US Soldier captured in Afghanistan

[jcustis]

On a related note - the act of negotiation itself does not incentivize further activity. The gains made by the process of negotiation can potentially incentivize repeated behavior. US soldiers are already valuable POWs so I fail to see how this exchange increases that risk, especially given the factors that have made the Iraq and Afghanistan wars so low in POWs in the first place. If anything, the exchange indicates that the Taliban is a rational organization capable of responding to incentives.

Concur. I haven't been able to get my head wrapped around how some could calculate that this in any way increases the risk to troops in the field.

Then again, the folks bumping their gums about it likely have 0% time spent in the field in the first place. Mix that in with partisanship and the howls are predictable.

[carl]

It seems to me it was just a poor deal, for 5 high guys we got back one, at best very confused, private; at worst one deserter/possible defector.

[WGEwald]

http://www.armystudyguide.com/conten...-conduct.shtml




II

I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

[Ray]

It seems to me it was just a poor deal, for 5 high guys we got back one, at best very confused, private; at worst one deserter/possible defector.

Looks like a poor deal, but maybe there is a silver lining too?

Since this chap maybe a indoctrinated AQ sympathiser (or else why did he 'walk off'), and so, maybe during interrogation he will be a gold mine of information about the ways of the AQ/ Taliban.

[AmericanPride]

Ray,

One of the things the U.S. Army is poor at doing IMO is understanding group dynamics, especially when someone does something seemingly irrational like walk off a FOB. And this is ironic, I think, given our emphasis on leadership, et. al. We have a serious problem of groupthink and we have an ideological predisposition to focus almost exclusively on individual agency to the exclusion of structural incentives and restraints. Apparently Bergdahl's comrades were aware of his odd behavior prior to the deployment - why didn't they or the leadership do something about it? I've also read that the unit had some problems of its own. Combine that with the isolation of being deployed, and then further ostracized within your own unit, and it's not surprising that he did something 'irrational'. He probably regretted it from the moment he was captured. That's just speculation on my part.

[Ray]

Ray,

One of the things the U.S. Army is poor at doing IMO is understanding group dynamics, especially when someone does something seemingly irrational like walk off a FOB. And this is ironic, I think, given our emphasis on leadership, et. al. We have a serious problem of groupthink and we have an ideological predisposition to focus almost exclusively on individual agency to the exclusion of structural incentives and restraints. Apparently Bergdahl's comrades were aware of his odd behavior prior to the deployment - why didn't they or the leadership do something about it? I've also read that the unit had some problems of its own. Combine that with the isolation of being deployed, and then further ostracized within your own unit, and it's not surprising that he did something 'irrational'. He probably regretted it from the moment he was captured. That's just speculation on my part.

The bold part reminds of the film 'A Few Good Men'.

[JMA]

Not sure why this thread has almost died in terms of the essential matter of how Bergdahl fell into the hands of the Taliban?

Full Testimony of SPC. Cody Full

I am much less interested in the swap than with the preliminaries.

[WGEwald]

The bold part reminds of the film 'A Few Good Men'.

I would not be surprised if Hollywood is working on "The Bowe Bergdahl Story" with Sean Penn cast as "Taliban Bob" Bergdahl.

[WGEwald]

Army Clears Bergdahl of Any Misconduct During Captivity

http://www.thewire.com/national/2014...tivity/373485/

[JMA]

I dunno... this is an exceptional case surely? Bergdahl is but one soldier out of how many hundred thousand soldiers who rotated through Afghanistan over the years.

Ray,

One of the things the U.S. Army is poor at doing IMO is understanding group dynamics, especially when someone does something seemingly irrational like walk off a FOB. And this is ironic, I think, given our emphasis on leadership, et. al. We have a serious problem of groupthink and we have an ideological predisposition to focus almost exclusively on individual agency to the exclusion of structural incentives and restraints. Apparently Bergdahl's comrades were aware of his odd behavior prior to the deployment - why didn't they or the leadership do something about it? I've also read that the unit had some problems of its own. Combine that with the isolation of being deployed, and then further ostracized within your own unit, and it's not surprising that he did something 'irrational'. He probably regretted it from the moment he was captured. That's just speculation on my part.

[AmericanPride]

I dunno... this is an exceptional case surely? Bergdahl is but one soldier out of how many hundred thousand soldiers who rotated through Afghanistan over the years.

It's exceptional insofar he was captured by the Taliban. But he wasn't the only one to have ever walked off a FOB or attempted to do so. I don't know the full numbers but I count at least four between Iraq and Afghanstan. I think what's unexceptional is the stress, poor discipline, and 'breaking point' - most soldiers who reach this point seem to prefer to kill themselves or abuse a spouse rather than hike the Hindu Kush. One soldier notably stole thousands of digital documents. When someone is away from the security of home, ostracized by their comrades in close quarters, and disillusioned by their role in what's going on, unpredictable things happen.

I'm in no way excusing Bergdahl's behavior but I firmly think that the causes are more complex than the competing media narratives of his alleged Taliban sympathies or his mental state.

[WGEwald]

...he wasn't the only one to have ever walked off a FOB or attempted to do so. I don't know the full numbers but I count at least four between Iraq and Afghanstan...One soldier notably stole thousands of digital documents. When someone is away from the security of home, ostracized by their comrades in close quarters, and disillusioned by their role in what's going on, unpredictable things happen.

Are you referring to Bradley Manning?

[JMA]

The Bergdahl case is obviously too hot for the US military to handle. Can it be anticipated to fizzle out like the Garwood matter back then?

I'm in no way excusing Bergdahl's behavior but I firmly think that the causes are more complex than the competing media narratives of his alleged Taliban sympathies or his mental state.