Bowe Bergdahl: America's Last Living Prisoner Of War

Time Lightbox:

During the ten and a half years that Americans have been fighting in Afghanistan, as tens of thousands of troops have rotated in and out of the combat zone, only one soldier has ever been captured by the Taliban. His name is Bowe Bergdahl, and since June 30, 2009, he has been America’s last living Prisoner of War.

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Comments

[ArmyMedic]

04:22 PM on 05/18/2012

Godspeed, brother, and safe return.

[Steelerfanman]

04:17 PM on 05/18/2012

This one story alone is all I need to know that it was not and still isn't worth it.

[dead WASP]

02:37 PM on 05/18/2012

Come home safe...

[yoyodyne666]

02:29 PM on 05/18/2012

“He saw Afghanistan as a humanitarian mission,”

Yea, bombing them further into the stone age, night raids killing civilians, humanitarian.

So much for home schooling.

[sunbeltvoter]

02:10 PM on 05/18/2012

“he has been America’s last living Prisoner of War”

Oh bullczit. He is the only current US POW being held.

There are plenty of living current US POWs from

Bush Wars--did Jessica Lynch die yet?
Gulf I
Vietnam--did John McCain croak and no one notice?
Korea
World War 2

There will not be a "last living US POW" for about 70 years IF the US ends all wars today and does not enter into any new ones in that time frame to create new POWs.

[radmo]

03:32 PM on 05/18/2012

My, my....can't fathom the difference between a Prisioner of War and a former Prisioner of War? I'll give you a hint, the former is still being held captive, the latter isn't. Talk about having a problem.

[uk progressive]

02:00 PM on 05/18/2012

Bowe bergdahl and the rest of the US soldiers are just cannon fodder, expendable assests for the war profiteers who make billions for no risk while soldiers on the ground earn peanuts.

[TurnSeiki]

01:58 PM on 05/18/2012

He'll have to wait until January 2013 to have a shot at being released.

[Makos62]

03:18 PM on 05/18/2012

Not if Romney gets in. The money to fund a raid to rescue him would never be authosized by the Koch brothers.

[btown]

01:05 PM on 05/18/2012

Idaho wants Bowe home! He's our hero and he belongs back in Hailey with his family.

[yoyodyne666]

02:31 PM on 05/18/2012

Hero, how is that, signing your soul and body to a corrupt goverment so the MIC can suck billions from the american people is not heroic, it's stupid.

[btown]

03:06 PM on 05/18/2012

Nice comment yoyodyne666. He's an upstanding American citizen who joined the military. Who are you?

[radmo]

03:34 PM on 05/18/2012

Cute comments from someone who, judging by your micro-bio, just cannot wait to not be doin something productive.....like work.

[AJH]

12:58 PM on 05/18/2012

Out of curiosity have we categorized any prisoners captured in that war as POW's so a traditional exchange can take place?

Or have we categorized them all as terrorists for indefinite detention and non judicial incarceration so a traditional exchange cannot take place?

I hope we have classified some as POW's so we can negotiate an exchange with his clan. Otherwise traditional POW release time would be at the cessation of hostilities and after the signing of a peace treaty. Such an agreement would be greatly complicated in the US if all detainee's we hold aren't POW's.

And an exchange for someone the military declared a terrorist so as to not treat them as a POW would be a political disaster in waiting. I feel for the family and soldier caught in an irrational implementation of this conflict.

[Wrench Turner]

01:23 PM on 05/18/2012

How could we do that? Non of them have any of the credentials or claims of being legal combatants, they legitimately are illegal combatants.

[Littlewords]

01:32 PM on 05/18/2012

No. They are citizens of Afghanistan and insurgents against a nation that is occupying their country.

AQ was eradicated from Afghanistan long ago. What we now have are Taliban/local insurgents trying to push us out just as they tried and succeeded at pushing Russia out.

While it might have been justified to attack Afghanistan to rid them of sheltering OBL and allowing AQ camps to operate within their borders, those objectives are now all achieved. Current prisoners are now merely insurgents fighting against what they see as a US occupation.

[AJH]

01:58 PM on 05/18/2012

This I believe is a fundamental long term mistake for the safety and well being of our servicemen and women.

The conflicts we expect to be fighting around the world over the next 2 decades and the engagements we expect to be putting them into are primarily non state non uniformed opponent conflicts.

POW status and the protections and treatment rights afforded it are necessary to protect our forces. Saying your forces aren't POW's because they don't have uniforms but our prisoners you take are POWs is a joke.

[rosiebag]

12:10 PM on 05/18/2012

Every American should know this mans name.Go find him Barry do something for the country, Bin Ladens death has worn off.

[peanut2005]

01:38 PM on 05/18/2012

How do you know they aren't looking? We didn't know anything about Bin Laden. Unlike some, they seem to keep this stuff on the down low.

[TUNCH]

04:08 PM on 05/18/2012

Do something for the country? Something like draining the Treasury of all its surplus to wage two unfunded occupations and give the wealthy unfunded tax breaks...something that resulted in a $1.3 trillion deficit? Something like that? And if President Bush would have been concerned about OBL and killed him...the Republicans would have put his face on Mount Rushmore and never stop talking about it. Heck, I Dick Cheney has actually taken credit for killing OBL.

[Kvothe]

12:07 PM on 05/18/2012

Please keep SPC Bergdahl in your thoughts. This is a very real problem for a lot of people until he is home safe. From one vet to another, you are not forgotten, Bowe.

[justan olnamvet]

11:33 AM on 05/18/2012

POW's are recognized by the Geneva Convention. He is simply a prisoner,like those in Gitmo and other unknown places.

[rosiebag]

12:08 PM on 05/18/2012

Grow up when did these people sign the Geneva Convention, put your head back in the sand and repeat America sucks Obama-biteme over and over.

[yoyodyne666]

02:47 PM on 05/18/2012

Grow up yourself, they did not sign the GC, but we did, and yet we have broken it repeatedly with extrodinary rendition and torture, and murder. Justin makes a valid point, the GC does not appear to apply anymore, simply making him a hostage, not a pow.

[parlimentMike]

04:19 PM on 05/18/2012

What good was our signing it? We don't adhere to it. Our Countries actions in the last decade have been shameful, and criminal.

[no dash american]

03:35 PM on 05/18/2012

Being that he is not being held by a legitimate government entity he is a hostage

[roudy]

11:28 AM on 05/18/2012

Correction: America is holding thousands of prisoner's of war all around the glove.

[Wrench Turner]

12:30 PM on 05/18/2012

That's a big glove!

Illegal combatants are detained, don't carry your Geneva Conventions Card, and you will become an illegal combatant.

[yoyodyne666]

03:03 PM on 05/18/2012

And be a mercinary for a country that signed the GC and yet repeatedly breaks it, if caught don't consider yourself a pow, consider yourself a war criminal and hostage.

[ussuri]

10:54 AM on 05/18/2012

USA should free innocent prisoners in Asia.

[cookerman45]

11:25 AM on 05/18/2012

and you are able ta speak freely.....FACT.

[ussuri]

02:12 PM on 05/18/2012

have nothing to say,
remain quiet.
your post are stupid.

[Moxo]

10:51 AM on 05/18/2012

You'd think that GW Bush, who screwed up the war big time, would at least be spending some of his endless vacation/speechifying time travelling the world talking to foreign leaders to get their help in getting Bergdahl released.