re: #429 Targetpractice

Another TPM poster points out that the one soldier quoted by the NYT griping about how they had to drop everything and look for Bergdahl if they got a tip sounds like an overzealous commander who didn’t want to have it on his record that he’d lost a man due to desertion.

Trigger Warning: Possible MBF
I’m willing to give Berdahl some slack. We don’t know what he’s been through but we do know it’s been very difficult. However it does seem he was at least careless and possibly stupidly reckless and his actions may have contributed to his own predicament. I’ll give the same slack to his fellow soldiers. Some of them may be overstating their case but Bergdahl’s capture (and possible desertion) was a big pain in their ass and put a lot of people at risk. Military discipline is there for good reason. It’s dangerous work and reckless decisions in the battle field can get people killed. I won’t begrudge the soldiers he left behind for grumbling. They have a right. Like everything else these days this situation has devolved into a partisan pissing contest.