The Life, Captivity, and Trial of Bowe Bergdahl: A Symbol of America's Failure in Afghanistan?

Journalist Michael Ames joins Jeff Schechtman in this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast to talk about the high-profile military crimes of Bowe Bergdahl — and what they say about both Bergdahl and the failure of US efforts in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl, the longest-held American POW since Vietnam, endured five years of hellish conditions. But his story is best remembered for the controversial prisoner exchange that he was a part of.

Ames argues that Bergdahl was a contradictory character, who never should have been accepted into the military and sent to Afghanistan. As a recruit in the US Coast Guard, he lasted only a month before being discharged. Nevertheless, the Army, so desperate for soldiers that it lowered its standards, later accepted him.

From his arrival in Afghanistan in May 2009 he questioned the rationale behind US military involvement in that country. Ames says that Bergdahl had always planned to walk away from his remote military post into the desolate countryside.

After his capture by Islamic terrorists, and during five years of imprisonment in Pakistan, Bergdahl became fodder for controversy on an international level.

Among the issues: Was Bergdahl actually tortured by his captors? Was he really planning to become an enemy combatant? Did the US military and government lie to the public about the circumstances of his capture? (Ames says yes.)

Ames recounts the details of how the US government handled the negotiations for his release and the unusually light sentence he received — considering he could have been put in prison for life.

Bergdahl’s story, as described by Ames, amounts to a strong critique of US policy in Afghanistan under both Republican and Democratic administrations.