When considering the area surrounding the event of Bowe Bergdahl’s story and capture I am struck by how large Afganistan is and the countless hideouts this allows for. Based on one of the maps, Bergdahl was not taken a great distance away from OP Mest when he was first captured, yet because of how vast and unknown the landscape of Afghanistan as it was not possible for the US forces to find him. In the first few weeks while the search is going on Bowe is being moved from place to place within Afghanistan but not along the Pakistan border because his captors are aware that that is where the US military expects them to flee to. The map on the ‘Taliban’s Version of Events’, shows that they moved in the opposite direction of Pakistan, to the West of Afghanistan when they first captured Bergdahl. Then when he was taken out of Afghanistan, into Pakistan it was still considerably much closer than any other region to Bergdahl’s base camp. The similarity of the region was something that Bergdahl’s captors were also starkly aware of as it is mentioned in the podcast that they tried to differ the scenery when they were making videos of Bergdahl. The turmoil in the region makes it very difficult to keep Bergdahl because of rival groups as well as the US military searching for him. Because of the mass search for Bergdahl, he had to be moved around from place to place over 8 times in the first year of his capture most likely in Pakistan but very close to the Afgan border as indicated by the maps.
After a year of being held prisoner Bergdahl escaped into a mountainous desert-like area, of what was North Waziristan in Pakistan. Bergdahl sustains an injury and ends up living close to a creek unable to walking properly and thus being unable to move in search of help. Despite the American drones in the sky and his escape of over a week in Pakistan he is not rescued. This probably speaks to the just how desolate and vast the environment was, in which Bergdahl found himself in. Despite the fact that the area was populated it was rural and possibly not easily accessible. Bergdahl was retrieved by his captors and seemingly saved from near death due to his lack of food and clean water.
Bergdahl makes his escape after assessing the area he is in by sounds and the people he came in contact with. He finds out where he is because of a boy with the name, Waziristan on his cap and also by hearing the sounds of bombs that make him believe that he is close to an American base. All these bits of information allowed him to gain sort of insight as to where he was and what route he might take for help. He initially wanted to head north with hopes of reaching Pakistani sympathizers who might be able to help him get to safety.
The maps not only show North Waziristan as being the region along the border but also the smaller towns right on the border that might have acted as good hideouts between the two countries for his captors when moving Bergdahl around. It seems as though the Taliban were closer than one might expect to the US military camps. Whether this was a strategy on the side of the Taliban I am unsure, but it is pretty obvious that the Taliban moved without restraint across the area despite the American military presence.
