PARIS (AP) — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at a U.S. military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape, a senior U.S. official said Sunday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss what Bergdahl has revealed about the conditions of his captivity.
The official said it was difficult to verify the accounts Bergdahl has given since his release a week ago.
Bergdahl, now 28, was captured in June 2009 after he disappeared from his infantry unit. He was held for nearly five years by Taliban militants.
The New York Times reported Sunday that military doctors at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center say that while Bergdahl is physically able to travel he’s not yet emotionally prepared to be reunited with his family. He has not yet spoken to his family.
Bergdahl was returned to the U.S. military in exchange for the release of five Taliban militants from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The deal, which the Obama White House brokered without consulting Congress, ignited a political firestorm that shows no signs of abating.
Lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, who initially praised Bergdahl’s release, quickly backed off amid questions about whether he was a deserter who walked away from his post and an outcry over the exchange. Some of Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers maintain that Americans died during efforts to find and save him.
On Wednesday, Bergdahl’s hometown of Hailey, Idaho, abruptly canceled plans for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns. And on Saturday the FBI said Bergdahl’s family had received threats that are being investigated by federal, state and local authorities.
The U.S. official told the AP that Bergdahl’s parents were being harassed and threatened, including death threats.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sadly, largely due to the actions of the Bush Administration, I am afraid that Sgt. Bergdahl is going to have a very tough time. All of the things he claims were “torture,” we have done too…and in spades.
But it was “not torture” according to Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, Tennant, Addington, and of course John Yoo…who “made it” all legal with a few strokes of the pen.
What we did in Iraq, Iran and Guantanamo and condoned in the numerous “black sites” we sent prisoners to was defined as war crimes in WW II and people were sentenced to death for doing it.
Now, with just a little change in definitions, you can do most anything, but it isn’t torture. “Enhanced interrogation?” That sounds good.
Sorry Bowe. You were just a victim of some Enhanced Interrogation and induced stress.
TPM (via AP):
Fox News:
Doesn’t this seem a bit backward TPM?
That I can find a more complete narrative of sourced opinions at-- of all places-- Fox News?
jw1
Then there’s this:
Can’t fathom the depth of depravity necessary for this to occur.
Savagery. It’s no better than that.
jw1
Meanwhile, Sean Hannity suggests collaboration. This country is beyond redemption at this point.
Well this news ought give right-wing cruelty pimps this week’s get-off.
After all Americans suffering SOMETHING from ANYONE get our morally defective Baggers their little sado-gasms.
Remember if you skip the polls in November, we’ll have to listen to more of them.