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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Was Exchanged for Detainees at Guantnamo - NYTimes.com

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On Taliban Video, a Message as Soldier Is

Released: Dont Come Back
omantnauG ta seeniateD rof degnahcx E saW lhadgreB ewoB .tgS

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG

JUNE 4, 2014

KABUL, Afghanistan The Taliban released a video on Wednesday

showing their fighters handing over Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to American
forces, providing a direct look at a dramatic moment in the American
military campaign in Afghanistan that is prompting sharp criticism in
Afghanistan and the United States.
The video also provided an important moment for the Taliban, and
their push to refine their publicity efforts to support an argument that they
are a legitimate state in exile.
Within hours of the videos release, the Taliban website where it was
posted was overwhelmed with traffic and crashed, according to Zabiullah
Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents. The video has since been
uploaded in dozens of different versions on YouTube a triumph for the
Talibans efforts to get their message out, unfiltered, to a world audience.
In the video Sergeant Bergdahl is wearing traditional Afghan robes,
and his face and head appear to have been recently shaved. For much of
the video, he is seen waiting in a silver and red pickup truck surrounded by
Taliban fighters.
As an American Black Hawk helicopter approaches, one of the
insurgents is heard telling Sergeant Bergdahl: Dont come back to
Afghanistan. If you do, you wont make it out alive next time. Other

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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Was Exchanged for Detainees at Guantnamo - NYTimes.com

insurgents standing nearby laugh at the warning.

Then the helicopter lands and Sergeant Bergdahl, clutching a plastic
bag, is handed over to Americans who are wearing civilian clothes. The
Americans quickly lead him away, patting him down and casually
dropping the bag he was holding. They board the helicopter and fly off.
But beyond the direct images, the framing of the video by the Taliban,
and the commentary heard over it, all go to reinforce the groups portrayal
of the United States as a hated invader, and of the Taliban fighters role as
banner-carriers for Islam and Afghan pride.
The video opens with a narrator reading verses from the Quran, then,
speaking in Pashto, one of Afghanistans two main languages, the narrator
encourages Muslims to fight these infidels.
The narrator quickly shifts to explaining the agreement to exchange
Sergeant Bergdahl for five Taliban detainees at Guantnamo Bay. For the
insurgents, getting the five men back was blissful news and an historic
achievement, the narrator says, which filled up the eyes of all Muslims
with tears of happiness.
When Sergeant Bergdahl saw his American helicopter, he was very
happy and wanted to rush toward them, one Taliban member says in the
commentary.
He then expresses dismay with the Americans, who rushed through
the encounter and did not stop to talk or exchange polite greetings, as is
customary in Afghanistan, even during hostage releases. He complains
that they had managed to shake hands with only two of the Americans,
and that one of them had hastily shoved his left hand forward, considered
a particularly rude gesture in Afghanistan.
Those kinds of complaints about American behavior are common
across Afghan society, not just among those who want the United States
military to leave.
We wanted to convey some messages to them via the interpreter, but
they didnt spend much time with us, the Taliban fighter says, speculating
that perhaps the Americans were too frightened to linger. They even

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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Was Exchanged for Detainees at Guantnamo - NYTimes.com

didnt let us shake hands with the soldier and say goodbye, and they
behaved in a very simple way, the fighter says.
The video ends with the same warning that was delivered to Sergeant
Bergdahl moments before his release. The words that appear on the screen
contain a misspelling, but the message seems clear. Don come back to
Afghanistan, it says.
In all, as a propaganda document, the message is clear: The Taliban
saw the Americans come meet them on equal footing, on insurgent turf,
and found them wanting.
If the Taliban accounts heard on the video are accurate, they also add
new detail to what had been reported about the transfer, which took place
on Saturday in the eastern province of Khost.
American officials said they were aware of the video and were
reviewing it. We have no reason to doubt the videos authenticity, said
Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. Regardless, we know
the transfer was peaceful and successful, and our focus remains on getting
Sergeant Bergdahl the care he needs.
Much of the video clips audio track consists of an interview with one
of the Taliban fighters who is described as having taken part in the
transfer. He talks about the arrangements that were made with the
Americans, and then narrates how the American forces arrived by
helicopter, with warplanes circling in the sky above. At times, the camera
shifts from the Taliban fighters and Sergeant Bergdahl to show the aircraft
overhead.
He describes an exchange he had with an American, presumably the
commander of the team, as the two worked out last-minute logistical
details of the encounter, apparently the first prisoner exchange between
the United States and the Taliban in the 13-year war in Afghanistan.
The insurgent gives a more specific location for the handover the
Batai area of Khost Province than American officials, who have said only
that it took place in Khost, a mountainous province along the border with
Pakistan that has been the scene of fighting throughout the war.

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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Was Exchanged for Detainees at Guantnamo - NYTimes.com

There was some talk of where precisely to meet, according to the

Taliban fighter, and the Taliban agreed to the American suggestion that
the two sides link up 500 yards from the house of a well-known resident.
There was also some last-minute confusion. The Americans initially
wanted the Taliban to hold something green as they approached with
Sergeant Bergdahl, but the insurgents did not have any green cloth and the
two sides quickly decided a white sheet would suffice.
The Americans then said three of them would jump from the
helicopters, and that two Taliban should walk forward with Sergeant
Bergdahl.
Hares Kakar contributed reporting from Kabul, and Helene Cooper from Brussels.

2014 The New York Times Company

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