An article titled, “Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Recaptured By Taliban After Wandering Off Texas Base,” is merely satire from The Onion.
The article, posted on the satire website on Monday, had several thousand shares and “like” on Facebook. However, a number of people mistook it as real.
“Just weeks after Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release from captivity in Afghanistan, U.S. defense officials announced that the 28-year-old had been recaptured by Taliban forces Monday shortly after wandering off base in Texas,” the fake piece reads.
The Onion has a disclaimer, which outlines what it’s all about.
“The Onion is a satirical weekly publication published 52 times a year on Thursdays,” the disclaimer says, adding: “The Onion uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases where public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.”
Despite the Onion being a leading satirical news publication since the late 1980s, a number of people thought the Bergdahl article was legitimate news.
“Keep him please,” one person wrote on The Onion’s Facebook page. Added another: “Once a traitor always a traitor burn in hell.”
Added another: “This is the type of person Obama considers a hero. His mentor, Bill Ayers, recently stated in an interview that the real heroes in US military are those who are traitors and refuse to fight.”
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