Democracy NOW!: Bowe Bergdahl tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected

6/3/2014

Reporter: Bowe Bergdahl’s Fellow Soldiers Questioned Afghan War More Than He Did

According to a 2012 profile in Rolling Stone magazine by the late reporter Michael Hastings, the newly freed U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl joined the Army in 2008 after he first tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected. He was deployed to Afghanistan just after President Obama ordered the first troop surge in the Spring of 2009. Bergdahl reportedly told a soldier in his unit, "If this deployment is lame … I’m just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan." And on June 30, 2009, he may have done just that, leaving the base with just a knife and water, along with a digital camera and his diary. Within 24 hours, he was captured. We are joined by Sean Smith, an award-winning photographer and filmmaker for The Guardian who met Bowe Bergdahl while embedded with his unit in Afghanistan. Smith also profiled Bowe’s father, Bob Bergdahl, in the video we aired in the previous segment.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AARON MATÉ: We’re looking at the case of Bowe Bergdahl, the American prisoner of war released over the weekend in a prisoner swap. According to a 2012 profile in Rolling Stonemagazine by the late reporter Michael Hastings, Bergdahl joined the Army in 2008 after he first tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion but was turned down. He was deployed to Afghanistan just after President Obama ordered the first troop surge in the spring of 2009.

AMY GOODMAN: In June 2009, Bowe Bergdahl reportedly walked off his base in Afghanistan. He is said to have left a note saying that he had become disillusioned with the Army, did not support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, and was leaving to start a new life. Within 24 hours, he was captured. For more we go now to London where we are joined by Sean Smith, the award-winning photographer and filmmaker for The Guardian. He met Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan in 2009 when he was embedded with his unit, and later went to Idaho to meet his father Bob. Who he profiled in The Guardian video we just broadcast. In Washington, D.C. we’re joined by Colonel Morris Davis, retired Air Force Colonel, resigned as a former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo in 2007. Sean Smith, let’s begin with you. Tell us about meeting Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. Where did you see him?

SEAN SMITH: I met him briefly. He was with a group who were on an observation post, which was basically a hole in the ground at the top of the hill, for a few days. It was a short time. They were in pretty good spirits, all of them. They were kind of on their own. I think there was a couple of the other soldiers, early one morning on camera, questioned the mission — the whole mentioned, I guess, in Afghanistan, and what they were doing. I think the phrase was, these people have been dicked around by the Russians for 17 years and now we are doing it. And I think these people just want to be left alone. I think that is roughly what was said. I did not hear that from Bowe at all. I don’t know exactly what happened. I don’t think anyone knows that for sure now. I know when I heard about his capture, even the place was unclear. So I don’t know — it happened about 10 days after I was with him. So, you know, there seems to have been quite a bit of speculation about what happened and him. I just don’t think much is — you know, it’s not all that clear and I would not want to speculate and join that speculation.

AMY GOODMAN: That is very interesting that you talk about the other members of his unit apparently having the same feelings that he would express, even though he did not express them to you.

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