Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he thinks the information that’s coming forward about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was charged with desertion on Wednesday, was already out there when they put soldiers’ lives on the line to try to rescue him, blasting President Obama’s leadership.
“When I think about this desertion charge, the thing that gets me the most frustrated is this administration gave up five Taliban, five Taliban for this guy, and I can’t, I mean, logic tells you all this information that they’re bringing against the sergeant now isn’t something that just happened since then,” Mr. Walker told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “This is stuff they knew about when they put American soldiers’ lives at risk to try and rescue him. And they gave up five Taliban leaders in return for a guy who now is going to be charged.”
Sgt. Bergdahl was taken captive in Afghanistan in June 2009 and returned home last May in a controversial swap for five Guantanamo Bay detainees. He said Wednesday that he was beaten, tortured and kept in captivity during his time as a prisoner, according to a document obtained and published by The Washington Post.
Mr. Walker, who is laying the groundwork for a possible presidential run in 2016, went on to say that “this is what happens when you put someone in office who’s never led before.”
“He’s not listening,” he said. “When you’re a governor, you’re a mayor, you’re a county executive wherever you’re at — when you have a Cabinet and you have to act on behalf of not just the people who elected you, but the whole group, the whole constituency as we talked about a little bit at lunch. You’ve got to lead, and you’ve got to listen to people who hopefully are smart or smarter than you are on any given topic. You ultimately have to make the decision.”
“This president, unfortunately, having been a senator, a state senator and community organizer, never led anything,” he continued. “And so he’s never been in a position to make those sorts of judgments. And so we’ve seen time and time again, they’re just faulty decisions, which would be one thing if it was something off on the side. But this is affecting not only American policy and American lives, but people around the world.”
SEE ALSO: Bowe Bergdahl describes Taliban captivity for first time after desertion charge
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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