SEND OUR MARINE HOME

SEND OUR MARINE HOME

It is once again time for
Cranky Opinion Saturday

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with absolutely no knowledge about the subject opined.  Opposing views are welcome.  They are welcome but will be ignored; and please, no name calling.  That means you, you big stupid head!

There has been a lot of discussion the last several weeks about the release of five senior Taliban leaders to secure the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. 

Did the swap endanger future US soldiers or civilians as the Taliban look for more deals? 

Was five high profile enemy combatants giving up too much for a soldier?  That’s a tough one; it’s not too much if it’s my loved one. 

Was Bowe Bergdahl AWOL? Was he a traitor?

Evidence so far would indicate that at a minimum Sgt. Bergdahl was unstable.   That leads one to wonder was he unstable before he joined the Army and shouldn’t tests have shown that?  Was he unstable after shipping out to Afghanistan and should that have been detected and acted on?  I’m not sure any of these questions are able to be answered at this time. 

One objection I do have with this whole situation is Sgt. Bergdahl’s father meeting with President Obama at the White House. 

Why did he show up in a full Taliban type beard?  Yes, he is entitled to wear a full beard.  Hell, my son has a full beard.  I just wonder, what was he thinking.  As a simple public relations concern, I would have shaved that beard off.  The President of the United States just put his neck out to return his son; I think out of respect he would have realized that the full beard in this instance sent out a bad message, and was just a dumb idea .

"Dude...seriously?"

 

But enough of the Bergdahl issue, what really burns my buns is the Marine who made a wrong turn into Mexico with legally registered (in the US) guns, and the Mexican authorities would not let him turn around.  He has been in jail for several months and accounts say he has not been treated well.

Why can’t we bring him back?  Maybe the Administration is working diplomatically behind the scenes on his release …I hope so, but I do wonder. 

Why doesn’t the President send a message to the President of Mexico?  Why doesn’t he ask as a personal favor and for the good of friendly relations between our neighboring countries that Mexico release Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi?

President Obama might gently suggest that failure to release Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi would make him very unhappy.  It might negatively influence how we deal with the issue of illegal Mexican immigration to the US.  Maybe he would be forced to send illegal immigrants back to Mexico in numbers that the Mexican economy might find difficult to absorb.  Maybe he might suggest that he could take several actions which would make tourism from the US to Mexico very unappealing.  Maybe he also just might suggest that if our Marine is not released he might just send in troops, planes, tanks and special service operatives and kick some Mexican ass!

Why are we so easily pushed around?  Andrew Tahmooressi risked his life, sacrificed several of his best years fighting in Afghanistan for his country, how about we fight for him.  How about we send a message that says, “We asked you nicely, now God Dammit give us our Marine back or we are going to get pissed off and you Mr. President of Mexico will be very sorry.”

No need to publicize any threats, but these possibilities should be addressed diplomatically.  Does Mexico really have anything to gain by holding our Marine other than to strut their stuff and thumb their nose at the USA?  Is that worth facing economic sanctions or ultimately military force? 

I hope we are reaching out diplomatically and requesting Mexico to release our Marine as a gesture of good will and in return we will offer genuine thanks. 

Don’t release him soon, and we should kick their ass. 

The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.