Serial 2: Episode 10 Response

I’ve been incredibly sympathetic towards Bowe since the beginning, despite not agreeing with and initially being skeptical about his actions; so hearing this episode describe the politicized nature of his case definitely added onto that but it didn’t start it. From what I’ve gathered through these episodes, I believe Bowe didn’t construct his plan with any ill intent (of course he wanted to shed light on leadership issues but he didn’t appear to want anything beyond an investigation into it to occur). He made an incredibly dense decision and didn’t think of any possibilities that existed outside of the idyllic end scenario he concocted. While he made the decision to carry out his plan, he didn’t directly designate himself as a proxy, he became that because of the US’ political parties.

Both parties used Bowe’s case to further their own agenda, steering the case further away from its humanity, this is really exemplified through their handling of his return. Bowe’s return should’ve been about helping someone reintegrate and process through trauma, instead it became a media spectacle. Sure, I understand the logistics behind the trade and why Congress wasn’t notified but I feel that the manner in which the administration handled it set Bowe up for more scrutiny. I find it difficult to believe those in the administration thought everyone would be thrilled about Bowe’s return when for years, even people who held governmental titles and were not involved in the military weren’t shy about voicing their dissenting opinions on Bowe. While I don’t think they wanted his return to open up the can of worms it did, I can’t fully buy the explanation of why the Rose Garden event turned out that way.

One thing that particularly strikes me is the exchange between Jeff Miller, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Chuck Hagel, former US Defense Secretary, that happened shortly after news broke of the trade and Bowe’s return. In this exchange, Miller is unfeeling, asking questions such as “why hasn’t he been returned to the United States?” implying that he was hidden from the US general public because of his alleged ties to the Taliban. This is one of the moments where my sympathy for Bowe increases, no one knew the truth about why he left and as a result of numerous unfounded rumors, he’s been vilified to the point where his reintegration isn’t even cared about. The highlighted politicians and soldiers only wanted him back so they relentlessly hound him with all the rage they’d built up for five years. It was upsetting to hear how this affected the pace of his time in Germany. I actually find it extremely difficult to believe that someone who spent 5 years with the Taliban was deemed fit enough to return to the US and deal with the onslaught of negative attention after such a short amount of time.

Bowe was set up for failure and was let down by a system that’s set up to work for those like him. I think that if there were equal coverage of people who could’ve defended Bowe (as he couldn’t do it himself) to offset the negativity, my feelings on this topic would be different but the approach towards the story was just too biased and one-sided for me to not be sympathetic. All of this isn’t to say that a reasonable concern wasn’t brought up by opponents of the trade, which was did anyone get injured or killed during the search for him? If there were any fatalities or injuries, it would give more credence to the anger held by these officials and soldiers, but I would still hold on to the belief that Bowe has endured enough and has paid for his mistake.

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