Manns Medium

The news of Army Sergeant Bowie Bergdahl exposes mixed emotions for me as a former member of the military.  It also creates lots of questions not only for those responsible for his release but for the choices made that caused his capture and it especially compels me to slap the media for how they are about the manipulated this news to gain them more viewers and page viewers instead of just trying to report the truth. My first is the choice Sgt Bergdahl made to join the Taliban.  I say join because unless you were experiencing a “Gandhi” moment and thought just your very presence would make the relationship between Americans and the natives better, leaving the camp with just a compass and a bottle of water makes no other sense.  Once you were there and found that what you were hoping to maybe accomplishing was to no avail, where are the bruises and injuries from trying to escape during your capture for all those years?  I see no evidence that you made any attempt...

Well cut my tail off and call me BOB, finally a judge has stepped up and voiced an opinion that has been so silent and so restrained.   According to Larry Neumeister of the Associated Press in his article titled Federal judge: Terror law violates 1st Amendment “a judge on Wednesday struck down a portion of a law giving the government wide powers to regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists, saying it left journalists, scholars and political activists facing the prospect of indefinite detention for exercising First Amendment rights.   U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan said in a written ruling that a single page of the law has a "chilling impact on First Amendment rights." She cited testimony by journalists that they feared their association with certain individuals overseas could result in their arrest because a provision of the law subjects to indefinite detention anyone who "substantially" or "directly"...

I was greatly affected by the story of the Los Angeles Times regarding the 2010 photo of soldiers posing with the remains as referenced in the article written by Cheryl Pellerin of the American Forces Press Service titled Panetta Rejects Conduct Shown in 2010 Troop Photos.   The graphic nature of the photos was appalling to see but the real bane of my irritation was the complete disregard that these soldiers showed for the loss of life and the position that their action was putting those still serving in.   According to the article previously mentioned, the poster was “a soldier with the 82nd Airborne’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Bragg, N.C., anonymously provided 18 photographs because he believed they represented a breakdown in leadership and discipline that compromised troop safety.”   Knowing that, releasing them to the Los Angeles Times or leaving them where they could be used by anyone could also is “a breakdown in leadership that compromised troop saf...

The latest rounds of insurgent skirmishes in Afghanistan are a little curious considering the time frame but may be less about making a statement than it is something else.   According to an article written by Rahim Faiez and Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press titled Gunmen attack Afghan government building, kill 6 reports that “Taliban fighters wearing suicide bomb vests hidden under police uniforms attacked a government building Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, triggering an hours-long gun battle and killing six people, officials said.   The attack came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber slipped inside the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students — worrying reminders of militants' ability to infiltrate locations thought to be secure.   A roadside bomb exploded Sunday in the southern province of Zabul, killing two people and wounding five others, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. Another roadside bomb exploded overnight in K...

This article may be putting the cart before the horse but I think it‘s worth asking if these types of charges will become more famous with the cache of information gleamed from the assault on the Osama compound in Pakistan. Truth be told in, the article by Rasha Madkour of the Associated Press titled Fla. imam, 2 sons charged with supporting Taliban reports that “U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said the investigation was sparked three years ago by suspicious financial activity and was not based on an undercover sting operation. "This is based on the defendant's words, actions and records," Ferrer said at a news conference Saturday.   The indictment recounts recorded conversations in which Hafiz Khan allegedly voices support for attacks on the Pakistani government and American troops in the region.   The indictment lists about $50,000 in transactions. The funds were used to buy guns, support militants' families and promote the cause of the Pakistani Taliban, accordin...