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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Dos Equis on January 15, 2014, 12:29:27 PM
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Talk about falling off the radar. Haven't heard a thing about this kid.
US military obtains new video of American soldier held in captivity, official says
Published January 15, 2014
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./bowe-bergdahl.jpg)
An undated photo of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2009. (AP)
The U.S. military has obtained a new video showing the only known American soldier in captivity, whose health appears to be diminishing, a senior U.S. defense official tells Fox News.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl disappeared June 30, 2009, while based in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that year, which showed the young soldier appearing downcast and frightened.
In the latest video received by the military, Bergdahl was speaking and appeared “gaunt,” the official told Fox News on Wednesday.
U.S. defense spokeswoman Elissa Smith said in a statement to FoxNews.com that the Pentagon is “aware of reports of a video.”
“Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been gone far too long, and we continue to call for and work toward his safe and immediate release,” the statement said. “We cannot discuss all the details of our efforts, but there should be no doubt that on a daily basis -- using our military, intelligence and diplomatic tools -- we try to see Sgt. Bergdahl returned home safely. Our hearts are with the Bergdahl family.”
Bergdahl is believed to be held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in Pakistan.
His family released a statement Wednesday through the Idaho National Guard.
“Today we learned that a new video of our son, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, has been distributed by his captors,” the family statement read. “As we have done so many times over the past 4 and a half years, we request his captors to release him safely so that our only son can be reunited with his mother and father.
BOWE - If you see this, continue to remain strong through patience. Your endurance will carry you to the finish line. Breathe!”
Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan. He was 23 years old at the time and was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.
The circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture are unclear. U.S. officials had told The Associated Press that a soldier vanished after walking off his base with three Afghans, while the Taliban said “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and was captured by militants.
In the first video of Bergdahl released by the Taliban, he indicated that he was captured after lagging behind during a patrol.
Last year, the Taliban offered a deal to free Bergdahl in exchange for five of their most senior operatives being held at Guatanamo Bay. But the proposal was rejected by the Obama administration over a longstanding U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
In another video released in 2010, Bergdahl, on camera, described himself as a “prisoner” who wanted to go home.
"This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners," he said, according to The Associated Press.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/15/us-military-obtains-new-video-american-soldier-held-in-captivity-official-says/
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I would drop ten JDAMs a day on any target I chose, until they released him. Seriously. Let the world know they don't kidnap our troops like that.
Watch how fast those supporting the kidnappers apply pressure to them to release the soldier.
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Bro...I can tell you that the facts about Ol Bowe aren't out. When we get him back they will. They're looking for him and will be happy to get him back but "kidnap" is to strong a word in this particular case.
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LOL ;D
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Bro...I can tell you that the facts about Ol Bowe aren't out. When we get him back they will. They're looking for him and will be happy to get him back but "kidnap" is to strong a word in this particular case.
Thanks. I kinda figured something was up. Hard to believe we would be so quiet about this unless there wasn't something else going on.
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They've had him for awhile so there's that. They'll use him to trade for something. Unfortunatly I'll be involved when he gets back stateside. The admin better just let this go kinda quiet otherwise turing him into a hero is going to explode in their faces.
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They've had him for awhile so there's that. They'll use him to trade for something. Unfortunatly I'll be involved when he gets back stateside. The admin better just let this go kinda quiet otherwise turing him into a hero is going to explode in their faces.
Is he still getting paid? Never thought about what happens when someone is captured.
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Paid and promoted.....thats the law.
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Paid and promoted.....thats the law.
Cool. Thanks.
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Cool. Thanks.
Doesn't do any good when you're being held hostage. Strange that they haven't chopped his head off or killed him already......wonder why??
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Its strange. soldiers rape women and children when in enemy territory.
Just goes without saying.
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What.....?
In any event ...he's held by folks who want something. We have some guys they want back and Ol Bowe wasn't captured in combat or in a combat op so there's not a lot of hostility to him. I guess he looks like shit right now.
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Yes, it does matter.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2014/06/09/hillary-matter-bergdahl-deserted/
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Outrageous. Nothing these people do surprises me.
Report: Obama Admin Intimidating Soldiers who Know the Truth About Bergdahl
June 26, 2014
By Todd Cefaratti
The Obama Administration operates as thugs. The president-to-be that once promised “hope,” “change,” and the most transparent administration in history has conducted his presidency in the utmost secrecy and have threatened and abused those who dared to challenger his administration’s narratives.
We have witnessed the abusive relationship that exists between the media and the Obama Administration. With their relentless assault on Fox News and their continued picking-and-choosing of who is in favor with the administration and who is not, the President and his staff have largely threatened and intimidated the Fourth Estate into submission.
The State Department has hidden and threatened those who are in a position to challenge the official, continually-changing stories surrounding the Benghazi terrorist attack.
The Obama Administration does not only threaten reporters or witnesses to the Benghazi massacre. Now, the latest scandal concerning Bowe Bergdahl is a liability for the Obama Administration and reports are emerging that indicate that the Obama Administration has been complicit in intimidating soldiers who know that Bowe Bergdahl is a deserter.
The Obama Administration’s crusade against our soldiers has gotten so bad that even the Huffington Post has been reporting on the outrageous treatment.
Last week, HuffPo columnist Bill Robinson spoke out on Fox and Friends and claimed that he had been receiving information from an inside source that claims that soldiers are being threatened, intimidated and discredited by the Obama Administration who are now threatened by the media narrative surrounding Bergdahl’s desertion.
Robinson claimed, “The White House, in concert with the State Department and Defense Department was orchestrating a campaign of threats and intimidation not only against infantrymen and the military men in Afghanistan at the time in 2009, but also against military officers and Pentagon officers to keep silent about what really happened, there.”
“He was more than just a deserter,” Robinson continued. “He was an out and out traitor.”
Robinson also pointed out that after expressing his hatred for America, the soldier left his station in a combat zone, leaving behind his belongings and weapon. After being intercepted by Taliban forces, Robinson pointed out, American casualties jumped 83% in the following month.
We do not know the entirety of the story surrounding Bowe Bergdahl, but we do know enough to know that this is a scandal of epic proportions. The Obama administration has known for years that this was a deserter and possible traitor and they still traded five high-ranking terrorists to obtain Bergdahl- a man who has professed a hatred for America prior to his desertion.
Since then, we have heard flippant disregards for the soldiers who were there, who know the truth. At what point will Americans finally have had enough of this treasonous president?
http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/26/report-obama-admin-intimidating-soldiers-who-know-the-truth-about-bergdahl-2/
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Obama is a terrorist
Outrageous. Nothing these people do surprises me.
Report: Obama Admin Intimidating Soldiers who Know the Truth About Bergdahl
June 26, 2014 Ob
By Todd Cefaratti
The Obama Administration operates as thugs. The president-to-be that once promised “hope,” “change,” and the most transparent administration in history has conducted his presidency in the utmost secrecy and have threatened and abused those who dared to challenger his administration’s narratives.
We have witnessed the abusive relationship that exists between the media and the Obama Administration. With their relentless assault on Fox News and their continued picking-and-choosing of who is in favor with the administration and who is not, the President and his staff have largely threatened and intimidated the Fourth Estate into submission.
The State Department has hidden and threatened those who are in a position to challenge the official, continually-changing stories surrounding the Benghazi terrorist attack.
The Obama Administration does not only threaten reporters or witnesses to the Benghazi massacre. Now, the latest scandal concerning Bowe Bergdahl is a liability for the Obama Administration and reports are emerging that indicate that the Obama Administration has been complicit in intimidating soldiers who know that Bowe Bergdahl is a deserter.
The Obama Administration’s crusade against our soldiers has gotten so bad that even the Huffington Post has been reporting on the outrageous treatment.
Last week, HuffPo columnist Bill Robinson spoke out on Fox and Friends and claimed that he had been receiving information from an inside source that claims that soldiers are being threatened, intimidated and discredited by the Obama Administration who are now threatened by the media narrative surrounding Bergdahl’s desertion.
Robinson claimed, “The White House, in concert with the State Department and Defense Department was orchestrating a campaign of threats and intimidation not only against infantrymen and the military men in Afghanistan at the time in 2009, but also against military officers and Pentagon officers to keep silent about what really happened, there.”
“He was more than just a deserter,” Robinson continued. “He was an out and out traitor.”
Robinson also pointed out that after expressing his hatred for America, the soldier left his station in a combat zone, leaving behind his belongings and weapon. After being intercepted by Taliban forces, Robinson pointed out, American casualties jumped 83% in the following month.
We do not know the entirety of the story surrounding Bowe Bergdahl, but we do know enough to know that this is a scandal of epic proportions. The Obama administration has known for years that this was a deserter and possible traitor and they still traded five high-ranking terrorists to obtain Bergdahl- a man who has professed a hatred for America prior to his desertion.
Since then, we have heard flippant disregards for the soldiers who were there, who know the truth. At what point will Americans finally have had enough of this treasonous president?
http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/26/report-obama-admin-intimidating-soldiers-who-know-the-truth-about-bergdahl-2/
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I don't know the whole story but...I don't think he's a traitor...I think he'll end up being a friggen retard but not a traitor. I've seen him a few times so far coming and going.
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I don't know the whole story but...I don't think he's a traitor...I think he'll end up being a friggen retard but not a traitor. I've seen him a few times so far coming and going.
Not truthy enough for a few here, I'll bet. lol
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So, you think it's beyond the realm of possibility that a soldier who voiced displeasure with his mission before literally walking away from his camp and into the arms of the enemy could have actually helped that enemy?
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So, you think it's beyond the realm of possibility that a soldier who voiced displeasure with his mission before literally walking away from his camp and into the arms of the enemy could have actually helped that enemy?
No, not at all. It's just that when a regular board member, especially one whose political orientation is right of center, is privy to actual info that the rest of us aren't and he says he doesn't think the guy is a traitor, then I'm gonna bet he's right -- Regardless of what that does to the more "truthy" narrative that some folks would much rather stick to.
BTW, of the right of center guys, I find you are one of the most reasonable ones. No homo, lol.
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He's a faaaaaaaaagggggg.... :)
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I think he's an idiot. I think its possible anything he did was because he's an idiot as opposed to a traitor. I think it will all come out in the investigation. At this point I'm trying to avoid becoming involved enough to get rolled into the official investigation.
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I think he's an idiot. I think its possible anything he did was because he's an idiot as opposed to a traitor. I think it will all come out in the investigation. At this point I'm trying to avoid becoming involved enough to get rolled into the official investigation.
If he didn't share information I wouldn't necessarily call him traitor. But a deserter or at a minimum AWOL? Probably so. But I don't know all the facts.
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I saw his colleagues from his unit on Fox. There is no doubt in my mind they were scapegoating him. They essentially drove him away.
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http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bowe-bergdahl-released/bergdahl-pictured-smiling-taliban-while-captivity-n152466
:(
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http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bowe-bergdahl-released/bergdahl-pictured-smiling-taliban-while-captivity-n152466
:(
That picture is the most obviously forced smile around.
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I saw his colleagues from his unit on Fox. There is no doubt in my mind they were scapegoating him. They essentially drove him away.
I saw his fellow Soldiers on Fox too and didn't have that impression at all. It's not like he was being hazed. He simply walked away. You don't have that option as a Soldier, especially in a combat zone.
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Bergdahl could get $350G tax-free, if cleared by Army
By Dominic Di-Natale
Published July 14, 2014
FoxNews.com
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could have a tax-free $350,000 dropped into his bank account if the current investigation into his disappearance from his base in Afghanistan was not desertion, and if he is deemed to have been a prisoner of war for the five years he was held by Islamic militants, Fox News has learned.
The 28-year-old soldier, for whom the U.S. traded five senior Taliban operatives held at Guantanamo Bay, was set to return to active duty Monday after spending six weeks in medical rehab at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio.
“Essentially he’ll be working a desk job,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters at the Pentagon Monday.
"They’re pulling his clearance so I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do.”
- Army official speaking under condition of anonymity
Bergdahl is due approximately $200,000 in back pay for the time he was in Taliban hands. He would be eligible for another $150,000 if an ongoing probe determines he was a prisoner of war. Both sums could be tax free for Bergdahl, who was promoted from private first class to sergeant during the time he was held.
Bergdahl was moved to the U.S. Army North command on Saturday, shifting from the U.S. Army South command, which had overseen his arrival in the U.S. and reintegration. Under Army North, he will return to work and live in standard military barracks. He is being assigned to the protocol office, which assists soldiers in military procedures and etiquette.
“That’s the worst place to put him. They’re pulling his clearance so I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do,” said one Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sergeant’s case.
Bergdahl is now able to leave the base and is escorted by his care team when he does. He recently visited a shopping mall to buy items for his computer and the group was seen at a local restaurant, say people with knowledge of his movements.
Bergdahl still has not spoken to his parents, although he has sent two letters to them at their home in Idaho. Robert and Jani Bergdahl have yet to visit him in Texas, and there are reports of a rift in the family.
A close long-time friend, identified as Kim Harrison, is currently staying in San Antonio and the two meet frequently, say officials.
Under tax rules for military pay, enlisted personnel can exclude active-duty pay earned while serving in a combat zone. And, according to the Department of Defense’s financial management regulation, payments to former captives generally are not taxable if the captive status resulted from the deprivation of personal rights, such as terrorist activity.
Bergdahl’s status as a POW can only be determined by the Secretary of the Army after the completion of the investigation into why he walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. The Pentagon said Monday that the investigation is still continuin, but gave no further details.
According to military officials familiar with his rehabilitation program, Bergdahl now has a lawyer to represent him.
“He appears unconcerned about the Army’s investigation,” said one official. “The investigation has to get moving, as he’s out of the Army soon. He lawyered up so we had to scale back the de-briefing.”
Bergdahl has yet to be questioned about why he abandoned his post. It is unclear when his military service is due to end.
Several soldiers who served with Bergdahl have come forward to say they believe he intentionally deserted his post, and put his fellow soldiers at risk when they went to look for him.
“I think it’s very clear he deserted his post,” former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow told FoxNews.com last week. “He thought about what he was doing, he mailed some things home, he walked away and we have witnesses who saw him walking away. And if you’re walking away in one of the worst, most dangerous areas of Afghanistan without your weapon and gear, I don’t believe you’re planning on coming back.”
Former Army Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl’s unit, also told FoxNews.com Bergdahl deserted his unit. He believes the Idaho native should be charged with desertion, not showered with back pay.
“The most important factor isn’t necessarily why he did it or what made him do it,” Vierkant said. “The most important factor is that he did do it — for whatever reason. That’s enough in my mind to do a court-martial, bring him up under several different charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/14/bergdahl-could-get-350g-tax-free-if-cleared-by-army/
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As of noon that fucker is no longer my problem.
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As of noon that fucker is no longer my problem.
Was listening to a SOFREP podcast and what they were saying about him was like . . . eeewwweeeee . . . . . nasty.
