The Obama administration’s handling of the exchange of Bowe Bergdahl for five senior Taliban commanders has been baffling on a number of levels. Did Obama think that the recovery of Bergdahl would be a PR coup that would drive the VA scandal off the front pages? That seems to be the implication of his Rose Garden announcement with Bergdahl’s parents. But the father, Bob Bergdahl, is an anti-American radical and a terrorist sympathizer. And did Obama fail to realize that the facts surrounding Bowe Bergdahl’s disappearance–his apparent desertion–would create controversy?
It has been reported that six American soldiers were killed by the Taliban in the course of efforts to rescue Bergdahl. The parents of one of the six, 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews, have publicly expressed outrage at the administration. NBC carries the story in a slightly sanitized form, but for the full effect you have to go to the Daily Mail, which interviewed Andrews’ parents:
The furious parents of an officer who they claim was killed while searching for freed Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl today said that they have been lied to as part of a “cover up just like Benghazi”.
The mother and father of Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews are angry that they have been told different stories about how their son died. First his commanders said that their son was blown up while hunting a Taliban commander – but only now that Bergdahl has been freed after five years in captivity are they learning the truth.
Lt Andrews’ parents told MailOnline that their own son branded Bergdahl a “deserter” before he was killed. In an exclusive interview his father Andy Andrews told MailOnline: “For his family it’s good to get him back but we will never be able to get our son back because of the actions of this guy (Bergdahl). I think people need to be aware that the guy was not a hero and American lives have been lost trying to save this deserter”.
Speaking to MailOnline from his home in Cameron, Texas, Mr Andrews said: “When my son was killed there was no mention of searching for this guy (Bergdahl) but once all this has come out we got several emails and calls from soldiers who were with him in Afghanistan. They say their mission was to search for Bergdahl. He (Lt Andrews) was killed in the search. We have no documentation of that.
“The soldiers said they had to sign a letter saying that they wouldn’t discuss this… We cannot tell you how devastated we are that the government would do this. They lied to us.
“It’s a big cover-up like Benghazi, just like everything Obama has done. We want the truth to come out.” …
In the wake of their son’s death, a number of his colleagues spoke with Mr and Mrs Andrews – and allegedly lied to their faces with the official story.
Mrs Andrews said that she excused them, but not their superiors.
Is the Andrews family right to be outraged? It is hard not to sympathize with them. And, remember, as the parents of a soldier killed in combat, they have absolute moral authority.
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