The real threat to PFC Bowe Bergdahl’s life:
the U.S. officer corps

Bergdahl: ‘Please bring us back home … where we belong’

By James Circello

The author is a member of March Forward!, an organization of veterans and service members who stand against war and racism.

“To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it’s like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home. Please, please bring us home so that we can be back where we belong and not over here wasting our time and our lives, and our precious life that we could be using back in our own country. Please bring us home. It is America and the American people that have that power.”

With those words, 23-year-old Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl openly spoke to the people of the United States in a video released by the Taliban on July 18. For weeks, the U.S. corporate media has questioned the whereabouts of Bergdahl.

His genuine words give voice to a sentiment shared by so many in the enlisted ranks who fear expressing it openly. Those words are in the minds and on the lips of veterans of all wars—past, present and future—separated from their partners and unable to witness the birth of their infant child, unable to sit at the dinner table with their family for a holiday dinner. His words are what thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have longed for during the last eight years.

But the politicians and military brass have turned a deaf ear. Thousands of troops who object to these illegal and immoral wars have consequently deserted the military—but Bergdahl was not one of them.

In a stunning interview with retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters on FOX News, Julie Banderas asked: “So when one of our troops is captured, how do we get him back? How do we get him back safely?”

Peters, a former member of the officer corps—the capitalist class in military uniform—was quick to state: “I want to stress first of all, we must wait until all the facts are in to make a final judgment.” However, without even a pause, Peters proceeded to cast his judgment on Bergdahl:

“Nobody in the military that I’ve heard is defending this guy. He is an apparent deserter. Reports are indeed that he abandoned his buddies, abandoned his post and walked off. We’ll see what the ultimate truth of it is. But we, but if he did, if he’s a deserter in wartime, well, as one of my old platoon sergeants used to say, he’s in beaucoup deep kimchi.”

Even after admitting he did not have all the facts, Peters accused Bergdahl of “collaborating with the enemy” and lying about lagging behind a patrol when he was captured. Peters brazenly added: “[I]f he walked away from his post and his buddies in war time, I don’t care how hard it sounds, as far as I’m concerned, the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills.”

The audacity of a retired military officer to seek to assassinate the character of a soldier and insinuate that he should be killed reveals the true sentiments of the military brass towards the troops. Blaming Bergdahl for his own capture is indeed an egregious display of hypocrisy for one who supports a war that has put countless U.S. soldiers in harm’s way. If anyone is to blame, it should be the war planners in Washington and the Pentagon and their apologists—Peters included.

Becoming separated from your unit is not a rare event but by virtue of their privileged class status, the majority of officers never participate in combat patrols. They know nothing of the fear of becoming lost or being captured, or the fear of possibly never seeing their families again.

PFC Bergdahl’s words reflect the true sentiments of countless soldiers; Peters’ words reflect the true sentiments of the officer corps, usually carefully concealed behind the Pentagon’s jingoistic propaganda: “Soldiers are just expendable bodies—as long as our goals are attained, who cares if they live or die?”

March Forward! strongly condemns former Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and the entire officer corps for their complicity in the death of thousands of enlisted soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, as well as the untold number of senseless civilian deaths in both Iraq and Afghanistan. We stand with PFC Bowe Bergdahl and his family during these trying times.

The class antagonisms within the military are a reflection in uniform of the class antagonisms between workers and bosses in civilian society. We stand solidly behind our enlisted sisters and brothers, workers in uniform. We soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines must stop mumbling our words, stop biting our tongues and boldly speak out in support of Bergdahl, proclaiming loudly to the people in the United States, and every U.S. politician and military officer: “Bring us home!”

This is not our war!
MarchForward.org