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Bergdahl's attorney also fought for Army captain in espionage case
Jul. 16, 2014
By Joe Gould
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has retained a high-profile attorney — the same lawyer who defended Capt. James Yee, a Muslim Army chaplain cleared in an espionage probe a decade ago.
Bergdahl’s lawyer is Eugene Fidell, a Yale Law School scholar, prominent military legal expert and a co-founder and former president of the National Institute of Military Justice.
The Army is investigating the circumstances that led to Bergdahl’s disappearance and capture, probing allegations that Bergdahl walked off his remote post in Afghanistan without authorization before militants seized him. After five years in captivity, Bergdahl was freed May 31 as part of a controversial exchange with the Taliban for five militants who were in detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In an interview with Army Times, Fidell said Wednesday he was “gratified” at having been approached to represent Bergdahl and that he has since met with Bergdahl last week at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Bergdahl has concluded an Army-led reintegration process and this week was assigned a desk job at the headquarters for U.S. Army North.
“This is a soldier who has been through an indescribable ordeal, and we can never lose sight of that,” Fidell said.
Fidell said Bergdahl was, “grateful to the president for having saved his life.” Otherwise, Fidell did not offer his own conclusions about Bergdahl’s condition or state of mind. Nor would Fidell comment on whether he or Bergdahl were in communication with Bergdahl’s family.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who is leading the investigation into the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance, has yet to question Bergdahl.
Fidell, who is lead counsel assisted by an attorney with the Army Trial Defense Service, said he plans to be with Bergdahl when he is interviewed.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the trade and suggested that Bergdahl intentionally left his post to meet up with the Taliban, and some of his fellow soldiers have said their lives were put at risk in the search for him. However, Fidell cautioned against generalizing about how Bergdahl is viewed by his peers — and he discussed the range of opinions in the public at large.
“I am concerned about vilification, I think some of it has already happened,” Fidell said of Bergdahl’s case. “There are certainly people who wish him ill. We all know that.”
On the other hand, Fidell said he has received “A number of quite touching emails from total strangers since my involvement became known, and I’ve shared those with my client.”
Other than the intense public interest, Fidell said he did not see any similarities between Bergdahl’s case and Yee’s.
Yee, a West Point graduate, was accused in 2003 of being part of a spy ring at the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay.
After spending 76 days in solitary confinement, Yee eventually was exonerated, resigned from the Army and received an honorable discharge.
In an interview with Military Times weeks before he became Bergdahl’s attorney, Fidell said there is an “unwritten policy” to avoid court-martialing service members who have spent time as POWs.
“I don’t think they’ll do that in this case,” Fidell said in the June 2 interview. “Unless something comes to light that suggests that he was a turncoat or joined the other side or assisted the other side in some way. … There is no public indication that any of those things are true in his case.”
Fidell has also taught at Harvard Law School and the American University Washington College of Law. From 1969 to 1972, he served as a judge advocate in the Coast Guard.
http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140716/NEWS/307160051/Bergdahl-s-attorney-also-fought-Army-captain-espionage-case?sf28613623=1
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Bergdahl Platoon Mate: Desertion Is 'Unforgivable'
Thursday, 17 Jul 2014
By Melissa Clyne
A member of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's former platoon in Afghanistan says the soldier's decision to walk away from his post in Afghanistan is "unforgivable" and something for which he should be held accountable.
According to Matt Vierkant, Bergdahl presented a totally different front to his brothers in arms than he did to his parents.
"His letters and emails home talking badly about the military and America contradicts what he was telling us while we were in Afghanistan,"Vierkant told host John Bachman on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV Thursday.
"He wanted to do more missions to find the Taliban, to seek them out, and to essentially kill them and do an infantry job, what we came there to do. But at the same time that he's talking disrespectfully about the military and America back to his parents, and then telling lies to whoever about running over children or whatever. There's so many aspects of this story, there's so many holes, there's so many contradictions. It doesn't even make sense."
News reports that Bergdahl was a victim are "ridiculous,"according to Vierkant.
"I understand that he went through five years of captivity, but that wasn't my fault,"he said.
"That was his own fault. He put himself in that position.
After five years in captivity beginning in June 2009, President Obama approved a prisoner swap involving Bergdahl. On May 31, Bergdahl was handed over to the U.S. military in exchange for five senior Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Bergdahl is being represented by Eugene Fidell, a civilian lawyer specializing in military law.
Vierkant took issue with Bergdahl being returned to duty -- assigned to a desk job -- with no restrictions on his freedom.
"He's not being treated like any other person being investigated for desertion,"he said.
"(He's) almost being treated like a hero instead of being treated like he's actually under investigation.”
Vierkant hopes Bergdahl receives a fair trial but wants Americans to understand that desertion "is a very, very serious charge"that he and other soldiers take "seriously and personally.”
"If I was in Bergdahl's position and somebody was accusing me, or allegations of desertion and everything else were coming up against me, I'd be the first one to speak up and defend myself,"he said. "They won't even talk about his mindset or his health or even let him speak a word. They all tip-toe around it and I just found it really interesting.”
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/platoon-mate-held-accountable/2014/07/17/id/583315#ixzz37m7lN7rs
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House GOP and Some Democrats Preparing to Slam Obama for Bergdahl Swap
The House Armed Services Committee will mark up a resolution Tuesday condemning the president for negotiating with terrorists.
July 24, 2014
House Republicans are set to open another front next week in their efforts to publicly repudiate President Obama—this time for his decision in May to exchange five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Only this time it won't be a purely partisan assault. Some Democrats have signed on with Republicans to condemn Obama for approving the prisoner swap.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon says his panel will mark up a bipartisan resolution on Tuesday that accuses Obama of disregarding "America's long-standing policy against negotiating with terrorists."
The resolution will further declare that the transfer was in violation of a section of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, which requires the secretary of Defense to notify Congress at least 30 days before the transfer of a Guantanamo detainee.
Republican Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia is the sponsor, along with GOP Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin and Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall of West Virginia and John Barrow of Georgia.
"When the president takes his oath of office, he is duty bound to follow the laws set by the American people," McKeon said in a statement. "Here, his office broke a law that was originally adopted by his own party in the Senate, passed by a large bipartisan majority in Congress and signed by the president himself."
McKeon added: "Just as the president must do his duty, so must Congress. Congressman Rigell's legislation sends the clear message that following the law isn't optional."
The administration says that concerns about Bergdahl's deteriorating health played a role in its thinking.
Bergdahl, 28, went missing on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika Province, where his battalion was deployed. He had spent five years in captivity until his release on May 31 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners transferred from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In his own statement Thursday, Rigell said his resolution will be an official, bipartisan repudiation of Obama's actions.
Although the action was not announced until Thursday, it has actually been in the planning stages since June. In fact, House Republican leadership aides back then confirmed that closed-door strategy sessions by top Republicans were already underway on how to best seize on the Bergdahl swap, seen as angering members of both parties. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul was even saying in June that the issue would have a long shelf life politically.
"Not only is it a winner because it was horrible foreign policy," McCaul said. There are also a lot of elements for lawmakers to cover in the Bergdahl controversy, he said.
McCaul said those include the risks of negotiating with terrorists, why Congress wasn't kept in the loop, and whether this swap signals plans by the Obama administration to release all prisoners and close the Guantanamo prison over congressional objections.
"You know me, I'm pretty much more of a national security kind of guy and I don't really engage in a lot of partisan politics," McCaul said. But still, he said, "I think this probably has more legs than any other story I've seen."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/house-gop-and-some-democrats-preparing-to-slam-obama-for-bergdahl-swap-20140724
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House GOP and Some Democrats Preparing to Slam Obama for Bergdahl Swap
The House Armed Services Committee will mark up a resolution Tuesday condemning the president for negotiating with terrorists.
July 24, 2014
House Republicans are set to open another front next week in their efforts to publicly repudiate President Obama—this time for his decision in May to exchange five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Only this time it won't be a purely partisan assault. Some Democrats have signed on with Republicans to condemn Obama for approving the prisoner swap.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon says his panel will mark up a bipartisan resolution on Tuesday that accuses Obama of disregarding "America's long-standing policy against negotiating with terrorists."
The resolution will further declare that the transfer was in violation of a section of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, which requires the secretary of Defense to notify Congress at least 30 days before the transfer of a Guantanamo detainee.
Republican Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia is the sponsor, along with GOP Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin and Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall of West Virginia and John Barrow of Georgia.
"When the president takes his oath of office, he is duty bound to follow the laws set by the American people," McKeon said in a statement. "Here, his office broke a law that was originally adopted by his own party in the Senate, passed by a large bipartisan majority in Congress and signed by the president himself."
McKeon added: "Just as the president must do his duty, so must Congress. Congressman Rigell's legislation sends the clear message that following the law isn't optional."
The administration says that concerns about Bergdahl's deteriorating health played a role in its thinking.
Bergdahl, 28, went missing on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan's Paktika Province, where his battalion was deployed. He had spent five years in captivity until his release on May 31 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners transferred from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In his own statement Thursday, Rigell said his resolution will be an official, bipartisan repudiation of Obama's actions.
Although the action was not announced until Thursday, it has actually been in the planning stages since June. In fact, House Republican leadership aides back then confirmed that closed-door strategy sessions by top Republicans were already underway on how to best seize on the Bergdahl swap, seen as angering members of both parties. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul was even saying in June that the issue would have a long shelf life politically.
"Not only is it a winner because it was horrible foreign policy," McCaul said. There are also a lot of elements for lawmakers to cover in the Bergdahl controversy, he said.
McCaul said those include the risks of negotiating with terrorists, why Congress wasn't kept in the loop, and whether this swap signals plans by the Obama administration to release all prisoners and close the Guantanamo prison over congressional objections.
"You know me, I'm pretty much more of a national security kind of guy and I don't really engage in a lot of partisan politics," McCaul said. But still, he said, "I think this probably has more legs than any other story I've seen."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/house-gop-and-some-democrats-preparing-to-slam-obama-for-bergdahl-swap-20140724
I think they should stay away from it until the investigation is over. Picking on a guy who has been a POW who was tortured, locked in a cage and for propaganda for the Taliban for over 5 years will not sit well with military personnel.
Not only that...they are not going to charge him with anything.
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I think they should stay away from it until the investigation is over. Picking on a guy who has been a POW who was tortured, locked in a cage and for propaganda for the Taliban for over 5 years will not sit well with military personnel.
Not only that...they are not going to charge him with anything.
I would really like to know where exactly you get this information?
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I would really like to know where exactly you get this information?
Fox News and CNN....there's an unwritten rule that POW's are generally not charged with any misconduct due to morale issues
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Fox News and CNN....there's an unwritten rule that POW's are generally not charged with any misconduct due to morale issues
Good thing he is a deserter then.
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Good thing he is a deserter then.
Based on the two previous incidents where he left base to meditate and clear his head, I think he did the same thing as he didn't leave with any provisions whatsoever although I would say that it was a bad idea to which I'm sure he's more than learned his lesson. There's a claim out there that he left a note saying that he was going to start a new life but no note has ever surfaced.
We will all have to wait and see but he's not going to be charged with anything...the 350k tax free money on the other hand will be a different matter. If they found him to have deserted then they'll issue a Medical Discharge and let him be on his way
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Based on the two previous incidents where he left base to meditate and clear his head, I think he did the same thing as he didn't leave with any provisions whatsoever although I would say that it was a bad idea to which I'm sure he's more than learned his lesson. There's a claim out there that he left a note saying that he was going to start a new life but no note has ever surfaced.
We will all have to wait and see but he's not going to be charged with anything...the 350k tax free money on the other hand will be a different matter. If they found him to have deserted then they'll issue a Medical Discharge and let him be on his way
Oh, then its perfectly fine ::)
WTF, last time I checked you don't just get to choose to walk off duty in the military.
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Oh, then its perfectly fine ::)
WTF, last time I checked you don't just get to choose to walk off duty in the military.
Exactly. In the middle of combat operations no less. Crazy.
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Oh, then its perfectly fine ::)
WTF, last time I checked you don't just get to choose to walk off duty in the military.
Playing the devil's advocate, it doesn't seem totally unreasonable to think that these days, with an all-volunteer army, maybe you should be able to leave when you want.
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Playing the devil's advocate, it doesn't seem totally unreasonable to think that these days, with an all-volunteer army, maybe you should be able to leave when you want.
Unless you raise your hand and take an oath, giving up your right to "leave when you want."
And that's not being devil's advocate. That's buffoonery. A Soldier being able to "leave when you want" during the middle of combat operations? And you claim to have served in the Army? Seriously? lol
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Playing the devil's advocate, it doesn't seem totally unreasonable to think that these days, with an all-volunteer army, maybe you should be able to leave when you want.
I assume this is sarcasm.
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I assume this is sarcasm.
No, not really. Leaving the armed forces when one wants when joining is voluntary doesn't seem so unreasonable to me.
If a soldier voluntarily joins the service because of moral obligations and patriotic pride (like many did after 9/11) but then finds out that his (for him) soul-destroying duties offend his moral sensibilities, it's probably better for all concerned to just let him go (with a couple of conditions, though).
Obviously, any actions taken by a soldier that would endanger his fellow soldiers can't be permitted. I'm pretty sure everyone would accept that.
Also, the soldier needs to pay back the amount of money (maybe a pro-rated amount?) it cost to train him or her.
I see this (being able to resign from an all-volunteer force) as being more honorable than some of what I saw happening when I was in the service: Back when I was taking the year-long Russian Language Basic course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA years ago (1984) some female soldiers would totally work the system by taking a nearly a whole language course, 8 hours/day, 5 days/week (for up to a year for some languages) and then, before getting an assignment or even going off to their secondary MOS school (radio school, usually) they'd get pregnant and get out of the service entirely. AFAIK, they'd have to repay nothing even though they'd taken a spot from someone else for some of the best intensive language instruction you can get. Hopefully this particular loophole has since been closed.
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No, not really. Leaving the armed forces when one wants when joining is voluntary doesn't seem so unreasonable to me.
If a soldier voluntarily joins the service because of moral obligations and patriotic pride (like many did after 9/11) but then finds out that his (for him) soul-destroying duties offend his moral sensibilities, it's probably better for all concerned to just let him go (with a couple of conditions, though).
Obviously, any actions taken by a soldier that would endanger his fellow soldiers can't be permitted. I'm pretty sure everyone would accept that.
Also, the soldier needs to pay back the amount of money (maybe a pro-rated amount?) it cost to train him or her.
I see this (being able to resign from an all-volunteer force) as being more honorable than some of what I saw happening when I was in the service: Back when I was taking the year-long Russian Language Basic course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA years ago (1984) some female soldiers would totally work the system by taking a nearly a whole language course, 8 hours/day, 5 days/week (for up to a year for some languages) and then, before getting an assignment or even going off to their secondary MOS school (radio school, usually) they'd get pregnant and get out of the service entirely. AFAIK, they'd have to repay nothing even though they'd taken a spot from someone else for some of the best intensive language instruction you can get. Hopefully this particular loophole has since been closed.
