THIS IS DESERTION, NOT POLITICS

Now let me see if I have this straight. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been checked out by the medical personnel and has been declared healthy enough to return to active duty. And though he is under investigation for crimes up to and including desertion in a time of war, he is not under any restriction and can come and go as he pleases. He has been given a nice clean desk job. Meanwhile the soldiers with whom Bergdahl was stationed in Afghanistan have not been contacted or questioned. Yes, I think I’ve got this straight.

By way of background, I am a veteran of the US Army. The first thing learned as a new recruit was how and when to salute. On my first day in the Army I was confronted by a young 2nd Lieutenant who was extremely unhappy that I didn’t offer up a snappy salute when I saw him. In my defense at the time I didn’t know a 2nd Lieutenant from a pine tree. To make sure I didn’t ever forget the young Lieutenant had me spend the next thirty minutes saluting a pine tree.

The second thing I learned was the rules under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The number one no no was that a soldier never, under any circumstance, deserts his post. It was made clear to us that such a desertion in wartime was punishable by death, period. You desert, you die.

So now what we have here is a probable deserter who was traded for five enemy killers who will doubtless go back to their old ways. Five killers who we will have to deal with again and again until we finally eliminate them.

Of course the problem here is that our President made this deal and cannot be made to look like a jerk. A lot of us believe that that horse left the barn long ago and he didn’t have to make this stupid swap to look like a jerk. He took care of that much earlier. Politicians, especially politicians who have never worn the uniform, make a lot of mistakes regarding the military. Obama thought this deal was going to make him look good. This was going to take all of the scandals off the front pages. Well it has but not in the way he planned.

Am I angry that this swap took place? Absolutely. Am I angry that Bergdahl hasn’t been dealt with yet? You bet your life. But what I am most angry about is that the Army, my Army, would even consider whitewashing this deserter’s actions to protect a moronic decision by Obama. Any failure to prosecute Bergdahl will be pure politics.

Does anyone actually believe this is going to just go away? Do the morons in this Administration think we are just going to look the other way? Do the relatives of the soldiers who were killed looking for Bergdahl just forget the whole thing? Not likely.

The US Army, my Army, is not going to be a party to any such garbage. Those little Generals who think they can cover up a wartime deserter for political reasons had better reconsider. As is always the case, the cover up will be much worse than the original crime.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is going to have to stand trial for his actions. He is going to have to face his fellow soldiers whom he abandoned. He is going to have to face the relatives of the soldiers who were killed looking for him. Then if he is found guilty, he must face the penalty determined by the court martial.

Ron Scarbro