Army Times Report: Bergdahl's platoon mates seek book, movie deal

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Six former platoon mates of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent nearly five years as a Taliban captive in Afghanistan, are shopping proposals for a book and movie that is sharply critical of him, Yahoo News is reporting.

Bergdahl is now being questioned by the Army concerning the mysterious circumstances surrounding his capture in 2009. The Army is trying to determine whether he merely wandered too far from base or should be charged with desertion.

A draft of the book proposal, obtained by Yahoo News, asserts that Bergdahl was a “premeditated” deserter who “put all of our lives in danger.”

Bergdahl’s former colleagues describe him as a “loner” who sometimes was gung-ho about fighting the Taliban. But shortly before his disappearance, the soldiers write, Bergdahl started “to talk about what it would be like to just get lost in the mountains surrounding the outpost.” He also began studying the local languages and mailed his laptop, photos and other personal items home.

When Bergdahl disappeared, the platoon frantically searched for him, chasing fragments of intelligence that included reports that a “strange white man” matching Bergdahl’s description had been seen “crawling in the reeds” just outside the base.

But the controversy over Bergdahl’s release — he was swapped May 31 for five Taliban prisoners held at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — is reportedly complicating the book’s chances at publication. At least one publisher raised concerns that the book would give ammunition to conservative critics of the Obama administration.

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