What you are describing is a "shitbird", if the COC was worth damn this guy would have been a POGUE. My guess is his dumbass would have done the same thing.
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Playing the devil's advocate, it doesn't seem totally unreasonable to think that these days, with an all-volunteer army, maybe you should be able to leave when you want.
What......come on dude. You were a crypto weenie but you know better.
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What......come on dude. You were a crypto weenie but you know better.
LOL. Haven't heard that term in a loooooong time.
I was hoping you'd weigh in here.
It's true, I haven't really thoroughly thought out the position of volunteer soldiers being able to quit when they want.
Is the main objection that when shit gets bad most everyone will run off or is there some other even more important issue I'm missing?
It's been 25 years or so since I got out but IIRC, the couple of guys we had who decided that they just didn't want to play any more were pretty much just let go with only a "less than honorable" discharge or something like that. (There were no combat operations going on at all when I served, though.)
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LOL. Haven't heard that term in a loooooong time.
I was hoping you'd weigh in here.
It's true, I haven't really thoroughly thought out the position of volunteer soldiers being able to quit when they want.
Is the main objection that when shit gets bad most everyone will run off or is there some other even more important issue I'm missing?
It's been 25 years or so since I got out but IIRC, the couple of guys we had who decided that they just didn't want to play any more were pretty much just let go with only a "less than honorable" discharge or something like that. (There were no combat operations going on at all when I served, though.)
lol
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lol
Why lol, BB?
FWIW, one of the guys who ended up getting out pretty much quit because of a long-running personality conflict with his female platoon (or maybe squad?) leader over barracks-related bullshit. He seemed really intelligent (and had a college degree when he joined) so he had no trouble with the language training but he was one of those irritable guys who was very quick to get angry and lose control of his mouth. One of those guys who's prone to go on long and amusing rants (which had a lot to do with why I liked him). It was a miracle that he made it as far as he did, if you ask me.
The other guy I didn't know but supposedly he was a dick that nobody liked who'd previously gotten in trouble for harassing women on his floor by going into their bathroom. Because of that, supposedly some female soldier was so traumatized that she was allowed to live off of the kaserne (small base).
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Why lol, BB?
FWIW, one of the guys who ended up getting out pretty much quit because of a long-running personality conflict with his female platoon (or maybe squad?) leader over barracks-related bullshit. He seemed really intelligent (and had a college degree when he joined) so he had no trouble with the language training but he was one of those irritable guys who was very quick to get angry and lose control of his mouth. One of those guys who's prone to go on long and amusing rants (which had a lot to do with why I liked him). It was a miracle that he made it as far as he did, if you ask me.
The other guy I didn't know but supposedly he was a dick that nobody liked who'd previously gotten in trouble for harassing women on his floor by going into their bathroom. Because of that, supposedly some female soldier was so traumatized that she was allowed to live off of the kaserne (small base).
Yes, a couple guys walked into the office, said I quit, and were given an other than honorable discharge. LOL! When you are making up stories, you should do more homework. You sound like a really bad B movie actor.
If you actually did serve, thank you very much for getting out.
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Yes, a couple guys walked into the office, said I quit, and were given an other than honorable discharge. LOL! When you are making up stories, you should do more homework. You sound like a really bad B movie actor.
If you actually did serve, thank you very much for getting out.
Gee, you seem very sure of yourself for a guy who claims service but won't say what job he did.
Honestly, BB, the reason I can't give a lot of details is it didn't happen to me so I'm not really sure about the "hows and whys" of it. I can only say what I saw and maybe wasn't paying super close attention since I spent the last year of my enlistment spending very little time on army shit (other than working my shift at the listening station) because I was spending all of my free time with my German girlfriend from Kaufbeuren who had an apartment in town because she attended Augsburg University. (I ended up marrying her about a year after I got out).
I'm telling you, though, among the linguist and analyst MOS's in Germany in 86/87 the army seemed pretty much OK with sending people home who really didn't want to be there. If a soldiers made a big deal out of wanting out they would immediately lose their security clearance so they'd be on casual duty for at least a few months during which they'd catch shit from other soldiers (mostly just the higher-ranked enlisted, though -- most of the other spec4's didn't really GAF). They'd also might pick up an Article 15 (for disobedience of some kind, I guess) but other than that and some kind of less than honorable discharge, that was about it. Like I said, there were no combat operations going on so it wasn't like a lot of folks were clamoring to leave.
BTW, I learned this stuff when I tried to talk the one guy into staying but his mind was made up and he pretty much laughed at my concerns as to what effect a crappy discharge could have on his life (he already had a degree and just wanted to go back to school for his masters).
Now, I'm not sure why the army wasn't making a big deal about folks separating early. Maybe it was a security clearance thing or maybe they were just trying to shed salaries. IIRC, the army WAS giving out "early outs" at about that time.
BTW, you don't need to thank me for getting out. Staying in was never my plan regardless of the pretty decent reenlistment bonus they'd try to dangle in front of you. Once I maxed out my college money, it was time to leave.
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Gee, you seem very sure of yourself for a guy who claims service but won't say what job he did.
Honestly, BB, the reason I can't give a lot of details is it didn't happen to me so I'm not really sure about the "hows and whys" of it. I can only say what I saw and maybe wasn't paying super close attention since I spent the last year of my enlistment spending very little time on army shit (other than working my shift at the listening station) because I was spending all of my free time with my German girlfriend from Kaufbeuren who had an apartment in town because she attended Augsburg University. (I ended up marrying her about a year after I got out).
I'm telling you, though, among the linguist and analyst MOS's in Germany in 86/87 the army seemed pretty much OK with sending people home who really didn't want to be there. If a soldiers made a big deal out of wanting out they would immediately lose their security clearance so they'd be on casual duty for at least a few months during which they'd catch shit from other soldiers (mostly just the higher-ranked enlisted, though -- most of the other spec4's didn't really GAF). They'd also might pick up an Article 15 (for disobedience of some kind, I guess) but other than that and some kind of less than honorable discharge, that was about it. Like I said, there were no combat operations going on so it wasn't like a lot of folks were clamoring to leave.
BTW, I learned this stuff when I tried to talk the one guy into staying but his mind was made up and he pretty much laughed at my concerns as to what effect a crappy discharge could have on his life (he already had a degree and just wanted to go back to school for his masters).
Now, I'm not sure why the army wasn't making a big deal about folks separating early. Maybe it was a security clearance thing or maybe they were just trying to shed salaries. IIRC, the army WAS giving out "early outs" at about that time.
BTW, you don't need to thank me for getting out. Staying in was never my plan regardless of the pretty decent reenlistment bonus they'd try to dangle in front of you. Once I maxed out my college money, it was time to leave.
I have no idea if you served. Only thing I'm sure about is you're a friggin simpleton. You don't know what the heck you're talking about when it comes to Soldiers just quitting. ::)
If you did serve, getting out was great for two reasons. 1. You would have likely been kicked out anyway. 2. Simpletons like you get people killed. Thank you for being a civilian.
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I have no idea if you served. Only thing I'm sure about is you're a friggin simpleton. You don't know what the heck you're talking about when it comes to Soldiers just quitting. ::)
If you did serve, getting out was great for two reasons. 1. You would have likely been kicked out anyway. 2. Simpletons like you get people killed. Thank you for being a civilian.
Don't know what to tell you as far as the real experience I've related regarding soldiers in my MOS and duty station being allowed to go home relatively easily back in 1987. If you have specific info that indicates otherwise, let's hear it. Or post up some links.
Anyway, enough people on this board probably served at that time so let's see what someone who served but isn't some kind of military fetishist has to say about it, shall we?
FYI, ya wannabe ex-serviceman, I was really good at my job. I'd have been shitty as an infantryman or whatever but I kicked ass as a Russian voice interceptor where they wisely valued intelligence over blind obedience.
And maybe you'd can tell me how I was gonna get someone killed when my job was to comfortably sit on my ass with headphones on all day at this place in West Germany?:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Abh%C3%B6ranlage_Gablingen.JPG/1280px-Abh%C3%B6ranlage_Gablingen.JPG)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA_Field_Station_Augsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA_Field_Station_Augsburg)
I didn't work in that building in the middle of that giant antenna, I worked in one of the buildings nearby. Sadly, only after scanning the wiki page I've linked did I realize that the Gablingen kaserne closed down in 1998. :'(
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Don't know what to tell you as far as the real experience I've related regarding soldiers in my MOS and duty station being allowed to go home relatively easily back in 1987. If you have specific info that indicates otherwise, let's hear it. Or post up some links.
Anyway, enough people on this board probably served at that time so let's see what someone who served but isn't some kind of military fetishist has to say about it, shall we?
FYI, ya wannabe ex-serviceman, I was really good at my job. I'd have been shitty as an infantryman or whatever but I kicked ass as a Russian voice interceptor where they wisely valued intelligence over blind obedience.
And maybe you'd can tell me how I was gonna get someone killed when my job was to comfortably sit on my ass with headphones on all day at this place in West Germany?:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Abh%C3%B6ranlage_Gablingen.JPG/1280px-Abh%C3%B6ranlage_Gablingen.JPG)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA_Field_Station_Augsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA_Field_Station_Augsburg)
I didn't work in that building in the middle of that giant antenna, I worked in one of the buildings nearby. Sadly, only after scanning the wiki page I've linked did I realize that the Gablingen kaserne closed down in 1998. :'(
Who the heck cares what someone else says? This isn't a contest. You're trying too hard.
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Who the heck cares what someone else says? This isn't a contest. You're trying too hard.
LOL.
You are a nut, BB -- but you're probably OK in real life.
What do you call that philosophy that consists of thinking that you are the only real person in the universe and everyone else is a figment of your imagination? That. You have that.
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LOL.
You are a nut, BB -- but you're probably OK in real life.
What do you call that philosophy that consists of thinking that you are the only real person in the universe and everyone else is a figment of your imagination? That. You have that.
Why thank you very much Simpleton Simon. Your comments are most appreciated. :)
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Defense Dept: Yeah, Those Gitmo Detainees We Released Aren’t Going Home to Sing Kumbayah
BY MICHAEL HAUSAM (3 DAYS AGO) | HEADLINES, NATION, WORLD
IJRSHAREEMAIL
Fox News reported Thursday that U.S. officials have confirmed that up to 30 former Guantanamo detainees are likely in Syria, fighting on behalf of the Islamic State.
The numbers are not certain and they represent a small number of those released — numbering 620 detainees so far — but the news is nonetheless very troubling. Furthermore, they also point out that they estimate that about 180 have returned to the battlefield.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey, commenting on the difficulties with releasing prisoners and the complications related to the President’s inability to keep his promise to close the prison, said this:
The majority have remained there, but there was always, if you will, a certain seepage. These people are ideologically and essentially religiously committed to their evil cause, and it is very hard to sort out who are going to stay at home and who are going to return to the battlefield.
Many have criticized the President’s eagerness to release captives from the controversial prison and his promise to eventually shut it down. Senator John McCain discussed the issue with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren:
“The eagerness with which this administration wants to get these people out of Guantanamo has clearly overridden good sense and a real concern for the lives of American men and women who are serving.”
Currently, there are 149 terrorists still being detained in Guantanamo Bay, with 80 currently eligible for transfer or release. There were no details available about the specific individuals or the timing of their release.
Which begs a simple question: If there is any chance of a released detainee rejoining the fight against America and harming soldiers or citizens, should they be released at all?
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/195122-shocking-intelligence-defense-department-admission-released-gitmo-detainees-joining-isis/
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That's why obama released them in the first place.
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What a mess.
Military reviewing Bergdahl report including recommendations on whether punishment applies
By Justin Fishel
Published November 26, 2014
FoxNews.com
Nearly five months after the release of Taliban prisoner Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the military has yet to release a report on Bergdahl leaving his Afghanistan post in 2009 that also makes recommendations on whether he should be punished.
The Pentagon says it is not holding up the decision, though the review by Army Gen. Kenneth Dahl was finished in early October.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, recently acknowledged the report has been completed and said it is under review.
“As you know, in this building that can sometimes take a while, especially for major investigations like this," he said.
Desertion in the military is technically punishable by death. But given the circumstances of Bergdahl's case, such a sentence is essentially out of the realm of possibility.
Bergdahl, the only American prisoner in the war in Afghanistan, could face a lesser administrative punishment including forfeiture of back pay or even jail time. But Army officials are acutely aware of the potential political backlash that could follow severely punishing a prisoner of war.
Meanwhile, Bergdahl is still serving as a sergeant at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He has a desk job with the Army after being held captive for roughly five years, much of that time spent in a metal box.
Bergdahl’s May 2014 release, which was secured by exchanging five high-value Taliban detainees from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, has sparked widespread controversy.
Soon after President Obama announced the exchange, many of Bergdahl’s former unit members spoke out, calling him a deserter, saying he put fellow soldiers’ lives at risk.
At least some Republican lawmakers think it was a bad deal.
Sen. John McCain referred to the prisoners as “the Taliban dream team.”
"These are the worst of the worst, the hardest of the hardest,” the Arizona Republican told Fox News. “I can't tell you how dangerous these people are."
Now, California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine, wants to know whether the swap included a ransom and if the United States was swindled.
"It has been brought to my attention that a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who ‘disappeared’ with the money and failed to facilitate Bergdahl's release in return," Hunter wrote Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a Nov. 4 letter.
The alleged payment, Hunter says, was made in February through the Joint Special Operations Command and might have exceeded $1 million.
“Number one, you can't pay ransoms,” Hunter told Fox News. “Number two, if there is an exceptional case when you can get an American back, then there ought to be some oversight and there has to be some congressional purview over this -- and there hasn't been. I mean the (Defense Department) can't break the law and have no repercussions whatsoever.”
The Pentagon told Hunter on Friday that no money was exchanged and that paying ransom is indeed against the law.
“There was no ransom paid,” Kirby told reporters. “Nor was there an attempt to do so that failed.”
Hunter’s office still alleges that FBI operatives and members of the Army’s elite Delta Force orchestrated a botched cash exchange and says the congressman will request a formal investigation of the matter by the Defense Department’s inspector general.
The deal purportedly involved Delta members giving the money to an informant who disappeared instead of giving Bergdahl to FBI agents at a predetermined spot inside Afghanistan, on the border with North Waziristan.
Concerns about the circumstances of the prisoner swap have increased in the wake of the Islamic State executing five Americans in the past four months.
The president has ordered a review of how American hostages are handled by the U.S. government.
Families of the beheaded Americans have issued complaints about how their sons’ cases were handled. However, the White House says it has no plans to allowing ransom to be paid for hostages.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/26/public-awaits-military-completed-bergdahl-report-that-includes-recommendations/
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Good job Mr. President.
