On June 30, 2009, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was taken captive by the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.  This group is associated with the Taliban.  To date, he is still a prisoner of war, and it has been over 4 years.

 

Other prisoners have been highlighted in the media, the doctor who helped the US get to Osama Bin Laden, the pastor being held in Iran, the missionary being held in North Korea, the film maker who made the video Clinton and Obama falsely claimed was behind the attack at Benghazi, but when was the last time you heard of anyone in any media speaking out for Bowe?  The AP reported on this story in June of 2012.

 

There are several grassroots organizations that are trying to raise awareness, and many people like myself who refuse to forget this soldier, including his parents.  There have been some efforts to broker a deal with the Taliban to get Bowe released.  The structure of the deal would require the US to release prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in exchange for Bowe.  To the Taliban, this is a first step for peace talks with the US.

 

So let me get this straight.  We have been fighting the Taliban since October of 2001, we have lost hundreds of lives, suffered numerous injuries, spent billions of dollars, and we are considering peace talks with the Taliban?  This group of terrorists is holding one of our soldiers for over 4 years and we are trying to talk to his captors as if they were holding bank tellers hostage?  This soldier was taken during Obama’s watch and it is his failure to get him home.  This is the least talked about scandal of the Obama presidency.

 

Bowe’s dilemma is a nightmare.  The POW/MIA movement in this country for decades has been trying to raise awareness and bring about action to this problem for decades, and now we have a known POW in enemy hands for over 4 years, and the public knows virtually nothing about this situation.  The frantic news cycle churns through crisis after crisis, scandal after scandal, and all this time an American soldier is at the mercy of people we have been at war with for over a decade.

 

True, some effort is being made, but he is still there.  True, other issues are important too, but can you imagine if Bowe were your son?  Like in Benghazi, our fellow American who is serving our country is being abandoned by this administration.  Prisoner exchange negotiations are flaccid attempts.  We have thousands of soldiers and a large amount of hardware over there, why is this not mission number one for military over there?  Because their Commander in Chief has not deemed this issue as important enough.

 

As if we, the American people, needed any more proof that this President is not for all of the people, this example is an undeniable failure by Barack Obama.  Amid all of the other pressing issues thrust into our minds and souls every day, please take a moment and consider this one.  Contact your representatives and Senators, even the President.  I have a 14-year-old son and I know that if Bowe were my son I would do anything and everything to get him home, and I wouldn’t wait over 4 years to do it.