The convoluted case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s disappearance in Afghanistan and imprisonment by the Taliban will soon become the focus of ‘Serial,’ a popular podcast that reopens cold cases and reevaluates the evidence.
If you’ve been living under a rock and missed the news, Bergdahl’s case is currently being reviewed in a hearing to decide whether or not the military will prosecute Bergdahl for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. In 2009, Bergdahl allegedly left his base in Afghanistan to walk to another American camp. He was captured by the Taliban and held prisoner for five years, and was only released after President Obama traded him for high-profile Taliban agents.
Bergdahl’s case has been mired in controversy due to suspicions that he knowingly betrayed the United States and indirectly endangered his unit. Public opinion is so polarized that his lawyer stated that Bergdahl is in constant physical danger from his fellow soldiers.
The people behind ‘Serial’ hope to get to the bottom of what really happened in Afghanistan all those years ago. In its first critically-acclaimed season, ‘Serial’ bust open the case of the murder of Hae Min Lee, a high school student from Maryland. Thanks to its investigation, police are reopening the case and the man serving a jail sentence for Lee’s murder might finally prove his innocence.
Mark Boal, the screenwriter of ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ is interviewing Bergdahl’s old unit and helping compile their testimonies. While soldiers are willing to help, they don’t have confidence in the podcast’s mission.
“I get it that Boal wants to make a movie and Serial is trying to make a nifty diorama for hipsters to marvel at, but I think it’s the height of crassness for them to do this when it could potentially affect the legal proceedings,” said one unnamed soldier. “I assume it will be a great way to paint us as kooks and sore losers.”
“Anyone who tries to benefit from Bowe’s situation has little interest in the truth,” another said anonymously. “What happened in 2009 is both troubling and politically incorrect…my concern is that the truth is being diluted by those looking to gain from Bowe’s story.”