XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: trayvon@barrackobama.the.idiot.com   
      
   His mates say he's a cowardly piece of shit like all leftist   
   liberal cunts.   
      
   U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was held in solitary   
   confinement for long periods during five years in Taliban   
   captivity, according to a U.S. military official who also said   
   the soldier suffers skin and gum ailments, emotional distress   
   and has not yet spoken to his parents.   
      
   Bergdahl, who was released on May 31 to American forces in   
   exchange for five Taliban detainees from the Guantanamo Bay   
   prison, is being treated at the U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl,   
   Germany.   
      
   The U.S. military official told Reuters the 28-year-old is   
   physically well enough to travel back to the United States for   
   treatment. He is suffering from disorders affecting his skin and   
   gums that could be expected after his long captivity, the   
   official said, confirming a report in The New York Times.   
      
   The newspaper reported on Sunday that Bergdahl told medical   
   officials in Germany the Taliban kept him in a metal cage in the   
   dark for weeks after he tried to escape.   
      
   Bergdahl, who was a private when he was captured, does not like   
   being called a sergeant, the rank he was promoted to while in   
   captivity, the military official told Reuters. The soldier is   
   struggling with some emotional issues and has not spoken to his   
   parents, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.   
      
   The exchange deal with the Taliban, which was brokered by Qatar,   
   has provoked an angry backlash in Congress over the Obama   
   administration's failure to notify lawmakers in advance that   
   Taliban prisoners were leaving the Guantanamo prison camp. The   
   former inmates were sent to Qatar, where they will remain for at   
   least a year with restrictions.   
      
   U.S. Representative Mike Rogers said on Sunday he thought at   
   least three of the five former prisoners would return to the   
   battlefield after they leave Qatar.   
      
   "I am absolutely convinced of that," Rogers, the Republican   
   chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee,   
   said on ABC's "This Week".   
      
   But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made clear that they   
   would do so at their own considerable risk.   
      
   "I'm not telling you they don't have some ability at some point   
   to go back and get involved," Kerry said in an interview with   
   CNN's "State of the Union" program. "But they also have the   
   ability to get killed doing that."   
      
   Kerry said the United States has proven its ability to target al   
   Qaeda fighters in Pakistan and Afghanistan and said Qatari   
   officials would closely monitor the released Taliban.   
      
   "They're not the only ones keeping an eye on them," he said.   
      
   CIRCUMSTANCES UNCLEAR   
      
   The swap also drew criticism from some of Bergdahl's former   
   comrades, who have charged he was captured by the Taliban in   
   2009 after deserting his post.   
      
   U.S. military leaders have said the circumstances of Bergdahl's   
   capture are unclear. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has urged   
   critics to wait for all the facts to be known before rushing to   
   judgment on Bergdahl.   
      
   President Barack Obama has remained unapologetic about the deal   
   to secure Bergdahl's release. As U.S. commander in chief he was   
   "responsible for those kids" and ensuring no one was left   
   behind, he said on Thursday in Brussels.   
      
   Kerry fiercely defended the exchange on CNN.   
      
   "It would have been offensive and incomprehensible to   
   consciously leave an American behind. No matter what," said   
   Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran.   
      
   U.S. officials said they needed to move quickly on the prisoner   
   exchange because of concerns about Bergdahl's health as well as   
   fears that leaks could cause the deal to collapse or prompt a   
   Taliban member who disagreed with it to kill Bergdahl.   
      
   The New York Times said the 5-foot-9 (1.72-meter) tall Bergdahl   
   weighed 160 pounds (72 kg) and showed few signs of   
   malnourishment or physical frailty. Pentagon spokesman Rear   
   Admiral John Kirby said he could not confirm the report.   
      
   The newspaper also said Bergdahl does not have access to media   
   reports at the hospital in Germany. He is expected to be moved   
   to a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas, although officials   
   have given no date yet for that transfer.   
      
   Bergdahl's father, Bob Bergdahl, has received emailed death   
   threats, an Idaho police chief said on Saturday.   
      
   The first was received on Wednesday, the same day the city   
   canceled a planned rally celebrating Bergdahl's release, Hailey   
   Police Chief Jeff Gunter said. Hailey, a tourist community of   
   8,000 people in the mountains of central Idaho, has been   
   buffeted by hundreds of vitriolic phone calls and emails.   
      
         
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)