spotter of traitors wrote:
Count Chocula wrote:Did Bergdahl choose to travel to Afghanistan, or was he sent there?
He voluntarily joined the US Army but deserted.
The current POTUS called Bergdahl a "dirty rotten traitor".
And I agree.
If you quoted the rest of my post, you would see that I also generally agree. My definition of "traitor" is someone who actively attempts to cause their country harm. I'm not certain that Bergdahl did that. Yes, it's true that the country was harmed in the process of searching for him and negotiating his release. But, (as far as I know) he didn't ask for any of that. However, given that he was on a deployment and was still the military's responsibility, he had to know that such a response would be coming. I don't have any respect for him and I regret the lives that were affected by his selfish behavior.
That said, I still maintain that POTUS (and the US government at large) is obligated to ensure the well-being of citizens who are detained/captured/etc. while serving on official U.S. business. That was not the case for Warmbier, who choose to travel to NK on his own. I'd like to see people returned home safely in those cases, though not at the cost of harm to the US.