In an opinion piece published Sunday by the website truthout, former United States Army Ranger Rory Fanning — who served in the same unit as the late Pat Tillman and even wrote a memoir about it — told Richard Kreitner of The Nation his thoughts regarding Bowe Bergdahl, and the recent charges brought against him.

You can read the article in its entirety here, but for brevity’s sake, here are few highlights — straight from Fanning’s own mouth.

On Bergdahl being charged with “desertion”:

“Clearly, the main reason they’re going after him is because they don’t want to be responsible for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay that they owe him. I find that ironic, as they’ve been giving millions to warlords, throwing away trillions since 2001.”

On Bergdahl’s culpability:

“The evidence against him that he’s responsible for the deaths of six soldiers is tenuous at best. But the bigger point is the fact that the entity to blame for these deaths is the US military, for sending these soldiers into a war that should never have happened. The Taliban surrendered months after the initial invasion. But our politicians wanted blood.”

On the war in Afghanistan itself:

“Anyone who has been in Afghanistan could clearly see that the US had nothing to do in that country. We were little more than pawns in village disputes most of the time.”

On Bergdahl’s legacy:

“To be honest with you, we need a million more Bowe Bergdahls. Anybody who has any degree of common sense or moral fortitude would say, ‘This is ridiculous. I’m not gonna fight this war.’”

 

“I could totally relate to this guy. I consider him a hero. To kill somebody for a cause you don’t believe in is potentially worse than being killed yourself, because those scars last forever. Just walking off the battlefield as Bergdahl did seems like an easier route than seeking conscientious-objector status.”