Tuesday, June 03, 2014

The Price of Freedom

People are allowed to think, say, and yes, even tweet whatever the hell they want, so long as their actions do not contravene the law. They are still American citizens:

Since Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2009, his father had become an expert on Guantanamo Bay’s detainees. It was out of necessity, because the Taliban demanded that the United States free prisoners from Guantanamo in exchange for Bergdahl.

“No family in the United States understands the detainee issue like ours,” Robert Bergdahl said in a 2011 plea to his son’s captors.

So it wasn’t entirely unusual when Bergdahl apparently published a tweet last week about Guantanamo’s detainees. Except this tweet was directed at a Taliban spokesman. And it came just four days before it was announced that his son was finally being released.

“I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners,” the tweet said, according to various screen grabs. The tweet was subsequently deleted. “God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen.”

This God-person also hates fags, but few of the current critics of the Bergdahls seem to have too much problem with that. Likewise when God strikes down (fill in the blank)_____________ with a (tornado, flood, terrorist attack), those same people whose panties are in a twist over Bergdahl’s desperate attempts to keep his son out of harm, alive long enough to secure his return, seem somehow to remain silent.

Bowe Bergdahl is an American citizen, a soldier, and a prisoner of a foreign government which has demonstrated a curious hatred of the West and western values. If it was Ann Coulter or any other hater who strapped on a helmet and went and fought a war long past its sell-by date, we ought to extend every effort to secure the return of that prisoner, as well.

Bob Bergdahl is an American citizen and therefore deserves at the very least our silence and the very most our compassion and support as he tries to retrieve his son.

Similarly, Bowe Bergdahl’s actions before his capture have come under scrutiny, but I believe we can trust the military to sort out that issue.

The terrorists who were exchanged are being held in Qatari custody. That is appropriate. Qatar has been an ally of ours, and a staging ground for our invasions of Iraq. It’s not like they were freed to roam the airports of the United States and given bottles of drain cleaner and box cutters.