Military Analysts: Bergdahl Report to Show He Deserted
Thursday, 18 Dec 2014
By Greg Richter
The U.S. Army's report on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will show he deserted, but not that he is a traitor, two military analysts familiar with the case told Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor."
The report was completed in October, but has yet to be released to the public. Bergdahl walked away from his base in Afghanistan and was captured and held by the Taliban for five years.
He was released earlier this year in a controversial trade for five Taliban leaders being held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who said he played a role in one of three methods the United States considered in bringing Bergdahl back, told Fox's Bill O'Reilly on Thursday he has heard the final report mirrors the initial Naval Criminal Investigative Service report from 2009, just after Bergdahl was taken captive.
Col. David Hunt says he has heard the same thing, adding that the report likely will be released on Jan. 16. That would be about a week and a half after the new Republican Congress is sworn in, and would be on a Friday, when stories are less likely to get wide media coverage.
Conservatives have charged that the report's release was delayed to avoid hurting Democrats in the November primaries. President Barack Obama initially held a Rose Garden ceremony with Bergdahl's parents, but the good points quickly soured when some platoon mates said Bergdahl had deserted his post.
Hunt said the real issue will be whether Bergdahl will be found to be a traitor. He told O'Reilly that he has been told Bergdahl will not be charged as a traitor and will be given a less-than-honorable discharge.
He also will not be required to refund the $300,000 in back pay he received during his captivity.
Shaffer and Hunt both said they oppose that decision. Shaffer said Bergdahl did as much damage as Pvt. Bradley Manning, who leaked military secrets online.
http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsfront/Bowe-Bergdahl-report-Bill-OReilly-deserted/2014/12/18/id/613936/#ixzz3MMfCCMeN
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Good. But I have a feeling this will go away quietly. Letter of reprimand. Maybe an administrative separation. I doubt they court martial him, even though they should.
Army: Bergdahl could face court-martial
By Andrew Tilghman, Staff writer December 22, 2014
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/5b87f1c3a58e9e954dfef60e623e1fc317ba6a88/c=1-0-639-480&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2014/12/22/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635548518840030514-AP599824841848.jpg)
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
(Photo: Eugene R. Fidell/AP)
The Army's decision Monday to forward the investigation of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for possible court-martial means the former prisoner of war will remain on active duty and in legal limbo for months to come.
The Army has not determined whether Bergdahl, who spent five years as a captive under the Taliban, is eligible for the lump-sum back pay that is traditionally provided to prisoners of war who return home. In Bergdahl's case, he could be eligible for more than $200,000.
For now Bergdahl, 28, remains assigned to a desk job at an Army headquarters unit in San Antonio. The Army declined to release any details of the six-month investigation into the the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Then-Spc. Bergdahl was accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents in 2009. Legal experts say the allegations suggest charges of desertion could apply.
At the crux of the case is a question of intent: When Bergdahl left his base that night, was he going temporarily AWOL, or was he a intending to desert his unit permanently? A determination that he was a deserter would result in a far more severe punishment.
A prior investigation of Bergdahl's disappearance — conducted in 2009 long before his return — found that some members of his unit believed Bergdahl left his patrol base alone at night at least once before and returned safely.
In a short statement issued Monday, the Army said the general courts-martial convening authority in the case, Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Army Forces Command, will determine "appropriate action," which could range from no further action to a full-blown court-martial.
The case presents a challenge for the Army's leadership, which has to decide whether to punish a soldier who spent five years as a prisoner of war or essentially overlook the allegations of misconduct that surrounded his disappearance.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9cfcc3a1bc861ca7e6c1d9185813e5b4b3523aec/c=130-0-996-651&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2014/12/22/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635548518829430302-AP434571930145.jpg)
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, stands with a Taliban fighter in eastern Afghanistan while waiting to be freed from captivity.(Photo: AP)
After five years in captivity, Bergdahl's Taliban captors released him May 31 in a prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He returned to good health after a short stay at military hospitals in Germany and San Antonio.
Since Bergdahl technically remained on active-duty for his entire captivity, he could be eligible for about $200,000 in back pay. For most of his captivity, Bergdahl's pay was placed into an Army account, where it remains today pending a final resolution of the matter.
If the Army concludes he was a prisoner of war, he would be eligible for far more in additional pay and benefits.
Those questions remain unresolved, Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Alayne Conway said Monday. "The determination on pay and allowances will be made at the Department of the Army level at the appropriate time," she told Military Times.
If Bergdahl is court-martialed, he could ultimately face a punitive discharge, denying him most or all veterans benefits.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2014/12/22/army-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-could-face-court-martial/20771723/
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Good news.
Bergdahl to be charged with desertion, ex-military intel officer says
Published January 27, 2015
FoxNews.com
The Army has decided to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was released by Taliban-aligned militants last year in exchange for five Guantanamo prisoners, with desertion, according to a former military intelligence officer.
Retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who now works at the London Center for Policy Research, told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that he's learned of the military's decision from two sources.
"The Army has come to its conclusion, and Bowe Bergdahl ... will be charged with desertion," he said.
Asked for comment on the claim, Army officials denied that any decision had been made. Spokesman Paul Boyce told Fox News on Tuesday that there is "no change" and that it is an "ongoing review at this time."
Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl's lawyer, did not comment when reached by Fox News.
But Shaffer said Bergdahl's attorney has been given a "charge sheet" outlining the section of the military justice code Bergdahl allegedly violated.
"As a corporate entity, the Army has decided that they want to pursue Bergdahl for this violation," Shaffer said.
Shaffer said there's a "huge battle" going on inside the Obama administration, as some try to "suppress" this development. "This is shaping up to be a titanic struggle behind the scenes," he said.
Shaffer said the Army "wants to do the right thing" but the White House "wants this to go away."
He said: "The White House, because of the political narrative, President Obama cozying up to the parents and because of he, President Obama, releasing the five Taliban ... The narrative is what the White House does not want to have come out."
Bergdahl was held for five years before his release was secured in 2014.
But while the president joined with Bergdahl's parents in the Rose Garden at the time in celebrating his return home, the prisoner swap swiftly became a matter of severe controversy. Fellow soldiers accused Bergdahl of deserting his post on a base in Afghanistan in 2009. And the trade itself, of his freedom for five Guantanamo prisoners, drew criticism in Congress from lawmakers who said it sent a troubling signal.
On Monday, former diplomat Richard Grenell claimed the administration has "sent the message" that the U.S. will negotiate on such matters. He cited an alleged offer, made around the same time as Bergdahl's release, by the Qatari government to trade two Americans held in Qatar for an Al Qaeda agent held in a U.S. federal prison. The Obama administration denies there was any deal. Those prisoners were ultimately released over the past two months.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/27/bergdahl-to-be-charged-with-desertion-ex-military-intel-officer-says/
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Army Officer: Bergdahl Charged With Desertion, WH Wants It Kept Quiet
Monday, 26 Jan 2015
By Greg Richter
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion, but the White House is trying to keep the story under wraps, a retired Army officer said Monday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor."
An Army report on Bergdhal was finished in October, but has yet to be released. White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes is trying to keep the information from becoming public because it would embarrass President Barack Obama, said Lt. Col. Tony Schaffer.
Bergdahl walked away from his camp in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was captured by the Taliban. He was held for five years until he was traded for five Taliban leaders being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay last summer.
Some of Bergdahl's platoon-mates publicly criticized the trade, saying Bergdahl had abandoned his unit and placed the lives of his comrades in danger when they searched fruitlessly for him.
Shaffer told Fox News he has confirmed that the investigation concluded that Bergdahl's key violation was desertion, and that he will face a military court martial.
"This has been done. The decision has been made," Schaffer said. "Let me be very clear. As a corporate entity, the Army has decided that they want to pursue Bergdahl for this violation."
But, Schaffer said, the White House is attempting to keep the information from being made public because it would embarrass Obama, who brought Bergdahl's parents to the White House for a Rose Garden announcement of the release.
"This is shaping up to be titanic struggle behind the scenes," Shaffer said. The Army here wants to do the right thing."
http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsfront/Bowe-Bergdahl-desertion-deserter-Army/2015/01/26/id/620866/#ixzz3Q2SIbARj
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We were all nuts for calling this asshat a deserter, weren't we...................... ...
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We were all nuts for calling this asshat a deserter, weren't we...................... ...
And the President looked like quite the hero and diplomat on this too. :-[
(http://media.cleveland.com/obrien_impact/photo/barack-obama-jani-bergdah-bob-bergdahl-388c565fef0585c5.jpg)
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We were all nuts for calling this asshat a deserter, weren't we...................... ...
Yup - another instance we were dead right on. F Obama!
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Army: Bergdahl reports are untrue, no decision made
By Michelle Tan and Andrew Tilghman, Staff Writers
January 27, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3a2da412b3f94472a6b1d47f7660e09c4cb74ac6/c=0-151-2000-1655&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/01/27/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635579508421032892-TNS-Bowe-Bergdahl-091414-1.jpg)
(Photo: Uncredited)
The Army says there is no truth to media reports claiming a decision has been made to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion.
The Army continues to review the case against Bergdahl, said Paul Boyce, a spokesman for Forces Command, on Tuesday morning.
In a report Monday citing two anonymous military sources, retired Lt. Col. Tony Schaffer told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" that the Army plans to charge Bergdahl with desertion. Schaffer also told the outlet his sources confirmed to him that Bergdahl's lawyer has been given a charge sheet.
No charge sheets were available Tuesday, and Boyce said he is unaware of any charge sheets being issued against Bergdahl, adding that the Fox News story "seems to be speculative in nature." Bergdahl's attorney Eugene Fidell declined to comment. NBC News, citing an anonymous senior defense official, is also reporting a desertion charge is coming, possibly within the week.
Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Forces Command, "is reviewing now the Army's facts and findings to determine, impartially, any appropriate next steps and possible actions," Boyce said.
Milley is "actively reviewing the case," he said. "No decision's been made."
There is no timeline for when Milley must make a decision.
Milley received the Army's investigation Dec. 22, Boyce said.
Bergdahl, 28, disappeared from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2009.
He spent five years as a captive under the Taliban before he was freed in a May 31 prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
He is now assigned to a desk job at U.S. Army North at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, while he awaits the outcome of the Army's review.
The Army has declined to release any details of the six-month investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Then-Spc. Bergdahl was accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents in 2009.
A prior investigation of Bergdahl's disappearance — conducted in 2009 long before his return — found that some members of his unit believed Bergdahl left his patrol base alone at night at least once before and returned safely.
As the general court-martial convening authority, Milley has several courses of action, from no further action against Bergdahl to court-martial.
The case presents a challenge for the Army's leadership, which has to decide whether to punish a soldier who spent five years as a prisoner of war or essentially overlook the allegations of misconduct that surrounded his disappearance.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2015/01/27/bergdahl-army-update-false-reports/22396367/
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Bergdahl decision expected in days
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
January 27, 2015
Washington (CNN)The Army is expected to decide in the coming days how to proceed with disciplinary action against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who left his post in Afghanistan, and was captured and held by the Taliban for years before being exchanged last year for five detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but Pentagon officials are insisting no decision has been made as of Tuesday.
The decision could come "very soon, imminently," one senior defense official told CNN. The Pentagon issued a statement denying reports that it has determined to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion over his disappearance from his post in Afghanistan.
NBC News reported Tuesday that Bergdahl will be charged with desertion, following an interview that aired Monday night on Fox News, where a former military officer said he's been told by sources that Bergdahl's lawyer has been provided a list of the charges.
Saying he wants to put a "fork" in reports about the fate of Bergdahl, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said Tuesday that "no decision has been made" with respect to case.
Kirby said there is no timeline to make that decisions and Gen. Mark Milley is not under any pressure to make a decision. "There is a process here," Kirby said adding that Gen. Milley is still "in a deliberative process," Kirby added that Bergdahl "has not been charged with any crime."
Maj. Gen. Ronald F. Lewis, The Chief of Public Affairs United States Army also said Tuesday, "The reporting from Fox News and NBC on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is patently false," referencing reports those outlets had saying that Bergdahl will be charged with desertion.
"What they are reporting is untrue -- there has been no update to what we provided in Dec. Investigation is still with [General Mark] Milley who will determine appropriate action -- which ranges from no further action to convening a court martial. We cannot discuss or disclose the findings of the investigation while disciplinary decisions are pending before commanders," the Army also said in a statement provided to CNN.
Eugene Fidell, a member of Bergdahl's legal team declined to comment to CNN.
Several military sources tell CNN that as of Tuesday morning, Milley who is reviewing the case has not signed or forwarded a charge sheet. Milley has a full range of legal options he could decide upon ranging from no action, to charging Bergdhal with an offense such as desertion that could lead to a courts martial military officials say.
Among the higher ranking officials, there is a good deal of discussion that Bergdahl could be facing a charge of desertion.
"Our culture demands accountability, you can't just say it didn't happen," one official told CNN. The official, who has some knowledge of the case, said "there is no malice in the Pentagon towards Bergdahl," echoing a sentiment of others that regardless of the charge Bergdahl is unlikely to face jail time, given the years he already spent in Taliban captivity.
One option would be for Bergdahl's legal team to agree to a plea deal in which he forfeits his back pay, and agrees to a less than honorable discharge officials tell CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/27/politics/bergdahl-what-we-know/index.html
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I'm not convinced he is going to be prosecuted. I have no doubt the investigation found he deserted, but there must be some serious pressure being exerted by the White House to make this go away. We shall see.
Tony Shaffer to Newsmax: Believe it — Bergdahl Will Be Charged
Wednesday, 28 Jan 2015
By Bill Hoffmann
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who made the disputed claim that terror-swap soldier Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion, told Newsmax TVon Wednesday he is standing by declaration.
"The report done by the investigating officer … concludes there were violations of what we call the punitive articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Shaffer told "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"That there was evidence that Bowe Bergdahl did indeed essentially leave his duty post during time of war … otherwise known as desertion."
Bergdahl was freed from captivity last year in a Taliban prisoner swap, but questions were soon raised as to whether he had deserted his base in Afghanistan in 2009.
This week, Shaffer as well as NBC News sources reported that Bergdahl will indeed be charged with desertion. Defense officials deny that. Bergdahl's attorney Eugene Fidell, declined to comment.
That's because the official announcement isn't ready yet, according to Shaffer.
"Those charges were actually put together on what we call a statement of charges and given to [Bergdahl's] lawyers, essentially, pending the formal mobilization of a charge," he said.
"The commanding general who now has this, Gen. Milley, has the option as the responsible officer to do anything from basically say, I'm not going to do anything, I'm going to let Bergdahl continue to serve in the military, to taking administrative action.
"[That] basically would be a reduction of a rank to private and kicking him out of the service with an honorable or dishonorable discharge all the way up to and including an Article 15 or court martial, which would be the most severe."
