*Surprise*: Joint Chiefs Knew Bergdahl Walked Away From Post in 2009

From Fox News.

Army SGT Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his base in Afghanistan June 30, 2009, and by December of that same year, the president’s principal military adviser, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen, knew those details, according to three of Bergdahl’s platoon mates who spoke to Fox News.

“I asked him (Mullen) if he knew about Bergdahl and that he deserted and he (Mullen) told me that he knew of the circumstances surrounding his walking off,” former Sgt. Matt Vierkant told Fox,”(and) that they were developing leads and following leads, trying to do everything they could to get him back.”

After pulling security duty for the chairman, who was doing a swing through Afghanistan in December 2009, Vierkant, along with Evan Buetow and Cody Full, said they met informally with Mullen and about eight other Soldiers. After a pep talk about the mission, the three said Mullen asked the squad leaders and platoon leadership to take a break.

“He sat down with all the lower enlisted guys and the team leaders and basically he said, ‘Hey, what do you want to know…You got any questions? He’s like, I’m an open book. Let’s just have a little question and answer session,” Buetow explained.

“So Matt asked him, you know Bergdahl deserted, what’s going on with that? And Admiral Mullen said, ‘Yes, we know all the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl walking away from the OP (outpost,)and we’re still working on getting him back, figuring out where he is and kind of figuring out that whole situation.’”

……This account was backed up by a third platoon mate, former Specialist Cody Full. The men were split on whether Mullen singled them out because of the Bergdahl connection or whether it was a chance meeting, but they emphasized that at the time, they appreciated the fact that Mullen seemed to speak candidly and openly.

……Asked if there was any ambiguity based on the conversation, Verkant said no. Without a doubt he (Mullen) knew he (Bergdahl) deserted, or you know, was suspected of desertion. There was no doubt in my mind that he fully understood what Bergdahl did.”

Once it became apparent that Bergdahl deserted, they should have charged him in absentia, not promoted him. He wasn’t a POW, he didn’t get lost accidentally on patrol, he wasn’t captured, he deserted. When this was reported back in 2009, I said that the whole goddamned situation was fishy.

Bergdhal left his gear in a nice neat little pile along with a note that explained he was running away.  He willfully collaborated  with the enemy and declared allegiance to Islamic jihad.  The attacks his unit endured got more methodical and precise after Bergdahl’s desertion. They should have left him with the Taliban. They should have considered him an enemy combatant and killed him on the battlefield.

Bergdahl is a poster boy for Obama’s sympathy for muzzies, so the Army brass  drug their feet over a courts martial.

Even when it became crystal clear that Bergdahl left on his  own, the Obama regime tried to soft pedal the disgrace by sending spokes-tool Susan Rice out into the sympathetic leftwing media to declare that Bergdahl’s desertion constituted “serving with honor and distinction” .  Obama’s staff  went on the offensive. They  smeared Bergdahl’s former platoon because they told the truth.  Obama made a speech in the Rose Garden flanked by Bergdahl’s Taliban-schmoozing  parents, slobbering over him as if he were just a misunderstood kid. But he had no such sympathy for the families of  the Soldiers who sacrificed their lives looking for the little ratfuck.