<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div class="post-headline">
<h1>Warmonger Media Storm Against Saving Sgt. Bergdahl</h1>
</div>
<div class="post-byline">
<div id="single_post_category_images" class="bfa_widget_area">
<div id="linkabletitlehtmlandphpwidget-3" class="widget
widget_text">
<div class="textwidget"><img
src="cid:part1.04020302.06090107@comcast.net"
class="attachment-580x387 wp-post-image" alt="Screen Shot
2014-06-07 at 9.35.29 AM" height="305" width="580"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="cat-date-line"><big><big><span class="cat-date-line2"><a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/category/educate/" title="View
all posts in Educate!" rel="category tag">Educate!</a></span>
<span class="cat-date-line3"> <a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/congress/"
rel="tag">Congress</a>, <a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/guantanamo-bay/"
rel="tag">Guantanamo Bay</a>, <a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/policy/"
rel="tag">Policy</a>, <a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/wars-and-militarism/"
rel="tag">Wars and Militarism</a> </span> <br>
<span class="cat-date-line4">By Robert Naiman, <a
href="http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/24178-warmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl-shows-why-we-have-so-much-war"
target="_blank">www.truth-out.org</a><br>
June 7th, 2014</span><br>
</big></big></div>
<div id="google_translate_element">
<div style="" dir="ltr" class="skiptranslate goog-te-gadget"><big><big> Powered
by <span style="white-space:nowrap"><a
class="goog-logo-link"
href="https://translate.google.com" target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part8.09040008.08040706@comcast.net"
style="padding-right: 3px" height="13px"
width="37px">Translate</a></span></big></big></div>
</div>
</div>
<big><big> </big></big>
<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style "
addthis:url="http://www.popularresistance.org/warmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl/"
addthis:title="Warmonger Media Storm Against Sgt. Bergdahl "><big><big><a
class="addthis_button_facebook_like at300b"
fb:like:layout="button_count">
<div
fb-iframe-plugin-query="action=like&app_id=172525162793917&font=arial&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=90"
fb-xfbml-state="rendered" data-send="false"
data-href="http://www.popularresistance.org/warmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl/"
data-font="arial" data-width="90" data-action="like"
data-show_faces="false" data-layout="button_count"
class="fb-like fb_iframe_widget" data-ref=""><span
style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 78px; height:
20px;"><iframe class=""
src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?action=like&app_id=172525162793917&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FV80PAcvrynR.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df3d6eff7c12f08a%26domain%3Dwww.popularresistance.org%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.popularresistance.org%252Ffcc3e431481c1e%26relation%3Dparent.parent&font=arial&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=90"
style="border: medium none; visibility: visible;
width: 78px; height: 20px;" title="fb:like Facebook
Social Plugin" allowtransparency="true"
name="f18aa497e49bb3c" frameborder="0" height="1000px"
scrolling="no" width="90px"></iframe></span></div>
</a><a class="addthis_button_tweet at300b"><iframe
style="width: 109px; height: 20px;"
data-twttr-rendered="true" title="Twitter Tweet Button"
class="twitter-share-button twitter-tweet-button
twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal"
src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.1401325387.html#_=1402249614957&count=horizontal&counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F&size=m&text=Warmonger%20Media%20Storm%20Against%20Sgt.%20Bergdahl%20&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F&via=PopResistance"
allowtransparency="true" id="twitter-widget-0"
frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></a><a
class="addthis_button_pinterest_pinit at300b"><span
class="at_PinItButton"></span></a><a class="atc_s
addthis_button_compact"><span></span></a><a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/warmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl/#"
title="View more services" target="_blank"
class="addthis_button_expanded">39</a></big></big></div>
<div class="pf-content">
<div class="printfriendly pf-alignright"><big><big><a
href="http://www.printfriendly.com/print?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fwarmonger-media-storm-against-saving-sgt-bergdahl%2F"
rel="nofollow" onclick="window.print(); return false;"><img
style="border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none;
box-shadow:none;"
src="cid:part15.07020303.08010904@comcast.net"
alt="Print Friendly"></a></big></big></div>
<p><big><big><em><span class="wf_caption" style="display: inherit;
max-width: 635px;"><span style="max-width: 637px;
text-align: left; margin-top: 3px; display: block;">Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) departs a rare
briefing of the full Senate regarding the exchange
Taliban prisoners for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, on Capitol
Hill in Washington, June 4, 2014. (Photo: Gabriella
Demczuk / The New York Times)</span></span></em></big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<h2><big><big><strong>The political forces trashing the rescue
Sgt. Bergdahl are the same political forces that got us
into the Iraq war.</strong></big></big></h2>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>If you want to understand why it’s the case that on
the one hand, the US public and the majority of Congress
turned against the war in Afghanistan a long time ago, and
yet on the other hand, it’s been so hard to end the war,
this week’s warmonger media storm against the diplomatic
rescue of US prisoner of war Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been
very instructive. It’s been known for years that a key step
toward ending the war would be exchanging five Taliban
prisoners of war at Guantanamo for the release of Sgt.
