I would like to start off by apologizing for taking
so much time between blogs. I lead a pretty hectic life, and sometimes, it
feels like my only rest comes when I’m sleeping.
I enjoy my right to free speech, and I am eternally
grateful for those that fought for that right. I can sit here, post this blog,
without fear of repercussions from the government. Unlike in a place like China
which has blocked much of the internet to prevent people from learning about
the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. China this week blocked google in an
effort to keep people from learning of the event in which the government
slaughtered student protesters.
Earlier this week, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was
released from a Taliban prison in exchange for five members of the Taliban.
This is a time honored tradition that every war time president has done. The first
act of kindness to POW’s can be traced back to Clovis I in the year 464.
For reasons that escape logic, the GOP is actually
pissed off about this recent trade. They’d prefer that Bergdahl die in prison,
or that’s just how they come across. I don’t care if Bergdahl walked off his
post, in the abstract, that’s a red herring argument. Now, if he’d engaged in
the rape of village women, killed an unarmed citizen, or committed a viler war
crime, then I could see the backlash. However, I cannot fathom why there is
this backlash. Who knows what intel Bergdahl might have amassed during his time
as a POW. And by the way, John McCain, you’ve officially gone off the deep end.
When news first broke, McCain, a former POW himself, was against the trade, and
bashed President Obama is the press. While he has since reversed course, he
still came off rather badly. I wonder what would have happened if party politics
had been the way they are now 40 or 50 years ago. I wonder what would have gone
through McCain’s mind if he read that his own country was upset that he was
part of a prisoner trade, and they’d rather he’d rot.
I thought I’d take this time to highlight something
from the Geneva Convention (something that the core GOP wish didn’t exist). A
person is entitled to POW status if combatant
must be part of a chain of command, wear a "fixed distinctive marking,
visible from a distance", bear arms openly, and have conducted military
operations according to the laws and customs of war. Under special
circumstances, inhabitants of a non-occupied territory can also be considered a
POW if they spontaneously take up arms
to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into
regular armed units.
Oh, for the record, here are the five winners we traded: Mohammad Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa, Norullah Noori Mohammed Nabi Omari Abdul Haq Wasiq
Now these are all evil men, there is no doubt, but let’s not act like this is the first time we’ve traded people of this caliber to get one of our own POWs. Hell, even John Bellinger, former Administration Official for Bush said that George W would have made the trade. Hell, Czar Ronald Reagan once traded 1,500 weapons for hostages. Yeah, you read that right, Ronald Reagan the God of the current GOP once gave terrorist weapons in exchange for hostages. Tell me how a 5 for 1 swap is so terrible? And let’s not kid ourselves, I’m sure the government has ways of tracking them. After all, it was the Obama White House that managed to locate and eliminate Bin Laden, something the Bush White House FAILED to do in eight years.
I won’t even get started on Fox News. I’m just going to say that the assailment of Sgt. Bergdahl is one thing. However, the attack on the man’s family is the most gutless act of cowardice one can imagine. The brain-dead trio on Fox and Friends went as far as to say that Bergdahl’s father looked like a Taliban member! Are you goddamn kidding me? But this is the type of ruthless mentality that the “journalist” that Murdoch employs at his GOP media outlet known as Fox News. Their job isn’t to report the news, it’s to be critical of everything President Obama does. I find it funny how scandalous such an attitude would have been from 2001-2008, and for that, I offer the Dixie Chicks as an example. And just the notion that so many rally behind the idea of leaving one of their countrymen to die just confounds me beyond what words can express. When you break it down, Bowe Bergdahl has a family that missed him, hoped for his return. What really should have been a day of celebration, this once anonymous family has been thrust into the public light, and is having their lives turned upside down. What does it say for our society as a whole that we allow that to go on? What other country treats a serviceman in this manner. We really should hold our heads in shame. This is not how we wish to be portrayed when it comes to how we treat those who fight for this country.
I understand that people reading this are going to have a different opinion than me on this, and I look forward to the feedback. I hope to get back to blogging on a more regular schedule.
