Susan Rice lies again: Private Bowe Bergdahl faces desertion charges, and was not classified as a “POW”

Less than 2 years ago, Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, infamously lied to the American public about the Benghazi terrorist attack, saying that it was caused by a spontaneous protest to an anti-Islam YouTube video in order to support Obama’s false claim that Al Qaeda was “on the run” during the 2012 election campaign season.  Subsequently, Obama promoted Susan Rice to the position of National Security Advisor.  Now, as Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice is right back to lying to the American people:  On June 2, 2014, Susan Rice claimed on television on ABC that Private Bowe “served the United States with honor and distinction” and that “Sergeant Bergdahl wasn’t simply a hostage; he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield.”  It turns out that NEITHER claim is accurate.

 Photo Credit: Rabid Republican Blog

• Private Bowe Bergdahl did NOT serve the U.S. with “honor and distinction”:

According to the New York Times: “Sometime after midnight on June 30, 2009, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl left behind a note in his tent saying he had become disillusioned with the Army, did not support the American mission in Afghanistan and was leaving to start a new life… a former comrade broke his military gagging order today to tell MailOnline of the jaw-dropping moment he discovered the Taliban POW had walked off from their Afghanistan base… ‘As far as I’m concerned Bergdahl deserted his men and should face the firing squad. People died trying to save him. He was a deserter’.”  According to members of Bergdahl’s Army unit, Bergdahl’s note went even further and expressed his desire to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

And the Army has now revealed that it may pursue charges against Private Bowe Bergdahl for desertion:  “U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey says the Army may still pursue desertion charges against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.  Speaking to The Associated Press, Dempsey said that U.S. military leaders “have been accused of looking away from misconduct” and added “it’s premature” to assume they will do the same in Bergdahl’s case… Bergdahl disappeared on June 30, 2009. A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2010 that the evidence was “incontrovertible” that he walked away from his unit, said a former Pentagon official who has read it. A Pentagon official told CBS News that Bergdahl was “at worst, a deserter. At best, a stupid kid who caused us to expend great energy and resources to bring him home.””

In fact, we now know that the “Pentagon on several occasions had ground-level intelligence on where Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was being held captive at various times — down to how many gunmen were guarding him — but special operations commanders repeatedly shelved rescue missions because they didn’t want to risk casualties for a man they believed to be a “deserter,” sources familiar with the mission plans said.”

Even today, a “Defense Department source confirmed to Fox News that many within the intelligence community harbor serious outstanding concerns not only that Bergdahl may have been a deserter but that he may have been an active collaborator with the enemy.”

• The “Gitmo 5″ were not POWs (even according to the Geneva Conventions), and neither was Private Bowe Bergdahl:

Captured unlawful combatants (i.e. jihadists/terrorists like the “Gitmo 5″) are  not entitled to prisoner-of-war (POW) status under the Geneva Conventions or any principle of international law.  As such, the “Gitmo 5″ prisoner swap was NOT a POW exchange.

Furthermore, “In his five years of captivity, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was never listed by the Pentagon as a prisoner of war.  Nor has the U.S. applied that term to any of its Taliban prisoners” (including the “Gitmo 5″)… “After disappearing in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009, Bergdahl was listed by the Pentagon on July 1, 2009, as “duty status whereabouts unknown.” Two days later his status was changed to “missing/captured,” and it did not change again prior to his release… Afghanistan is not technically at war with the U.S. or any other state. The “enemy” forces in Afghanistan are mainly the Taliban, which are considered a “non-state armed group.”