Editor’s note: This op-ed is by award-winning journalist Telly Halkias. It first appeared in the Portland Sun.
Finally, after weeks of Beltway political theater, and my telling anyone who would listen that the Bergdahl affair is a long, long way from being over, the Pentagon announced that it has opened a formal investigation into the case.
In summary, last month the White House announced the swap of five high-level Taliban leaders who had been held at Guantanamo Bay for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The latter allegedly left his post in Afghanistan in June 2009 under ambiguous circumstances and had been held by the Taliban as an enemy prisoner of war (EPW) – or hostage – ever since.
Since the national media has been so focused on covering the drama of the boxing match between Republicans, Democrats, President Obama and any other critic on both sides who has an opinion, there is little out there to offer the public in the way of a primer on these matters.
In that light, as a veteran and journalist, I feel duty bound to fill that void. So here are some facts we will either see unfold, or must consider:
Sgt. Bergdahl’s status is unclear, as the terms of his enlistment expired while in captivity. Still, at the present, he is still in the Army until fully discharged.
Sgt. Bergdahl is in possession of considerable amounts of HUMINT (human intelligence), and all during his “medical recovery and treatment,” as well as any investigation, he is continuously being debriefed by different levels (tactical, operational, strategic) of the military and civilian intelligence apparatus. Bank that.
The military will not proceed on the disposition of Sgt. Bergdahl’s actual status until all said debriefing, and investigation, is complete.
Once again for emphasis: Sgt. Bergdahl’s actual status is still unclear. The avenues of investigation are legion, and not all integrated:
I personally know Gen. Dahl from my earliest days in uniform; he is as tough and honest an officer as our Army has. … So whatever the result of his final report, I will believe it, and accept that due diligence was done.
There are investigations that could be pending under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or Article 15-6, a lesser endeavor that can still lead to court martial proceedings for any number of charges, be it desertion, dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming of a non-commissioned officer, etc.
There are also inquiries which can proceed under the auspices of any level of Inspectors General, from the unit to the Department of Defense. The Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense both have the ability to appoint investigating officers as authorized by the Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama.
I won’t even start to cover how many informal investigations can go on, and other lesser probes known as “line-of-duty.” Also, I can’t account for every formal investigation into the matter have already occurred in the five years since Sgt. Bergdahl walked away from his unit and was subsequently captured and held by the Taliban.
Of course, the point of all this is clarification, and to be fair, that’s still a lot of “I’m not so sures.”
What we do know is this: last week, the Pentagon appointed Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl to lead the investigation. According to AP reports, there are no plans to interview Sgt. Bergdahl until he is deemed mentally and emotionally sound.
But that doesn’t exclude Sgt. Bergdahl from low grade or passive debriefing — at which our national intelligence apparatus is extremely adept. Indeed, this young soldier’s every utterance is almost certainly being dissected in the background, far from the bright lights and obvious chirping of the usual media suspects – and any formal inquiry into the matter.
I personally know Gen. Dahl from my earliest days in uniform; he is as tough and honest an officer as our Army has. NBC News even ran a comprehensive, unbiased segment on how uniquely qualified he is to lead this effort. So whatever the result of his final report, I will believe it, and accept that due diligence was done.
From the media, though, one hears much back and forth across the aisle and from pundits, but very little of the nuts and bolts that really matter.
If indeed Mr. Obama acted within his authority in making the prisoners-for-Bergdahl swap, that does not make his decision right or wrong: it just makes it legal. Past that, history or unfolding events will tell decide the prudence of this exchange.
But that is all done, and the fallout, if any, on the global battlefield against terrorism remains to be seen. On the surface, to use the vernacular, those were some pretty bad and important dudes we let go.
As far as Sgt. Bergdahl’s captivity is concerned, absent of HUMINT corroboration, we will never know what happened during those five years outside of what he tells us.
Our system tells us that all Americans have a clean sheet unless proven otherwise, and as someone who wore the uniform I’m always ready to give a soldier under fire the benefit of the doubt – to start.
But as a journalist, I can safely say there is more to the matter of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl than meets the eye, and most certainly than what we have been told thus far. And my military instincts tell me Gen. Dahl’s inquiry will lead to classified information that will never be made public.
So bank all that, too, and stay tuned.
