CNN reports: Platoon mates 'undercut' Bergdahl's whistleblower defense

Greg P. | 7:58 PM on March 29, 2015

Here’s the latest on what members of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s former platoon think of his reported whistleblower-type defense that the reason he left his post was to literally walk to another base and report on wrongdoing at his location:

Some in Bergdahl's platoon undercut his emerging defense

http://t.co/L2a6WJLats

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 29, 2015

An excerpt:

U.S. troops who served alongside Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on the day he disappeared told CNN that the emerging “whistleblower” defense being prepared for him makes no sense.

Bergdahl’s lawyer is making the case that Bergdahl left his post on foot to report his unit for troubling behavior, but his fellow troops say the platoon was already scheduled to drive back to their Forward Operating Base, or FOB, just hours after his disappearance.

“We were literally going back to the FOB Sharana the next day,” then-Sgt. Evan Buetow, Bergdahl’s team leader, told CNN. “If for whatever reason Bergdahl had complaints, he could have brought them to the attention of senior officers before our five-day mission, or easily could have waited a few more hours till we returned to the FOB.”

Then-Specialist Josh Cornelison, the platoon medic, said the base was “a lengthy drive away from” Observation Post Mest, where Bergdahl was last seen by his fellow troops.

“And he wanted to walk back? Knowing full well how many times we’d been blown up on the way there and back? Everyone knew bad dudes were around and watching us move to and from OP Mest,” Cornelison said.