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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Army soldier held by the Taliban since June2009, gave several indications that he might "walk off into the mountains" leading upto his captivity , according to an in-depth article by Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone . On June 30th, 2009, Bergdahl walked off a U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan with nothing but water, a knife, a digital camera and his diary. He was subsequently captured by the Taliban and has been featuredin numerous videos while being held by the Haqqani network near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Hastings chronicles Bergdahl's path from home-schooled boy in Idahoto SAW gunner in Afghanistan and provides accounts from members of Bergdahl's platoon that describe odd behavior prior to his capture. The 26-year-old "came across more like a boy on an adventure than a soldier preparing for war," Hastings writes, and at one point told a fellow soldier : " If this deployment is lame, I'm just going to walk off into themountains of Pakistan ." Once he arrived at the Paktika outpost, Bergdahl " spent more time with the Afghans than he did with his platoon " and o n the morning that he walked off, he asked his superior: " If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took mysensitive equipment? " Perhaps the most telling revelations come from his last email tohis parents, sent three days before his capture, in which Bergdahl seems completely disillusioned with the war effort . From Rolling Stone : "The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too shortto care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helpingfools with their ideas that are wrong.. I am ashamed to even beamerican. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that theythrive in. It is all revolting." "In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you area conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do whatever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank.. Thesystem is wrong... the title of US soldier is just the lie offools." "The US army is ... the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, andbullies... I am sorry for everything here. These people need help,yet what they get is the most conceited country in the worldtelling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, thatthey have no idea how to live." "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about runningtheir children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks...We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them fornot understanding we are insulting them." On June 30 the platoon leader reported a missing solider at 9:00 a.m. Soldiersand drones began a frantic search without knowing if Bergdahl was adeserter, prisoner or casualty, according to Hastings. Drones picked up a voice tranmission that said an " American soldier with a camera was reportedly looking for someonewho spoke English" and by that evening two F-15s and two F-18s hadjoined the search. Hastings details the subsequent months in which U.S. officialstried to negotiate his release and Bergdahl made a failed escape attempt as the Pentagon and White House "pressured major news outlets like The New York Times and the AP to steer clear of mentioning Bowe's name to avoidputting him at further risk." All the while a debate raged among lawmakers about whether Bergdahlwas a hero or a deserter. One Obama administration official told Hastings, "W e don't give a shit why he left. He's an American soldier. We wantto bring him home." However, another senior U.S. official involved in the negotiationssaid that "[Defense secretary Leon] Panetta and [Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ] don't give a shit about getting him home." Hastings cites a State Department officials who said that Bergdahlis " a topic in any meeting we ever had with the Taliban, " but negotiations were suspended by the Taliban on March 15 andU.S. officials have not been in any contact with them since. Read the full story at Rolling Stone. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Toughened Safety Glass , Ultra-clear Glass, and more. For more , please visit Low E Insulated Glass today!
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