Bergdahl. There has never been any serious dispute of the
case that this would be a key step toward ending the war. I
challenge anyone to find a counter-example to my claim.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>The political forces that are trashing the deal to
rescue Sgt. Bergdahl are the same political forces that got
us into the Iraq war. They are the same political forces who
want to keep the Afghanistan war going indefinitely. They
are the same political forces who want to keep the
Guantanamo prison open indefinitely.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<div id="attachment_39279" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption
aligncenter"><big><big><a
href="http://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Bergdahl-welcome-home-e1402151498619.jpg"><img
class="size-full wp-image-39279"
src="cid:part17.09070306.09080806@comcast.net"
alt="Voters for Peace banner in support of Sgt. Ben
Bergdahl created by Ellen Davidson and Tarak Kauff"
height="221" width="590"></a></big></big>
<p class="wp-caption-text"><big><big>Veterans for Peace banner
in support of Sgt. Ben Bergdahl created by Ellen Davidson
and Tarak Kauff</big></big></p>
</div>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>Again, I challenge anyone to provide a single
counterexample of someone in Congress who voted against the
Iraq war, or who has been a leader in trying to end the war
in Afghanistan, or who has been a leader in trying to close
the Guantanamo prison, who is now trashing the diplomatic
deal to rescue Sgt. Bergdahl. So, you might think, that if
it’s obvious that the prisoner exchange was a key step
toward ending the war, then the majority of the population
who have long been telling pollsters that they think the
Afghanistan war should end would see this as a slam-dunk:
exchange the prisoners and end the war. And therefore, the
prisoner exchange should have been relatively
uncontroversial.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>Recall that when the last US soldiers left Iraq in
2011, there was an attempt by Republican warmongers to stoke
public outrage. It went over like a lead balloon. The public
was done with the war and wanted the soldiers to come home.
But that’s not how it has played out in this case – at
least, that is not how it has played out so far. Instead,
there’s been a warmonger media storm, that has confused a
lot of Americans about the essential fact that this is a
key, necessary step toward ending the war – the result that
the majority of Americans have long said that they want. I
know this from my own personal correspondence.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>Just Foreign Policy put up <a
href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/welcome-home-bowe"
target="_blank">a petition at MoveOn</a> backing the
diplomatic deal to rescue Bergdahl. So far, there are about
14,000 signatures on the petition. For comparison, a recent <a
href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/Welch-Syria-no-manpads"
target="_blank">petition</a> we did backing <a
href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1517"
target="_blank">Rep. Peter Welch’s letter</a> urging
President Obama to resist pressure to transfer manpads to
Syrian insurgents also got about 14,000 signatures. So,
among our core base of people who support diplomacy and want
to prevent more war, our level of support has been about the
same.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>What’s different is my correspondence. I’m getting a
fair bit of hate mail from people claiming that Bergdahl is
a “traitor” (<a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/world/asia/bowe-bergdahl-walked-away-before-military-report-says.html"
target="_blank">not true</a>, as far as we know) or that
he caused the deaths of US soldiers (also <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/world/middleeast/can-gi-be-tied-to-6-lost-lives-facts-are-murky.html"
target="_blank">not true</a>, as far as we know.) Some of
these people write things like, “I want to end the war and
close Guantanamo too, but . . . ”</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>Here’s the good news: We can turn this around. I got
similar hate mail a year ago, when we pushed back on the
media storm that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was a
“traitor.” (Isn’t it sad how glibly some people throw that
word around?) Today, the climate has decisively changed.
There are certainly still people who bash Edward Snowden,
but you don’t find people today saying, “I want to end NSA
blanket surveillance, but Edward Snowden is a traitor.”</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>Similarly, I predict, we can now get people who want
to end the war in Afghanistan and to close the Guantanamo
prison to understand and accept that this is a necessary
step toward doing so, and to stop repeating Fox News talking
points. Sooner rather than later, people who want to end the
war will understand that trashing the diplomatic deal to
free Sgt. Bergdahl is a Republican warmonger thing. And when
we can confine trashing diplomacy to end the war to the
Republican warmongers – as trashing diplomacy with Iran was
confined to the Republican warmongers – such trashing will
become harmless, and ending the war can proceed.</big></big></p>
<big><big>
</big></big>
<p><big><big>On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went
to the Senate floor and <a
href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/208213-reid-charges-gop-with-hypocrisy-on-bergdahl"
target="_blank">gave a speech</a> strongly defending the
administration’s diplomacy to rescue Sgt. Bergdahl and
denouncing Republican critics as hypocrites. If we can get
enough Democrats to <a
href="https://twitter.com/justfp/status/474607879711109120"
target="_blank">#StandWithReid</a>, we can close the
prison and end the war.</big></big></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>