Military condemns Taliban video of U.S. soldier's pleas

Military condemns Taliban video of U.S. soldier's pleas
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times
Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, April 9, 2010
RELATED STORY: Taliban release video of captured U.S. soldier

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Western military on Thursday condemned a Taliban video that shows a captured U.S. soldier pleading for the release of Afghan detainees to help secure his own freedom.

Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, an Idaho native who was captured by insurgents 10 months ago in eastern Afghanistan, was last heard from at Christmastime, when his captors released a video in which the young private declared that the American military effort in Afghanistan was doomed to failure.

"The continuing use of (Bergdahl) as a means of propaganda is a deplorable act, and only fuels our efforts to find him and bring him home," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a spokesman for Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of Western forces in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl is the only U.S. service member known to have been captured by insurgents in the Afghan conflict. In the video, he appears in good health, but it could not be determined when the footage was shot.
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