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Since his return to the U.S. Bergdahl himself has declined to speak with his parents, defense officials said. Earlier this week the military said it put Bergdahl back on regular duty following a long reintegration process. He has been assigned a desk job at the headquarters of U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The lawyer said that Bergdahl has not yet been interviewed by Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl who is heading the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's 2009 disappearance.

But he knows too there is nothing America can do to materially affect what happens there, and he has no intention of really trying, writes Hugh White . His statement [in June] announcing the despatch of 300 advisers was infused with his disbelief that it will do any good. But he is not willing to fully acknowledge and explain his doubts..., so instead he is going through the motions with a tiny, token intervention that is predestined to fail. That will only make things worse. We would all be better off if he had the courage not to intervene at all, and to explain why. China Daily / Beijing The US, not China, key to Korean reunification The US and [ North Korea ] have been locked in a stalemate for some time: Pyongyang wants a peace treaty first and Washington demands that Pyongyang first abandon its nuclear weapons program. The DPRK [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea ] uses the US refusal to sign a peace treaty to conduct nuclear tests.... The US, in turn, uses the DPRKs actions to beef up its missile defense system in Asia ..., writes Zhu Ping . [B]y refusing to promise that it will not take any military action against the DPRK, the US has provoked it to build nuclear weapons and tried to drive a wedge between Beijing and Pyongyang.

3. Border Security: Immigration reform may be dead, but one part of it is very much alive: shoring up the border. The fence! The patrols! Must keep those unaccompanied minors out! Republicans have been clamoring for beefed up border security since the immigration debate under Bush in 2005, even after they built the massive 1,951-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. 4. Syria: Remember when Obama decided he needed congressional approval to bomb Syria? Congress went from hawk to dove overnight, suddenly balking at the idea of taking responsibility for another war in the Middle East.

The young jihadist, then a 17-year-old fighter with the remnants of Al Qaeda in Pakistans wild and militant-infested Shawal Valley area, didnt take any notice at first of the man, who was walking along the stony path with a group of armed fighters from the notorious Haqqani Network. The man had a beard, and was dressed like the others in ordinary tribal clothing, a loose-fitting shalwar kameez. The only thing to set him apart was that he had no weapon. Thats the American military prisoner, a companion told Hafiz Hanif, pointing to the unarmed man. Hanif saw Bergdahl again several months later, again in the Shawal Valley area. This time the American was in the back seat of a pickup truck, sandwiched between two armed fighters. Hanif and two other Afghan Taliban fighters who have seen Bergdahl up close tell the Daily Beast that the U.S. soldier is in good health and has been cooperating with his captors.

Bowe Bergdahl, the former prisoner of war seen here in an undated file photo, has been released from inpatient care at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas and is now receiving outpatient care at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. US Army File/AP View Caption Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl , who was held captive in Afghanistan for five years by Taliban insurgents, is now an outpatient at a military base in Texas and is gradually increasing social interactions. His change in status, effective Sunday, marks a step forward in his long road to recovery that began May 31, when he was transferred into American hands as part of a controversial prisoner exchange deal. Sergeant Bergdahl, who had been receiving inpatient treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, for almost two weeks, will not be moving off the base, but rather continuing his treatment in-house with stepped-up human contact and exposure to outside events. Photos of the Day Photos of the day 06/30 His reintegration process continues with exposure to more people and a gradual increase of social interactions," the Army said in a statement. "Debriefings and counseling from Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) psychologists continue to ensure he progresses to the point where he can return to duty." Army personnel have been monitoring Bergdahl closely since he was released by the Afghan Taliban in late May. In exchange for Bergdahls release, the US Army released five Taliban prisoners from captivity in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba a move that ignited a political firestorm, with many Republicans accusing the Obama administration of weakness in the face of terrorism. You can't negotiate with terrorists, and these five guys, just by their titles [are] arguably the most dangerous of the 149 left in Gitmo, said Sen.

In May, Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari were released from the U.S. detention facility into the care of the Qatari government for one year in exchange for Bergdahl. Gates, who led the Department of Defense under W. Bush and Obama, said he had opposed suggestions of a prisoner swap in exchange for Bergdahl in 2011 when he worked for Obama. He had supported Obama's 2008 campaign promise to shut down the facility at Guantanamo Bay, calling it "a taint" on the reputation of the U.S. in 2009, but as time went on he found the closure unlikely. "The prospects for closing Guantanamo, as best I can tell, are very, very low," he told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2011, admitting "we don't know" what would happen to the detainees. But Gates, who has been praised for his bipartisanship, also sympathized with the Bush administration for opening the center in the aftermath of Sept. 11, in his January memoir "Duty," "Those who years later would criticize some of those actions, including the detention center at Guantanamo and interrogation techniques, could have benefited from greater perspective on both the fear and the urgency to protect the country (after 9/11) the same kind of fear for national survival that had led Lincoln to suspend habeas corpus and Franklin D.

"We will proceed at his pace," Poppen said. Military officials declined to give details on what Bergdahl might remember about his capture or what he knows about the controversy surrounding his release. Many have criticized the Obama administration for agreeing to release five Taliban prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl. Some of Bergdahl's former Army colleagues have accused him of deserting his post. Critics also have said the five Taliban members could return to the battlefield. Administration officials have told Congress that four of the five Taliban officials likely will rejoin the fight. In the short time he has been back on U.S.

Many have criticized the Obama administration for agreeing to release five Taliban prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl. Some of Bergdahl's former Army colleagues have accused him of deserting his post. Critics also have said the five Taliban members could return to the battlefield. Administration officials have told Congress that four of the five Taliban officials likely will rejoin the fight. In congressional testimony Wednesday, Hagel called the former Taliban government officials "enemy belligerents" but said they hadn't been implicated in any attacks against the United States. He said Qatar, which has agreed to keep the five inside the country for a year, promised sufficient security measures to warrant making the swap for Bergdahl. Hagel also said Bergdahl was early in the process of recovering from the trauma of captivity. He said that process began with his arrival at Landstuhl. "He's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready.

service member should be left behind. THE PRISON AT GUANTANAMO: The Bergdahl deal underscores the difficulties that Obama has had in delivering on his 2008 campaign promise to shut down the U.S. prison. Congress has gradually eased its restrictions on releasing Guantanamo detainees, but there is still considerable concern that freed detainees could resume hostilities against the U.S. Of the remaining 149 prisoners at Guantanamo, 78 have been approved for transfers to their homelands or a third country, and 30 have been referred for prosecution. The U.S. says nearly 40 prisoners are too dangerous to release but cant be charged for a number of reasons, often because there isnt enough evidence against them. Officials have been trying to chip away at that number with a Periodic Review Board.

Qatar has an ongoing role in ensuring the five released prisoners remain there for at least a year, under a memo of understanding with the U.S. THE REINTEGRATION The military has a program to ease a former captive back into normal life. In military parlance, its known as reintegration, and Bergdahl, is working his way through its early stages at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Each case is different, and Bergdahls is especially complicated. That is partly because he was in captivity for so long and partly because he has been or soon will be made aware of accusations that he deserted his post and willingly sought out the Taliban.