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"According to firsthand accounts from soldiers in his platoon, Bergdahl, while on guard duty, shed his weapons and walked off the observation post with nothing more than a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera and a diary.
At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for him, according to soldiers involved in the operations to find him. The Pentagon was not able to provide details on specific operations in which any soldiers killed during that time were involved.
Also, many soldiers in Bergdahl's platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the United States in Paktika province in the days and weeks following his disappearance.
"Any of us would have died for him while he was with us, and then for him to just leave us like that, it was a very big betrayal," said former U.S. Army Sgt. Josh Korder, who has the name of three soldiers who died while searching for Bergdahl tatooed on his back.
Many of Bergdahl's fellow troops -- from the seven or so who knew him best in his squad to the larger group that made up the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division -- told CNN that they signed nondisclosure agreements agreeing to never share any information about Bergdahl's disappearance and the efforts to recapture him. Some were willing to dismiss that document in hopes that the truth would come out about a soldier who they now fear is being hailed as a hero, while the men who lost their lives looking for him are ignored."
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"Dressed in all white with a striped shawl across his shoulders, the gaunt-looking American looks up at the Black Hawk chopper circling overhead. Armed Taliban men stand around him, one with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher ready. When the chopper lands, the American is led there by two men, one carrying a white flag. He is given a patdown, loaded on to the helicopter and whisked away."
President Obama acknowledged Tuesday that his Taliban prisoner swap could blow up in his face — or somewhere else around the globe.
The five hardened terrorists sprung from Guantanamo Bay for suspected deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s return could rejoin the jihad on America, the President conceded in defending his decision.
“Is there a possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are detrimental to us? Absolutely,” Obama told a news conference in Warsaw. “That’s been true of all the prisoners that were released from Guantanamo. There’s a certain recidivism rate that takes place.”
Mullah Salem Khan, a Taliban commander in Afghanistan, said the men were already bracing for battle. “As soon as they arrived in Qatar, they rejoined the Taliban,” he told The Daily Beast website. “We don’t care about U.S. conditions and obstacles.”
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), head of the House Intelligence Committee, said the White House opened the door for the freed prisoners to kill Americans overseas.
“Four are serious commanders likely to return to the battlefield ... those individuals are likely to reengage in combat operations against U.S. soldiers,” said Rogers on MSNBC. “That’s unconscionable.”
Sen. John McCain, himself a prisoner of war in Vietnam, called the Taliban five the “hardest and toughest of all” and “wanted war criminals.”
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