Members of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s squad say he simply walked off the base on the night of his capture. This unverifiable bit of information has been used by critics to say that he was a deserter who had no intention of returning.
That’s one possibility, but according to individuals briefed on a classified report and interviewed by the New York Times, Bergdahl had a history of wandering off on his own but he always returned.
WASHINGTON — A classified military report detailing the Army’s investigation into the disappearance of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in June 2009 says that he had wandered away from assigned areas before — both at a training range in California and at his remote outpost in Afghanistan — and then returned, according to people briefed on it.
The roughly 35-page report, completed two months after Sergeant Bergdahl left his unit, concludes that he most likely walked away of his own free will from his outpost in the darkness of night, and it criticized lax security practices and poor discipline within his unit. But it stops short of concluding that there is solid evidence that Sergeant Bergdahl intended to permanently desert.
According to the military report, Bergdahl was never called out or disciplined for wandering off, making it likely that he would continue doing so.
Interestingly, there is no citation in the military report of a letter Bergdahl supposedly wrote announcing his intent to become a deserter.
Does that letter even exist?
Just how much of the right wing smear campaign is a fabrication?