Shaffer repeated his assertion that a desertion is imminent.
"Based on what I've been told is in the report, it would be very difficult for anybody who's rational to come away with any other conclusion other than that Sgt. Bergdahl did violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice by deserting his post during a time of war," he said.
http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/Tony-Shaffer-Bowe-Bergdahl-charges-coming/2015/01/28/id/621341/#ixzz3QE5vvIKZ
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Graham: Detainees in Bergdahl swap contacted Haqqani
By Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press
January 29, 2015
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Taliban detainees released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have been in touch with members of the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network, yet all five still are being monitored in Qatar.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican who recently visited Qatar, said he was concerned one of the detainees had left, but was assured during his visit that all five senior Taliban officials remain in the tiny nation on the Arabian Peninsula.
Qatar gained public praise from President Obama for brokering the controversial deal that freed ArmySgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity in May 2014 in exchange for the release of the five Taliban detainees.
The Pentagon says it is confident in Qatar's ability to mitigate any threat posed by the former detainees.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/01/29/graham-detainees-in-bergdahl-swap-contacted-haqqani/22553365/
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Kayla Mueller's parents: Why we feel ISIS wanted to release our daughter
Eun Kyung Kim
Kayla Mueller's parents, Carl and Marsha, say that despite fearing for their daughter's safety in captivity at the hands of ISIS, they were holding out hope for a reunion because of frequent contact with her captors.
"We always had that little bit of hope that we would always get her home," Marsha Mueller told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview.
"I really feel that we had a chance to get Kayla out," her father Carl explained. "We were in communications with them, unlike other families. But how do you raise $6.2 million? You know, it pretty much made it impossible."
Mueller, 26, was confirmed dead on Feb. 10, four days after ISIS claimed she had been killed in an airstrike in Syria.
The Muellers said communication with their daughter's captors fell apart once the White House agreed last year to trade American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, held for five years in Taliban captivity, in exchange for five Taliban detainees being kept in Guantanamo Bay.
“That made the whole situation worse,” said Kayla’s brother, Eric Mueller. “Because that's when the demands got greater. They got larger. They realized that they had something. They realized that, ‘Well, if they're gonna let five people go for one person, why won't they do this? Or why won't they do that?’”
Carl Mueller said the move raised his hopes a similar swap would be made for his daughter.
“I actually asked the president that question when we were in the White House," he said. "Yeah, that was pretty hard to take.”
He also expressed frustration with a U.S. government policy that forbids paying ransoms for the lives of American citizens, noting other Western countries have paid millions to secure the release of their nationals.
“We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” Carl Mueller said. “And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives. And it didn’t get it changed.”
The Muellers also addressed concern over whether her daughter was too young to truly grasp the danger she put herself in while traveling abroad.
“Well, yeah, it was overenthusiastic youth and, of course, being naïve. But who wasn't, you know?” Carl Mueller said. “How many mistakes have we all made in life that were naïve and didn't get caught at? Kayla was just in a place that was more dangerous than most. And she couldn't help herself. She had to go in there and had to help.”
In her 26 short years, Kayla traveled to the bleakest parts of the world to help the needy.
“The only time we ever saw her was when she was home to earn enough money to buy another plane ticket to go back and work with people,” her brother said.
On Monday, the family unveiled a foundation, Kayla’s Hands, devoted to the causes that its namesake felt passionate about.
“She had to be busy with her hands doing something to help people. And as long as she was, she was just joyful,” her mother said.
"She just didn't have enough power as one little person. Maybe we can get the world behind her, or at least behind Kayla's Hands."
http://www.today.com/news/kayla-muellers-parents-why-we-feel-isis-wanted-release-our-2D80507618
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Tea party, Koch broths, fox news, palin, akin, cheney
Kayla Mueller's parents: Why we feel ISIS wanted to release our daughter
Eun Kyung Kim
Kayla Mueller's parents, Carl and Marsha, say that despite fearing for their daughter's safety in captivity at the hands of ISIS, they were holding out hope for a reunion because of frequent contact with her captors.
"We always had that little bit of hope that we would always get her home," Marsha Mueller told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview.
"I really feel that we had a chance to get Kayla out," her father Carl explained. "We were in communications with them, unlike other families. But how do you raise $6.2 million? You know, it pretty much made it impossible."
Mueller, 26, was confirmed dead on Feb. 10, four days after ISIS claimed she had been killed in an airstrike in Syria.
The Muellers said communication with their daughter's captors fell apart once the White House agreed last year to trade American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, held for five years in Taliban captivity, in exchange for five Taliban detainees being kept in Guantanamo Bay.
“That made the whole situation worse,” said Kayla’s brother, Eric Mueller. “Because that's when the demands got greater. They got larger. They realized that they had something. They realized that, ‘Well, if they're gonna let five people go for one person, why won't they do this? Or why won't they do that?’”
Carl Mueller said the move raised his hopes a similar swap would be made for his daughter.
“I actually asked the president that question when we were in the White House," he said. "Yeah, that was pretty hard to take.”
He also expressed frustration with a U.S. government policy that forbids paying ransoms for the lives of American citizens, noting other Western countries have paid millions to secure the release of their nationals.
“We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” Carl Mueller said. “And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives. And it didn’t get it changed.”
The Muellers also addressed concern over whether her daughter was too young to truly grasp the danger she put herself in while traveling abroad.
“Well, yeah, it was overenthusiastic youth and, of course, being naïve. But who wasn't, you know?” Carl Mueller said. “How many mistakes have we all made in life that were naïve and didn't get caught at? Kayla was just in a place that was more dangerous than most. And she couldn't help herself. She had to go in there and had to help.”
In her 26 short years, Kayla traveled to the bleakest parts of the world to help the needy.
“The only time we ever saw her was when she was home to earn enough money to buy another plane ticket to go back and work with people,” her brother said.
On Monday, the family unveiled a foundation, Kayla’s Hands, devoted to the causes that its namesake felt passionate about.
“She had to be busy with her hands doing something to help people. And as long as she was, she was just joyful,” her mother said.
"She just didn't have enough power as one little person. Maybe we can get the world behind her, or at least behind Kayla's Hands."
http://www.today.com/news/kayla-muellers-parents-why-we-feel-isis-wanted-release-our-2D80507618
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“We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home,” Carl Mueller said. “And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens’ lives. And it didn’t get it changed.”
The Muellers also addressed concern over whether her daughter was too young to truly grasp the danger she put herself in while traveling abroad.
“Well, yeah, it was overenthusiastic youth and, of course, being naïve. But who wasn't, you know?” Carl Mueller said. “How many mistakes have we all made in life that were naïve and didn't get caught at? Kayla was just in a place that was more dangerous than most. And she couldn't help herself. She had to go in there and had to help.”
Pretty sure most young people don't do really stupid shit like this and expect taxpayers to shell out millions of dollars to bail them out.
Unless, of course, they're bankers, automobile manufacturers, running solar energy companies...then million dollar bailouts are cool apparently.
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Outstanding.
Reports: Bowe Bergdahl to be charged with desertion
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
March 25, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/fc5c3a3f02f6bbc4c08b7d4c079a61e644604f83/c=0-109-1993-1608&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/03/25/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635628884747638961-ARM-Bowe-Bergdahl-1.jpg)
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion, the Associated Press reports.
The Army will make a formal announcement this afternoon.
The statement from Army Forces Command will include the Army's next planned steps regarding Bergdahl, who spent five years as a captive under the Taliban before he was freed in a May 31 prisoner swap.
Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Forces Command, was tasked with reviewing the facts and findings from an extensive Army investigation to determine what, if any, actions should be taken against Bergdahl.
The soldier, 28, disappeared from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2009. He has been accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents.
He spent five years as a captive under the Taliban before he was freed in a May 31 prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bergdahl is now assigned to a desk job at U.S. Army North at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, while he awaits the outcome of the Army's review.
The Army has declined to release any details of the six-month investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. The service in January refuted news reports that officials were preparing to charge Bergdahl with desertion.
As the general court-martial convening authority, Milley has several courses of action, from no further action against Bergdahl to court-martial.
The case presents a challenge for the Army's leadership, which has to decide whether to punish a soldier who spent five years as a prisoner of war or essentially overlook the allegations of misconduct that surrounded his disappearance.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/03/25/bowe-bergdahl-army-decision-next-steps/70436058/
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Well I guess he shouldn't have bought the Ford Raptor he's been tooling around here in.....
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Well I guess he shouldn't have bought the Ford Raptor he's been tooling around here in.....
Wurd. You should only buy a "deployment vehicle" if you actually have deployment money. :)
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He had like 500K coming to him if they didn't charge him.....its a nice truck. I don't know how much if any he has already gotten. I just want to know who plays me in the movie
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He had like 500K coming to him if they didn't charge him.....its a nice truck. I don't know how much if any he has already gotten. I just want to know who plays me in the movie
Mark Wahlberg? Post Pain & Gain movie.
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Thats exactly what I said....all he has to do is roll in...short haircut...say fuck 40 or 50 times in like 2 minutes and then leave.
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My phone and email has'nt stopped since 1PM. I have zero to do with Ol Bowe now...fox, cnn...a ton of reporters....
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Fort Leavenworth is calling. :)
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SUSAN RICE FLASHBACK: BERGDAHL SERVED ‘WITH HONOR AND DISTINCTION’
by IAN HANCHETT25 Mar 2015
National Security Advisor Susan Rice defended the prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on the June 1, 2014 brodcast of ABC’s “This Week” by saying Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction.”
Regarding the desertion allegations, she said Bergdahl, “served the United States with honor and distinction. And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years.”
Rice also said that “assurances relating to the movement, the activities, the monitoring of those detainees [released in exchange for Bergdahl] give us confidence that they cannot and, in all likelihood, will not pose a significant risk to the United States. And that it is in our national interests that this transfer had been made.”
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/25/susan-rice-flashback-bergdahl-served-with-honor-and-distinction/
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Army sets date for Bergdahl Article 32
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
April 2, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/5b87f1c3a58e9e954dfef60e623e1fc317ba6a88/c=1-0-639-480&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2015/04/02/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635635894609542522-ARM-Bowe-Bergdahl-post-rescue.JPG)
(Photo: Eugene R. Fidell/AP)
The Article 32 hearing for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is scheduled for July 8 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Army announced Thursday.
Bergdahl, who spent five years as a captive under the Taliban, was charged March 25 with one count of desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty, and one count of misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place.
The decision to charge Bergdahl was made by Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Army Forces Command. It comes after a review of the facts and findings from an extensive Army investigation to determine what, if any, actions should be taken against Bergdahl.
Bergdahl, 28, disappeared from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2009. He has been accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents.
He spent five years as a captive under the Taliban before he was freed in a May 31 prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military p
Bergdahl is now assigned to a desk job at U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston.
The Article 32 will determine if there is enough evidence to merit a court-martial and is often compared to a civilian grand jury inquiry.
Once the Article 32 is completed, the report will be forwarded to Milley, who is the general court-martial convening authority. In that role, Milley has several courses of action, from no further action against Bergdahl to a special or general court-martial.
The desertion charge, which falls under Article 85 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, carries a maximum punishment of five years confinement, a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances.
The misbehavior before the enemy charge, which falls under Article 99 of the UCMJ, carries a maximum punishment of confinement for life as well as a dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to E-1, and forfeiture of pay and allowances.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/2015/04/02/bowe-bergdahl-article-32-scheduled/70846298/
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Remember when Susan Rice said he “served the United States with honor and distinction"?
NCIS investigation reportedly shows Bergdahl had 'deliberate plan' to 'offer himself up' to the Taliban
Published April 07, 2015
FoxNews.com
A 2009 NCIS investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s activities while in Afghanistan reveal that there is clear evidence Bergdahl was “going over to the other side with a deliberate plan,” Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night.
Shaffer, a former military intelligence officer and Fox News contributor, said two senior sources told him that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation included a forensic review of his computer, which show Bergdahl’s apparent intent to travel to Uzbekistan.
“He was going to go off to Uzbekistan,” Shaffer told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “He had made contact with local Afghans and wanted to be moved to Uzbekistan and then made contact with the Russians because he wanted to talk to Russian organized crime ...
“Clearly he was not all there relating to what he was doing,” Shaffer told O'Reilly. “I think we’re going to see more and more, as this report is made public that there were a number of disconcerting things within Bergdahl.”
A military source also told Fox News there was strong intelligence after Bergdahl's 2009 disappearance indicating he was handed over to the Taliban about 10 days after he left his base, and that the group wanted him. The source, who is familiar with the investigation and efforts to recover Bergdahl, said there was an effort to pick up Bergdahl -- and potentially block his crossing into Pakistan -- but the intelligence was either bad or old and the effort was not successful.
According to sources, data collection at the time indicated Bergdahl made contact with an Afghan -- who spoke limited English and was part of a local construction project -- in what appeared to be an effort to lay the groundwork for Bergdahl's departure.
“He had Afghan contacts and he was actually trying to offer himself up with the Taliban. Both are very severe,” Shaffer added.
A leaked military assessment of the immediate search also reported communications traffic, or LLVI (low-level voice intercepts such as cellphone or walkie talkie), that "an American soldier with a camera is looking for someone who speaks English." It is not publicly known if that was connected to the Bergdahl situation.
Shaffer said that the NCIS investigation, which included interviews with squad mates as well as Afghans working outside the wire, resulted in Bergdahl being charged with misbehavior toward the enemy.
Officials say Bergdahl, who was charged with desertion in March, walked away from his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. He was then released from Taliban control in a prisoner exchange last May for five Taliban commanders.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/07/ncis-report-on-bowe-bergdahl-raises-new-questions/?intcmp=trending
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Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 'a case nobody wants to see go to trial'
By David Zucchino
Los Angeles Times (Tribune News Service)
Published: April 28, 2015
While the death penalty is a possible punishment in cases of desertion or misbehavior before the enemy — the charges leveled Tuesday against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — that sentence has rarely been imposed.
Whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl planned to return to his combat outpost is irrelevant, according to the desertion charge the Army has brought against him.
Every year since America's current overseas wars began 14 years ago, hundreds of Army soldiers have abandoned their units — almost 6,000 since 2001. More than 5,000 have been convicted of desertion or being absent without leave, and most were thrown out of the Army.
Yet few of those soldiers end up with the type of sentence confronting Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who could receive from five years up to life in prison if convicted of desertion and misbehavior charges.
The Army has routinely allowed soldiers to plead guilty to lesser charges in administrative actions that allow them to avoid prison time in return for their dismissal on other than honorable discharges.
Few, if any, of those desertion cases attracted the national attention focused on the dramatic tale of Bergdahl, who walked away from his remote combat outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 and was captured by insurgents who held him prisoner for five years.
In many cases, soldiers originally charged with desertion have pleaded guilty to lesser charges under plea deals that military lawyers say allow the Army to quickly rid itself of troublesome soldiers. A bad discharge strips soldiers of benefits and makes it difficult to find a good job.
