with the Government-appointed inquiry which is expected to cost more than £100 million by the time it concludes.
It is believed Soldier 027 fears retribution from his former colleagues. The deal, which includes relocation and a salary, ends when he finishes giving his evidence.
In his statement to the inquiry, Soldier 027 claimed Lance Corporal F began firing “without pause or hesitation” at the centre of the crowd at the rubble barricade in Rossville Street, where six people were killed.
There were “shocked and terrified” people who were shot at while they fled Glendfada Park North and others froze in fear. Four people died in the Glenfada Park area.
Soldier 027 said he stood amid the carnage and never fired a single shot because he could not identify a gunman or a nail-bomber.
In total, 108 bullets were fired on Bloody Sunday.
Soldier 027 recalled being positioned at a wall in Kells Walk, Rossville Street, with his fellow soldiers and scanning the crowd for a target with his rifle at his shoulder.
He recalled one soldier, probably a corporal from Guinness Force, running up beside him and pushing between two soldiers who were firing so that he could begin firing himself.
“He indicated to me that he thought what was happening was great. He was exuberant,” Soldier 027 said in his statement.
“I looked through my sights, scanning across the crowd. I was as keen to find a target as anyone, but I just could not identify a target that appeared to justify engaging. I did not see anyone with a weapon or see or hear an explosive device.
“I have a clear memory of consciously thinking ‘what are they firing at?’ and feeling some inadequacy. What was I not seeing that I ought to be seeing?”
The paras, believing they could be attacked by IRA gunmen, were psyched up for battle, according to Soldier 027.
A briefing held the Saturday evening had left the soldiers remarking how they could be “getting kills” the following day, he said.
The paras in his section had passed around dumdum bullets as they waited in the armoured vehicles ready to go into the Bogside, he said.
Soldier 027 said he joined the Parachute Regiment in 1971 when he was 19 years old and was a radio operator in the regiment’s anti-tank platoon on Bloody Sunday.
“Unspeakable acts took place on Bloody Sunday,” he said in his inquiry statement.
“There was no justification for a single shot I saw fired. The only threat was a large assembly of people and we were all experienced soldiers who had been through riot situations before.”
He added: “Events that day within my own platoon were triggered by two individuals with a game plan and when they saw they could bring it into action, they did so and others joined in. There was no command to prevent or stop this happening.”
The march occurred at a politically sensitive point in Ireland’s troubles. Internment, which was introduced in August 1971, had escalated the violence on the streets and made rioting and sniper fire against British soldiers commonplace.
The paras, whom Soldier 027 has dubbed “the army’s rottweilers”, were, he said, arrogant and elitist shock troops who were deployed for efficient clear-up or arrest operations.
People in authority needed to accept some of the blame for Bloody Sunday, Soldier 027 said.
He added: “The responsibility for its (1 Paras) actions lies with those who selected and directed an outfit like that. It is noticeable that no one in authority has taken responsibility for orchestrating the situation.”
Soldier 027 recalled that on Bloody Sunday his platoon moved in south down Rossville Street in armoured vans after getting the go-ahead from Major Ted Loden, Commander of the Support unit.
There was an intense feeling of adrenalin and apprehension as the paras, with their blackened faces, de-bussed quickly and approached their task. They were convinced they were about to face gunman, Soldier 027 claimed.
A crowd of people were facing them from the rubble barricade, slightly to the east of the Rossville Flats.
As 027’s section reached the pavement by the end of the small wall one of his colleagues went into a kneeling position, raised his rifle to his shoulder and began firing, he alleged in his statement.
Soldier 027 said he saw two people at the barricade fall.
His statement added: “Within seconds, other soldiers came on the scene, some kneeling and some standing, joined in the firing.”
His impression was that the burst of fire from the Kells Walk was “continuous and sustained firing over a period of several minutes”.
He added: “I had the distinct impression that this was a case of some soldiers realising this was an opportunity to fire their weapon and they didn’t want to miss the chance.”
Of Lance Corporal F and Soldier G, now deceased, he said: “My impression has always been that the two of them … had a preconceived idea of what they were going to do that day and set about doing it as a pair of oppos.”
He received a ceasefire over his radio and relayed the message to his fellow paras.
Lance Corporal F and Soldier G, who “worked in concert in all that they did” according to 027, moved to the west, closely followed by Soldiers E and H.
They ran towards Glenfada Park North and F and G continued in the same vein as at Kells Walk.
At least one person was on the ground as he approached the scene. He saw a crowd of “about 40 shocked and terrified people” along the south side of the car park trying to flee.
In his statement he continued: “They were in the process of exiting the southwest corner of the car park when, in the presence of the shattering noise of the SLR’s (self-loading rifles) they became submissive and acquiescent. Some froze in a static huddle.
“I saw no civilians with weapons, no threatening gesture, neither could I see or hear any explosive devices during the entire situation.
“I was not personally at risk from anything that I could see and it never entered my head to fire my weapon.”
He said he felt “mentally overloaded and seized up” and added “it was surreal – as if the events took place outside normal time”.
He believed that four soldiers fired rounds while he was in Glenfada Park with F and G particularly appearing to “assert themselves and influence events”.
His statement added: “I have always been satisfied in my own mind that Lance Corporal F and Soldier G probably shot eight or 10 people that day.”
He alleged that much of his statement to the Royal Military Police, taken immediately after Bloody Sunday, was fabricated by others in which “facts have been altered and added” to justify the shooting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-142962/Bloody-Sunday-soldiers-fired-justification.html

Such blood-lust could do nothing but help the IRA, boosting recruitment (as I’ve already said) and strengthening their grip on those with even the slenderest feeling of injustice.