The main governmental actor in the U.S that assisted with finding Bowe Bergdahl was the Personnel Recovery team of the U.S. Central Command or CENTCOM. It is their duty is to find any person who goes missing in a conflict zone. Even after the DUSTWUN ended, members of the team worked to find Bowe for years. However, the efforts of CENTCOM weren’t enough to ensure his return…It had to be the effort of an agency much bigger, the CIA, or the President of the United States.
Should families of captives have the right to negotiate with captors ?
During the time period of Bowe’s capture, the U.S government was preoccupied with other major events that occurred. Therefore, they couldn’t divert much of their attention to a hostage …a hostage that abandoned his military base. With that being said, I do believe Bowe’s family had the right to contact captors. They were desperate, received little help from the government, and they were determined to get a loved back by any means necessary. How could you blame them?
However, for future cases, I do believe there should be some sort of regulation from the government for the families’ safety if they decide to reach out to captors. Especially, if a ransom is negotiated. We must ensure the safety of this nation as well.