"Desertions rarely go to trial. They usually end up with a plea," said Gary Solis, a Georgetown University law professor and a former military lawyer and judge.
Bergdahl's case is likely to end with a plea deal as well, according to military lawyers.
"This is a case nobody wants to see go to trial," Solis said. "Bergdahl just wants to go home. And for the Army, this case is just an embarrassment."
Bergdahl, 29, was released last spring under a contentious prisoner exchange that freed five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is awaiting an Article 32 preliminary hearing scheduled for July 8 at Joint Base San Antonio-Ft. Sam Houston in Texas.
Bergdahl's case is a rare example of a soldier abandoning a unit while deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq. Army figures compiled at the request of the Los Angeles Times show that of 6,077 cases of alleged desertion or being absent without leave since 2001, just 41 took place in Afghanistan and 150 in Iraq. Most of the other cases involved soldiers who left their units while stationed in the U.S.
There were convictions or guilty pleas in 33 of the 41 cases in Afghanistan and 133 of the 150 Iraq cases.
Cases stemming from offenses at bases elsewhere also have a high rate of conviction or guilty pleas — 5,110 of 5,886 cases.
Of those cases, just nine involved a charge of "misbehavior before the enemy," a rarely invoked offense. The Army lodged that charge against Bergdahl, who is accused by some members of his former unit of exposing soldiers to enemy attacks while they searched fruitlessly for him.
The misbehavior charge covers nine broad categories of misconduct. It applies to a soldier who "runs away"; "shamefully abandons [or] surrenders" a post; exhibits "cowardly conduct"; "casts away his arms or ammunition" or commits other offenses. Bergdahl is accused of leaving his weapon behind when he walked away from his base.
The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Bergdahl is also accused of "desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty." That charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Desertion normally refers to service members who leave their units without permission for more than 30 days. Service members who abandon their units for less than 30 days are typically charged with being AWOL.
Desertion rates in today's war are probably the lowest of any war in U.S. history, said Fred L. Borch III, regimental historian and archivist at the JAG Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Va.
In World War II, about 50,000 service members deserted from a fighting force of 13 million. Desertion and AWOL were rampant during the Vietnam War, when the conflict was unpopular and draftees resented the military.
Some cases were dealt with through plea bargains or administrative separations, Borch said. But thousands of service members faced court-martial and were imprisoned.
In one notorious case, Pvt. Eddie Slovik was court-martialed and executed in 1945 for deserting before the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. That was the only documented case of execution for desertion in modern U.S. history, Borch said.
The Army said it could not provide statistics on the penalties imposed in the 6,000 desertion cases since 2001, but military lawyers said punishment is more severe for cases in combat zones than on U.S. bases.
Penalties are also significant in cases in which a soldier leaves a U.S.-based unit that has received orders to deploy overseas — a serious offense known as missing a troop movement.
For most other desertion cases that occur away from war zones, soldiers often plead guilty to lesser offenses — usually AWOL — and are reduced in rank and thrown out of the Army with an other than honorable discharge, known as "bad paper."
Even if a plea deal allows a soldier to avoid prison time, the penalty is still significant. A bad discharge carries a stigma that can hamper employment or advancement.
For Bergdahl, who says he was tortured and beaten, his ordeal could mitigate any punishment and possibly the charges against him, military lawyers said. His lawyers could argue that his time as a prisoner is tantamount to time served in military prison, even though Bergdahl's own actions led to his capture.
"The judge might think, well, this guy did do five years with the enemy," Solis said. "He did bring it on himself, but it was no cakewalk."
An other than honorable discharge could prove problematic in Bergdahl's case, said Greg T. Rinckey, a lawyer who has represented service members who left their units.
"This is an individual who will probably need mental healthcare the rest of his life," Rinckey said. "Does the government really want to take away mental healthcare for a soldier who has been held captive and tortured?"
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/army-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-a-case-nobody-wants-to-see-go-to-trial-1.342894
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Taliban 5 could be free to travel in days, lawmakers raise alarm
Published May 27, 2015·
FoxNews.com
The five Taliban leaders traded a year ago for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could be free to travel as early as Monday as the terms of their supervised release are set to expire, raising alarm on Capitol Hill about the possibility they could return to the battlefield.
The five former Guantanamo detainees have been under close monitoring in Qatar and subject to a travel ban since their release last year. The agreement with Qatar is set to expire June 1.
While the Washington Post reported earlier this month that the administration was in talks with Qatari officials about potentially extending security measures for the group, it's unclear if any restrictions will remain in place after the end of the month.
Asked this week if the talks produced any agreement, a State Department official told FoxNews.com, "We don't have any updates."
Congressional lawmakers have grown anxious.
Joe Kasper, spokesman for House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Duncan Hunter R-Calif., said his office has gotten "radio silence" from the administration in asking about the issue.
"They have to be concerned with what happens to the five Taliban because they made every effort to portray the trade as a good deal," Kasper said in an email. "The nightmare scenario for the Administration is if any of these guys show up again within the global battlespace, be it in some kind of leadership position or just as messengers of threats or propaganda."
Members of Congress have repeatedly expressed concern about what will happen after the travel ban expires. They have asked the Obama administration to try to persuade Qatar to extend the monitoring.
"It's impossible for me to see how they don't rejoin the fight in short order," said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote Defense Secretary Ash Carter in March, asking him to take any step necessary to make sure the five do not return to the battlefield in Afghanistan.
"In Congress, we spent a lot of time debating whether the Qataris were going to adequately keep an eye on them in the course of the 12 months," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee. "My point all along was that I'm more worried about month No. 13 than the first 12."
Schiff has been privy to the details of the still-secret memorandum of understanding the U.S. reached with Qatar that put the five under a 12-month watch following their release. "The Qataris did pretty good -- I wouldn't say perfect," he said about the year-long monitoring. "But the big question is what comes next."
Fox News reported in March that, according to a government official familiar with the intelligence, at least three of the five have tried to plug back into their old terror networks.
The Post reported earlier this month that amid these concerns, administration officials were putting several options on the table for keeping some restrictions in place. At the time, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke confirmed the administration was in talks to limit or "mitigate" the risk of former Guantanamo prisoners returning to terrorism. While not mentioning the Taliban Five by name, Rathke did not deny the Post report that these talks were designed to extend the restrictions that expire at the end of the month.
But there was no public indication Tuesday, with just days left on the Qatari deal, on whether the talks led anywhere. Rathke also said Tuesday he had no updates on the issue.
The administration, meanwhile, continues to take heat for last year's trade.
After a lengthy investigation, Bergadhl is being brought up on desertion charges. And on Tuesday, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal told Fox News that his "initial understanding" of Bergdahl's disappearance was that he had walked off the base intentionally.
Fox News had reported in April that, according to Bergdahl's platoon mates, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen also knew those details. With McChrystal's comments, this would indicate two of the most-senior military commanders understood the alleged circumstances of Bergdahl's departure, raising more questions about the Taliban-Bergdahl trade itself and the way the deal was initially portrayed to the public.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, asked Tuesday about McChrystal's comments and whether President Obama also was told Bergdahl walked off the base, did not respond directly.
He cited the ongoing military "process" underway, and said: "I'm not going to weigh in on this particular situation until that justice process has run its course."
He reiterated that Obama, as commander-in-chief, has a "special responsibility" to live up to the "principle" that no one in a U.S. military uniform is left behind.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/taliban-5-could-be-free-to-travel-in-days-lawmakers-raise-alarm/
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Bergdahl appeared to lay groundwork for his disappearance in Afghanistan, squad mates say
By Catherine Herridge
Published May 29, 2015
FoxNews.com
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl slept on his bed frame, and then the concrete floor, collected contact information, and talked about becoming a mercenary in what his squad mates now describe as behavior that laid the groundwork for his disappearance in Afghanistan nearly six years ago.
"I asked him, 'Why are you sleeping on the frame of your bed?'" former Sgt. Matt Vierkant recalled in a recent interview with Fox News. "I was like well, that's weird. And then I remember coming back -- I don’t know if it was a week later, a couple days, and he had quit doing that and now he was just sleeping on concrete floor, which didn't make sense to me, but now, in hindsight being 20-20, makes me wonder if he was training to live like that."
Fox News has spoken to five of Bergdahl's former squad mates with first-hand knowledge of events leading up to his capture by the Taliban after he disappeared on June 30, 2009.
While it has been widely reported Bergdahl sent his computer home, the men shed new light on other events that suggest it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for Bergdahl to walk off base.
Bergdahl asked one of his squad mates for contact information, including a phone number and email, a gesture usually reserved for the end of deployments. He also talked at length about becoming a mercenary and wondered out loud if he could walk to India, some 1000 miles away.
Two of the squad mates said he was a fan of the 2007 movie “The Hitman,” based on a popular video game starring Timothy Olyphant, but they were divided on what to make of it.
"He liked to watch the movie ‘Hit Man.’ I know he liked to watch other war movies and stuff like that. For the most part, he didn't really watch any TV and movies...really to a minimum except for by himself on his laptop," Vierkant said.
Bergdahl was traded on May 31, 2014 for five senior Taliban commanders who were sent to the Gulf nation of Qatar.
Two of the squad mates were asked by the military to sign non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, after Bergdahl disappeared and they had been interviewed multiple times about the case.
When asked by Fox News, the Army did not dispute that account, but declined to comment, citing Bergdahl's upcoming preliminary hearing on desertion charges scheduled for July 8 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
"I can't remember, ever, having an enlisted soldier sign a non-disclosure agreement for anything. This is completely unprecedented," said Bob Scales, a retired general and Fox News contributor. "These non-disclosure arguments have got nothing to do with military justice."
The NDAs were presented to the men in a period after an informal Q and A session with then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen, who was on a USO tour in December 2009, and before the end of their deployment in 2010.
At the meeting, three of Bergdahl's squad mates, who spoke on the record to Fox, said Mullen acknowledged that he, too, knew the 29-year-old had intentionally walked off base six months earlier.
"So we asked him and he told us that, he said 'Yeah, we know all the circumstances surrounding him (Bergdahl) walking away, you know we know everything. And we are, we're still looking for him... we're still trying to figure out where he is," said former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow.
This week, in an interview with Fox News, Retired General Stanley McCrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan when Bergdahl disappeared, said he knew, almost in real time, that he had "intentionally" left base.
Given the meeting with Mullen, who reported only to the secretary of defense as well as the president, and confirmation this week from McCrystal, White House spokesman Josh Earnest still would not say Thursday when President Obama learned that Bergdahl intentionally left post and whether it factored into his decision to trade the Taliban Five for his freedom.
In a bizarre moment, Earnest cited an ongoing investigation, though Bergdahl has been charged with desertion.
"Without the benefit of an investigation and, there is a current ongoing investigation into to the circumstances of Sergeant Bergdahl's disappearance, I can't say anything about that investigation. As the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief, I don't want any perception of interference in that independent investigation,” Earnest told “America's Newsroom” host Bill Hemmer.
"Sergeant Bergdahl is entitled to due process. That is what he is being subjected to right now. I don't want to get in the way of that."
“We don’t leave anyone behind, but the thing is, we never left him behind,” Vierkant said. “He left us behind. He chose to walk off and do whatever and get captured. That was his fault. Those were his choices. We did not leave him behind.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/29/bergdahl-laid-groundwork-for-his-disappearance-in-afghanistan-squad-mates-say/?intcmp=latestnews
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Former CIA operative: Bergdahl was ‘high’ when captured in Afghanistan
By Catherine Herridge
Published June 15, 2015
FoxNews.com
EXCLUSIVE: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was apparently “high” with a small group of Afghan soldiers when they were picked up by nomads in 2009, according to a former CIA operative who was running a network of informants on the ground.
The information brings some additional detail to the otherwise murky picture of the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance and capture, five years before the Obama administration traded five Guantanamo prisoners for Bergdahl’s freedom. The former CIA operative told Fox News Bergdahl was captured along with others, and sold to the Haqqani terrorist network in Pakistan within four days.
"The call came in and what it said was they had just broken out the message that an American soldier along with two or three Afghan soldiers had been captured or taken by a group of nomads,"Duane 'Dewey' Clarridge told Fox News, speaking for the first time publicly about the incident.
He added that the call said, “they were using the Pashto ‘diwana,’ which in this case meant high on hashish."
At the height of the Afghan war, Clarridge says he set up a network of informants to secure the release of a western journalist. Sometime after midnight, on June 30, 2009, the network came across surprising information about this other case.
Initially, Clarridge -- a 30-year veteran of the CIA who was involved in Iran-Contra -- said he had no idea who the soldier was until his informants reported that Army search teams were scouring the Afghan villages, calling out an unusual name.
"The patrols were moving around aggressively and were shouting ‘Bowe Bowe,’ and the guys down-range wanted to know, what was Bowe?” Clarridge explained. “It was at that point, we were told that the soldier was Bowe Bergdahl."
The unclassified information -- that Bergdahl was apparently high, and held by Afghan nomads, before being sold to the Haqqani terrorist network across the border in Pakistan -- was passed through the proper intelligence channels and pushed forward into Afghanistan.
Asked whether the revelations factored into the White House's decision to swap Bergdahl for the Taliban Five, there was no denial.
"There is an ongoing military justice inquiry into the circumstances of his disappearance, and I don't want to say anything about that ongoing investigation that may in any way interfere,"White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Retired Lt. Gen. David Fridovich, a former senior special operations commander who watched events unfold in 2009, told Fox News the information was deemed "credible" and "highly useful."
Within four days of the initial on-the-ground intelligence reporting, Bergdahl had apparently been sold to the Haqqani terrorist network, and was well beyond U.S. government reach in Pakistan.
"[Operatives on the ground] had an opinion that the nomads would try and sell the soldiers probably to the Haqqanis. ... I can't say precisely, but I think it was certainly within four days and maybe less," Clarridge said, though he added the opinion was not shared by the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies, and the dangerous village-to-village search continued.The death of six American soldiers at that time is publicly linked to the Bergdahl search.
Bergdahl's military hearing in Texas for alleged desertion was pushed back until September. His lawyer Eugene Fidell declined to answer questions from Fox News for a second time.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/15/former-cia-operative-bergdahl-was-high-when-captured-in-afghanistan/
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Military selects rarely used charge for Bowe Bergdahl case
By Jonathan Drew, The Associated Press
September 7, 2015
RALEIGH, N.C. — Military prosecutors have reached into a section of military law seldom used since World War II in the politically fraught case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan.
Observers wondered for months if Bergdahl would be charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the U.S. to bring him home. He was — but he was also charged with misbehavior before the enemy, a much rarer offense that carries a stiffer potential penalty in this case.
"I've never seen it charged," Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army's top lawyer, said of the misbehavior charge. "It's not something you find in common everyday practice in the military."
Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he "left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations."
Huffman and others say the misbehavior charge allows authorities to allege that Bergdahl not only left his unit with one less soldier, but that his deliberate action put soldiers who searched for him in harm's way. The Pentagon has said there is no evidence anyone died searching for Bergdahl.
"You're able to say that what he did had a particular impact or put particular people at risk. It is less generic than just quitting," said Lawrence Morris, a retired Army colonel who served as the branch's top prosecutor and top public defender.
The Obama administration has been criticized both for agreeing to release five Taliban operatives from the Guantanamo Bay prison and for heralding Bergdahl's return to the U.S. with an announcement in the White House Rose Garden. The administration stood by the way it secured his release even after the charges were announced.
The military has scheduled an initial court appearance known as an Article 32 hearing for Bergdahl on Sept. 17 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The proceeding is similar to a civilian grand jury, and afterward the case could be referred to a court-martial and go to trial.
Misbehavior before the enemy was used hundreds of times during World War II, but scholars say its use appears to have dwindled in conflicts since then. Misbehavior before the enemy cases were tried at least 494 times for soldiers in Europe between 1942 and 1945, according to a Military Law Review article.
Legal databases and media accounts turn up only a few misbehavior cases since 2001 when fighting began in Afghanistan, followed by Iraq less than two years later. By contrast, statistics show the U.S. Army prosecuted about 1,900 desertion cases between 2001 and the end of 2014.
The misbehavior charge is included in Article 99 of the military justice code, which is best known for its use to prosecute cases of cowardice. However, Article 99 encompasses nine different offenses including several not necessarily motivated by cowardice, such as causing a false alarm or endangering one's unit — the charge Bergdahl faces.
The complexity of Article 99 may be one reason it's not frequently used, said Morris, who published a book on the military justice system.
"It is of course more complicated than the desertion charge, not as well understood, a higher burden on the government to prove," he said.
Huffman, now a law professor at Texas Tech University, said another reason may be that different parts of military law already deal with similar misconduct, including disobeying orders and avoiding duty.
Recent prosecutions under the misbehavior charge include a Marine lance corporal who pleaded guilty after refusing to provide security for a convoy leaving base in Iraq in 2004. A soldier in Iraq was charged with cowardice in 2003 under Article 99 after he saw a mangled body and sought counseling, but the charges were later dropped.
The specification that Bergdahl faces appears in the 1971 case of an Army captain accused of endangering a base in Vietnam by disobeying an order to establish an ambush position. The captain was found guilty of other charges including dereliction of duty.
Another case cited in a 1955 military law journal says an Army corporal was convicted under Article 99 of endangering his unit in Korea by getting drunk on duty. The article says he "became so drunk that it took the tank company commander thirty minutes to arouse him."
For Bergdahl, the Article 99 offense allows the prosecutors to seek a stiffer penalty than the desertion charge, which in this case carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Bergdahl's attorney, Eugene Fidell, has argued his client is being charged twice for the same action, saying in a previous television interview that "it's unfortunate that someone got creative in drafting the charge sheet and figured out two ways to charge the same thing."
The scholars say that's a valid issue for Fidell to bring up in court, but it may not sway military authorities.
"The question is: Is it a piling on?" said Jeffrey K. Walker, a St. John's University law professor, retiredAir Force officer and former military lawyer. "It does almost look like you're trying to get two bites at the same apple."
Associated Press news researchers Jennifer Farrar and Barbara Sambriski contributed to this report.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/09/07/military-selects-rarely-used-charge-for-bowe-bergdahl-case/71837020/
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Navy SEAL shares dramatic attempt to save Bowe Bergdahl
By Theodore Schleifer, CNN
Sat September 12, 2015
When the two helicopters touched down during a rescue attempt shortly after Bergdahl vanished, the team immediately came under heavy fire. With a dog named Remco -- who ended up being shot -- they advanced. But Hatch was eventually shot right above his knee, and the helicopters had to be called back in to extract the wounded SEAL.
"I took a lot of that on myself. I felt like maybe if I had done things just a little differently -- not gotten hurt -- you know, the mission wouldn't have failed," Hatch said. "There's no way to know that. At the time, it was a failure to me and I was the cause of it."
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus eventually awarded Hatch a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Since then, Hatch has created a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping working dogs get medical care and proper protection.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/politics/navy-seal-bowe-bergdahl-anderson-cooper/index.html
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The Latest on Bergdahl: Bergdahl's Platoon Leader Testifies
By JUAN A. LOZANO, ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO
Sep 17, 2015
The latest on the Article 32 hearing for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to determine if he should face a court-martial on charges of desertion and and misbehavior before the enemy. All times are local.
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11:10 a.m.
The head of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's platoon in Afghanistan says he thought his soldiers were joking when they told him that the Idaho native had gone missing from their post.
Capt. John Billings testified at Bergdahl's Article 32 hearing Thursday that he felt "utter disbelief" that one of his soldiers had gone missing.
Billings told military prosecutor Maj. Margaret Kurz that the search for Bergdahl was grueling at times and lasted from June 30, 2009 — the day he went missing — until the end of that August.
The hearing at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where Bergdahl is based, will determine if he will face a military trial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl was exchanged after five years in captivity for five Taliban commanders.
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9:20 a.m.
A hearing has begun to determine if Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should face a military trial for leaving his post in Afghanistan in June 2009.
The Article 32 hearing at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where Bergdahl is based, will determine if the Idaho native will face a court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl's lead attorney, Eugene Fidell, has said he plans to call witnesses during the hearing, which could last several days. He declined to say if Bergdahl would be among them, but he has said details would emerge about the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's disappearance from his post.
The Taliban held Bergdahl captive for five years until exchanging him for five Taliban commanders being held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-bergdahl-hearing-bergdahl-hearing-begins-33829555
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Officers stress dangers involved in search for Bowe Bergdahl
By Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press
September 17, 2015
SAN ANTONIO — The commanders of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's platoon, company and battalion testified Thursday that his disappearance from his post in Afghanistan six years ago put a strain on their forces and put his fellow soldiers in danger.
Attorneys for Bergdahl, who is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, will get to present their own evidence and call witnesses on Friday on the second day of the hearing to determine if Bergdahl should face a court-martial. His lead attorney, Eugene Fidell, said after Thursday's proceedings that he would call four witnesses, though he declined to say if Bergdahl would be one of them.
Military prosecutors focused on trying to substantiate the misbehavior charge, which carries a possible life sentence and which would require them to prove that Bergdahl's actions put other soldiers in harm's way.
Capt. John Billings, who led Bergdahl's platoon, described the 45-day search for the Idaho native as grueling, saying soldiers got little food or sleep and endured temperatures in the high-90s.
"Physically, mentally I was defeated," Billings said, adding that he felt like he had "failed" his men.
His company commander, Maj. Silvino Silvino, said some of the thousands of soldiers who took part in the search were angry about it because they felt Bergdahl had deserted.
"I would tell them we are doing what we are doing because he is our brother," Silvino testified.
Finally, Bergdahl's battalion commander, Col. Clinton Baker, said that although no soldiers died as part of the search, there was a spike in improvised explosive device attacks because soldiers were going to places they ordinarily wouldn't have gone. He also said he had to put counter-insurgency efforts on hold due to the search and that it hurt partnerships with the Afghan government and Afghan forces.
Bergdahl spent five years as a Taliban captive until he was exchanged last year for five Taliban commanders who were being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The prisoner swap was sharply criticized by many Republicans and some Democrats, who said it was politically motivated and counter to the U.S. policy against negotiating with terrorists.
Bergdahl spent much of Thursday's hearing taking notes and conferring with his attorneys. Wearing his blue and black dress uniform, he answered "Yes sir, I do," when asked whether he understood the charges by the officer presiding over the hearing.
Before disappearing, Bergdahl had expressed opposition to the war in general and misgivings about his own role in it. Military prosecutor Maj. Margaret Kurz said Thursday that Bergdahl had actually been planning for weeks to abandon the post and had emailed friends and family about his plans beforehand.
"Under the cover of darkness, he snuck off the post," Kurz told the courtroom.
Legal experts said they expected Bergdahl's lawyers to argue that he suffered enough during his years in captivity. After the hearing wrapped up for the day, Fidell repeated his call for the military to make public Bergdahl's interview with military investigators after the prisoner exchange, saying it would help counteract the negative publicity Bergdahl has faced. He declined to discuss his strategy or to say whether Bergdahl's mental health history would play a role.
Under questioning by one of Bergdahl's attorneys Thursday, both Billings and Silvino said Bergdahl had been a model soldier until he disappeared. Both also said they weren't aware of Bergdahl's mental health history, including his psychological discharge from the U.S. Coast Guard and that an Army psychiatric board had concluded that Bergdahl possessed "severe mental defect."
If Bergdahl is eventually convicted of the misbehavior charge, he could face up to life in a military prison. He could also be dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank and made to forfeit all pay.
The Article 32 hearing will result in a report that will be forwarded to Gen. Robert Abrams, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command. Abrams will decide whether the case should be referred to a court-martial or is resolved in another manner.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/09/17/platoon-leader-describes-shock-at-bergdahls-disappearance/32560185/
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Experts: Mitigating factors could affect Bergdahl case
By Nancy Montgomery
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 4, 2015
Five years of torment at the hands of what one witness called “psychopathic sadists” make it likely that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would serve little if any jail time, military lawyers said, even if he were court-martialed and found guilty of desertion and misconduct.
Testimony about Bergdahl’s horrific treatment by the Taliban-associated Haqqani network — as well as other evidence largely undisputed by prosecutors at his Article 32 probable-cause hearing on whether he should face court-martial — revealed significant mitigating factors, experts said. That evidence, if left unchallenged, would probably spare him confinement were he convicted, the lawyers said, and could replace court-martial with another disposition.
“It’s hard for me to imagine either a judge or a military panel sentencing him to any additional confinement with the facts of this case,” said Victor Hansen, a former Army lawyer who’s now an associate law professor at the New England School of Law. “From a fairness point, what more do we want to punish him for?”
Lt. Col. Mark Visger, who presided over Bergdahl’s two-day hearing in San Antonio last month, is expected to provide his recommendations Monday to Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the U.S. Forces Command. Abrams inherited convening authority in the case after Gen. Mark Milley, who in March charged Bergdahl, was promoted to Army chief of staff.
But the recommendation is just that; Abrams could disregard it. It’s also possible that prosecutors, who did not dispute evidence nor introduce aggravating evidence, might do so if Abrams sends the case to court-martial.
Testimony at the preliminary hearing painted a sympathetic picture of Bergdahl, one at odds with public speculation on the case, including his motives for slipping away from his observation post in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009, his state of mind, his actions while in captivity and whether U.S. soldiers were killed searching for him.
The unusual charges against Bergdahl — desertion with the intent to shirk or avoid hazardous or important service, and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered troops who had to search for him — carry a maximum potential of life in prison along with dishonorable discharge. Maximum sentences under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are rarely levied, however, even in cases without the extensive mitigating circumstances of the Berdahl case.
According to undisputed testimony, just weeks into his 2009 deployment to Afghanistan, then-Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl hatched a quixotic plan to alert the highest levels of command to what he considered serious leadership issues in his unit that were endangering troops. He would disappear from his outpost, creating a crisis reaching all the way to the Pentagon, run to the forward-operating base 19 miles away, and demand that a general officer hear him out.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who did the “15-6” command investigation that led to the charges, described Bergdahl as an “unrealistic idealist” who often misperceived situations, including inflated views of his own abilities and the flaws of others and felt honor-bound to bring his concerns about his command to light.
“He felt that it was his responsibility to intervene,” Dahl testified, no matter the repercussions to himself or his chances of success.
Dahl testified that his investigation found no evidence that troops were killed during the search for Bergdahl and said it would be “inappropriate” to send him to jail.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban within hours after leaving post. For the next five years, he was beaten with hoses and chains, tied spread-eagled to a bed until his muscles atrophied, starved, humiliated and kept in a cage, according to testimony by Terrence Russell, an official with the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, a survival specialist who debriefed Bergdahl. Russell, no stranger to harsh treatment, teared up recalling Bergdahl’s treatment. He said that Bergdahl had tried valiantly to escape, to resist and to stay alive to bring back intelligence.
Bergdahl, 29, sustained permanent disabilities in captivity, according to testimony of medical personnel.
“If we say Bergdahl is to blame for what happened to him — then what?” said Zachary Spilman, a former active-duty U.S. Marine lawyer who served in Afghanistan in 2010 and is now a reservist in private practice and the lead writer of a military criminal justice blog. “Do we as a society just cast this kid out? Any objective observer would say whatever Bergdahl did wrong, he has suffered enough.”
Army prosecutor Maj. Margaret Kurz agreed, saying at the hearing: “Indeed, he has suffered greatly.” But if someone robbed a bank, crashed the getaway vehicle and ended up an amputee, she said, he would be prosecuted for bank robbery.
“He’s not allowed to say, ‘I shouldn’t be punished,’ ” Kurz said.
Bergdahl was discharged from initial training in the Coast Guard for depression and failure to adapt, and had required a waiver to enlist in the Army in 2008, when the service had lowered its standards, according to his defense lawyer, Eugene Fidell.
He was a stellar soldier, one of Bergdahl’s sergeants testified, but with such obvious emotional difficulties that the sergeant had asked the company first sergeant to intercede. The first sergeants’ creed vows that he or she will “dedicate my time and energy to (soldiers’) needs; their health, morale, discipline and welfare.”
But the first sergeant ignored the lower-ranking sergeant, saying that his opinions were worthless, according to testimony.
Any failures by Bergdahl’s chain of command would likely be mitigating evidence, experts said, that would reduce Bergdahl’s culpability.
“I wouldn’t want to be the prosecutor,” Spilman said. “I wouldn’t want to have to prove this case.”
A retired senior military official agreed that the facts of the case present an uphill battle for prosecutors at court-martial.
“Bergdahl’s going to say his higher duty is to file a complaint,” said the official, who declined to be identified to discuss an ongoing, sensitive case. “You can argue that that’s not his business. But in the court of public opinion, which the Army’s concerned about, that’s not going to play well.”
Yet the charges against Bergdahl appear to be correct under the law, the official said.
“If you believe this is what he did and why he did it, the charges fit the facts. Just saying, ‘He’s a screwball,’ is not good enough,” the official said. “The foreseeable consequences of his actions was putting his unit in danger. There has to be some kind of accountability.”
Once the Army had the facts from Bergdahl’s voluntary interview with Dahl, it had little choice but to charge Bergdahl, in part for the optics, the official said.
“It’s a commander exercising the prerogative to put a label on behavior and communicate to the entire force that this is abhorrent,” the official said. “Messaging is important.”
That argument was not universally accepted.
“What message do you send to the other troops? ‘Don’t be delusional?’ ” Hansen said.
“And the capture is a message in itself. The Taliban did that for us. Message received.”
