|
(Continued from page 24)
• ___
The vow never to leave a soldier behind is a potent one, and not just reserved for heroes
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- We never leave troops behind. We don't negotiate with terrorists.
• Those core U.S. commitments, to the soldier, the country and the world, came into conflict when Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl fell into the hands of the Taliban and the government saw only one way to get him back: in essence, make a deal with terrorists.
• The debate over Bergdahl rages on multiple fronts, touching on whether the U.S. came out on the short end in a bargain that freed five Taliban captives, whether the soldier who walked away from his post was disloyal to country, whether adversaries will see more gain in capturing Americans, whether the administration was justified in acting without notice to Congress, and more.
• What's clear in the complexities is that the age-old vow to retrieve the captured or the fallen proved more potent than the refusal to make deals with those who don't fight by the rules.
• Each ethos runs deep in the American conscience, yet has been violated through history, notably in the age of terrorism, where traditional standards of warfare, spying and negotiating are run through a hall of mirrors.
• ___
AP PHOTOS: Pyrotechnics, nude acrobats set desert ablaze at Israel's 'Burning Man' festival
• NEGEV DESERT, Israel (AP) -- For the Bedouin Arab shepherds tending their flocks in Israel's Negev desert last week, it was almost as if aliens had landed from outer space.
• Some 3,000 people set up a colorful encampment in the dusty moonscape, swinging from hoops by day and burning giant wooden sculptures by night.
• It was Midburn, Israel's first Burning Man festival, modeled after the popular carnival held annually in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Midburn is a mix of "midbar," Hebrew for desert, and the English word "burn."
• For five days, participants -- mostly Israelis -- created a temporary city dedicated to creativity, communal living and what the festival calls "radical self-expression."
• Some came costumed in cape or corset. Others, from babies to grandparents, went nude. Participants brought their own food and water, and shared with others. (Continued on page 26)
|
|