Taking the case to court-martial, Hansen said, expending the time and resources, “would be really stupid.”
Several military lawyers suggested that a reasonable outcome would be for Bergdahl’s defense to request a so-called Chapter 10 discharge — an other-than-honorable discharge in lieu of court-martial — and for the Army to grant it. That would spare Bergdahl any possibility of confinement, criminal record or dishonorable discharge denying him a medical disability and other benefits.
But a Chapter 10 discharge would jeopardize VA benefits for Bergdahl, experts said. Fidell maintains that Bergdahl should be medically retired with an honorable discharge. His client could reasonably be held responsible for, at most, being absent without leave for one day.
The minute he was taken captive, Fidell said, Bergdahl became a kidnapping victim.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/experts-mitigating-factors-could-affect-bergdahl-case-1.371729
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Bowe Bergdahl’s trial is here… and here’s why Obama hopes you won’t notice
Written by Allen West on October 7, 2015
(http://www.allenbwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MW-CI044_obama__MG_20140613081218-300x180.jpg)
Finally, we’ve gotten to the Bowe Bergdahl trial and are finding out some very interesting things. In case you’ve forgotten, Bergdahl is the Army soldier who left his assigned duty station on a combat outpost in Afghanistan. He left his weapon, night vision devices and body armor — and deserted his post. Those are the facts, simple and true.
Now, it seems Bergdahl’s defense could be based upon what are being termed “mitigating” factors.
As reported in Military.com:
Five years of torment at the hands of what one witness called “psychopathic sadists” make it likely that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would serve little if any jail time, military lawyers said, even if he were court-martialed and found guilty of desertion and misconduct.
Testimony about Bergdahl’s horrific treatment by the Taliban-associated Haqqani network — as well as other evidence largely undisputed by prosecutors at his Article 32 probable-cause hearing on whether he should face court-martial — revealed significant mitigating factors, experts said. That evidence, if left unchallenged, would probably spare him confinement were he convicted, the lawyers said, and could replace court-martial with another disposition.
“It’s hard for me to imagine either a judge or a military panel sentencing him to any additional confinement with the facts of this case,” said Victor Hansen, a former Army lawyer who’s now an associate law professor at the New England School of Law. “From a fairness point, what more do we want to punish him for?”
Lt. Col. Mark Visger, who presided over Bergdahl’s two-day hearing in San Antonio last month, is expected to provide his recommendations Monday to Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the U.S. Forces Command. Abrams inherited convening authority in the case after Gen. Mark Milley, who in March charged Bergdahl, was promoted to Army chief of staff.
But the recommendation is just that; Abrams could disregard it. It’s also possible that prosecutors, who did not dispute evidence nor introduce aggravating evidence, might do so if Abrams sends the case to court-martial.
I have two words for this assertion about “mitigating factors” — bovine excrement! What kind of insidious crap is this? Let’s be very honest, there’s only one mitigating factor: Bowe Bergdahl wouldn’t have been in the hands of the Haqqani Network if he’d kept his arse on his combat outpost. Have we lost all sense of individual responsibility in our society and the military?
Bergdahl’s supposed detention for five years was of his own choosing. He made a conscious choice to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice by deserting in a combat zone. Folks, that’s punishable by death, which of course won’t happen. But to come up with this weak-as-pond-water mess that he’s already suffered is unconscionable.
Let’s consider something, why is it that Bergdahl was held for those five years? This enemy we face does not “hold on” to American combat troops. They’re ritually disemboweled and savagely beheaded. What were the “mitigating factors” that meant Bowe Bergdahl got special treatment? He certainly didn’t look like he was in bad health.
You want to know another “mitigating factor”? Consider the six U.S. soldiers who lost their lives searching for a deserter, Bowe Bergdahl, what about their suffering — they’re dead. They lost their lives because some deserter decided to abandon them. Guess what, they didn’t abandon him and they lost their lives in pursuing that noble goal.
Ladies and Gents, this episode stinks with undue command influence. It’s rather interesting that the person who did the investigation on Bergdahl is now the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. If anyone believes President Obama wants a long, drawn-out court case with a life imprisonment verdict for someone he traded for five senior Taliban leaders, you’re misguided. Obama wants Bergdahl’s case to go away, with minimal consequence.
Here’s the angle that’ll be pursued on Bergdahl’s behalf — he’s a victim. And we know the liberal progressive left loves a victim. This excerpt from the Military.com article explains it all:
The unusual charges against Bergdahl — desertion with the intent to shirk or avoid hazardous or important service, and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered troops who had to search for him — carry a maximum potential of life in prison along with dishonorable discharge. Maximum sentences under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are rarely levied, however, even in cases without the extensive mitigating circumstances of the Bergdahl case.
According to undisputed testimony, just weeks into his 2009 deployment to Afghanistan, then-Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl hatched a quixotic plan to alert the highest levels of command to what he considered serious leadership issues in his unit that were endangering troops. He would disappear from his outpost, creating a crisis reaching all the way to the Pentagon, run to the forward-operating base 19 miles away, and demand that a general officer hear him out.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who did the “15-6” command investigation that led to the charges, described Bergdahl as an “unrealistic idealist” who often misperceived situations, including inflated views of his own abilities and the flaws of others and felt honor-bound to bring his concerns about his command to light.
“He felt that it was his responsibility to intervene,” Dahl testified, no matter the repercussions to himself or his chances of success.
Dahl testified that his investigation found no evidence that troops were killed during the search for Bergdahl and said it would be “inappropriate” to send him to jail.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban within hours after leaving post. For the next five years, he was beaten with hoses and chains, tied spread-eagled to a bed until his muscles atrophied, starved, humiliated and kept in a cage, according to testimony by Terrence Russell, an official with the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, a survival specialist who debriefed Bergdahl. Russell, no stranger to harsh treatment, teared up recalling Bergdahl’s treatment. He said that Bergdahl had tried valiantly to escape, to resist and to stay alive to bring back intelligence.
I have just one question for all these “experts,” investigating officers and purveyors of “mitigating factors:” — how many U.S. combat troops deserted their duty posts in Iraq and Afghanistan? How many in Bergdahl’s unit felt conditions were so bad they walked off their duty post?
It’s amazing to me all of these concessions are being made for a deserter — the only relevant factor. If Bowe Bergdahl hadn’t deserted, he wouldn’t have been taken by the enemy. Plain and simple. He was not “captured,” as he was not fighting. And if his injuries were so bad, why was he so able to go off Ft. Sam Houston into the local community?
The liberal progressive mindset was on full display by Susan Rice who declared Bergdahl served with honor and distinction. Funny, the U.S. Army wants to kick SFC Charles Martland out of the service — a Green Beret soldier with a Bronze Star for Valor award — for beating the crap out of an Afghan police chief guilty of raping a twelve-year-old boy and beating his mother.
But Bowe Bergdahl, a deserter, is a victim for whom we should consider the “mitigating factors” this coward brought upon himself?
This, Ladies and Gents, is Barack Obama’s military. Cowards are heroes, and heroes are demonized. Doggone FUBAR!
http://www.allenbwest.com/2015/10/bowe-bergdahls-trial-is-here-and-heres-why-obama-hopes-you-wont-notice/
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Army officer recommends no jail time for Bowe Bergdahl, attorney says
Published October 10, 2015
Associated Press
An Army officer is recommending that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a lower-level court martial and be spared the possibility of jail time for leaving his post in Afghanistan, his lawyer said Saturday.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban after leaving his post on June 30, 2009, and held until last year, when he was exchanged for five Taliban commanders. His commanding officers in Afghanistan say a 45-day search for Bergdahl put soldiers in danger.
Military prosecutors charged Bergdahl in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, a charge that could carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
But defense attorney Eugene Fidell said Lt. Col. Mark Visger has recommended that Sgt. Bergdahl's case be referred to a special court martial, which is a misdemeanor-level forum. It limits the maximum punishment to reduction in rank, a bad-conduct discharge and a term of up to a year in prison.
Fidell also said that Visger recommended that there be no prison time or punitive discharge against Bergdahl. In light of Visger's recommendations, the defense is asking that the case be disposed of non-judicially, rather than by any court martial.
Visger presided over last month's Article 32 hearing in Texas that reviewed evidence against Bergdahl. Visger submitted a report with his recommendation on Monday, but the Army hadn't said what Visger recommended.
Gen. Robert Abrams, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, will ultimately decide whether the case should be referred to a court-martial. No timeline has been given for a decision from Abrams.
"These are highly discretionary matters and, needless to say, I hope General Abrams does the right thing, but it's his call," Fidell said by phone Saturday.
The Obama administration's prisoner swap was sharply criticized by many Republicans and some Democrats, who said it was politically motivated and counter to the U.S. policy against negotiating with terrorists.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan and called him a "no-good traitor," which he also said in August.
Paul Boyce, a spokesman for the U.S. Army's Force Command, released a statement Saturday that didn't confirm Visger's decision.
"As legal action is ongoing, we continue to maintain careful respect for the military-judicial process, the rights of the accused, and ensuring the case's fairness and impartiality," Boyce said.
Philip Cave, a retired Navy judge advocate now in private practice in Virginia, said commanders often follow the officer's recommendation.
"The real issue here is the politics. That's the elephant in the room. How much is Abrams going to be affected by the politics?" Cave said. "I think the answer is, fairly little at this point."
Fidell released a memorandum addressed to Visger. It said the defense team is "grateful for the balanced, judicious, and humane approach you have taken to this complex case, and for the evenhanded way you conducted the public hearing."
It added that Visger's report should be made public "so the American people can be fully informed of your findings."
"The pity is, there's no reason for not having transparency," Fidell said Saturday, adding that Bergdahl's defense team planned to file a written appeal next week seeking to have the full report released. "It's a self-inflicted wound for the Army."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/10/military-officer-recommends-bowe-bergdahl-shouldnt-face-jail-time-punitive/?intcmp=hpbt3
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The Army is apparently gearing up for a big battle. I hope they put this traitor in prison.
Bergdahl says he left Afghanistan base to expose 'leadership failure'
Published December 11, 2015
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho – Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he walked off his base in Afghanistan to cause a crisis that would catch the attention of military brass.
He wanted to warn them about what he believed were serious problems with leadership in his unit. And he wanted to prove himself as a real-life action hero, like someone out of a movie.
Bergdahl hasn't spoken publicly about his decision or his subsequent five-year imprisonment by the Taliban and the prisoner swap that secured his return to the United States. But over the past several months he spoke extensively with screenwriter Mark Boal, who shared about 25 hours of the recorded interviews with Sarah Koenig for her popular podcast, "Serial."
"As a private first-class, nobody is going to listen to me," Bergdahl says in the first episode of the podcast, released Thursday. "No one is going to take me serious that an investigation needs to be put underway."
Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces up to life in prison, though an Army officer has recommended that Bergdahl's case be moved to a special misdemeanor-level military court.
His attorney Eugene Fidell says politicians and would-be politicians have been using Bergdahl as a talking point to push their own agendas for months, a situation he described as creating "gale-force political winds."
The more the public can hear Bergdahl's own words, the better, Fidell told The Associated Press.
"Some of the information that is going to come out is inevitably not going to be what we would have preferred in a perfect universe, but net-net, we'll take it and allow people in our democratic society to form their own opinions," Fidell said.
Bergdahl's interview is another coup for makers of "Serial," which established podcasts as a viable outlet when the first season was downloaded more than 100 million times. Makers wouldn't say how long the new season would last; the first one was 12 separate episodes.
In the episode, Bergdahl says he wanted to expose the "leadership failure" he experienced in Afghanistan. The episode does not elaborate on what that failure was, but he says he believed at the time his disappearance and his plan to reappear at another location would give him access to top officials. After leaving the base after midnight, he worries about the reception he'll get once he reappears, and decides to try to get information on who was planting bombs in the area. That information will help smooth things over with angry military officials, he figures.
Sarah Koenig, the host and executive producer of "Serial," describes Bergdahl as a "radical, idiosyncratic" man in the episode. She says Bergdahl shipped his personal items home, bought local attire and pulled out $300 in U.S. dollars and Afghanis ahead of leaving the base.
Bergdahl acknowledges his motives weren't entirely idealistic.
"I was trying to prove to myself, I was trying to prove to the world, to anybody who used to know me ... I was capable of being what I appeared to be," Bergdahl says. "Doing what I did was me saying I am like Jason Bourne. I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world I was the real thing."
He says after the sun came up, a group of men on motorcycles captured him as he walked through nearby flatland desert.
He also discusses the psychological torment of being held captive for years.
"It's like how do I explain to a person that just standing in an empty dark room hurts?" Bergdahl recounts. "It's like well, a person asked me, 'Why does it hurt? Does your body hurt?' Yes, your body hurts but it's more than that. It's mental, like, almost confused. ... I would wake up not even remembering what I was."
He adds: "It's like you're standing there, screaming in your mind."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/12/11/bergdahl-says-left-afghanistan-base-to-expose-leadership-failure/?intcmp=hplnws
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Good.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face court-martial for desertion, misbehavior charges
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
December 14, 2015
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been recommended for trial by general court-martial, the Army announced Monday.
Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy and could face life in prison.
The case was referred to court-martial by Gen. Robert Abrams, commanding general of Forces Command and the court-martial convening authority in the case.
A date for his arraignment hearing has not been announced. The hearing is expected to take place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where FORSCOM has its headquarters.
"The convening authority did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officer who heard the witnesses," Bergdahl's lawyer, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement.
Bergdahl's defense team "had hoped the case would not go in this direction. We will continue to defend Sgt. Bergdahl as the case proceeds."
The Army's announcement comes days after "Serial," one of the nation's most popular podcasts, launched its series on Bergdahl. The first episode of the series features snippets of conversations between the soldier and filmmaker Mark Boal, who worked as a writer and producer on "Zero Dark Thirty" and "The Hurt Locker."
It's the first time the public will hear directly from Bergdahl, at length, about his ordeal.
Bergdahl spent five years as a captive under the Taliban and was released last year in a controversial prisoner swap.
He was captured after disappearing from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2009. He has been accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents. He was freed in a May 31, 2014, prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bergdahl was charged March 25 with one count of desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty, and one count of misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place.
The Article 32 investigation into his case, to determine if there is enough evidence to merit a court-martial, took place in September at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Bergdahl is currently assigned to Army North on Fort Sam Houston. He is accompanied off-post by at least two NCOs for his protection, Fidell has said.
In his report, the investigating officer for the Article 32 recommended Bergdahl avoid jail time, Fidell previously told the media. Lt. Col. Mark Visger's report to Abrams also recommended the case be decided at a special court-martial.
Soldiers facing special courts-martial can receive no more than a year in jail and no worse than a bad-conduct discharge; punishments regarding hard labor and pay forfeiture have similar restrictions.
Visger also recommended Bergdahl not face a punitive discharge for his alleged actions, Fidell said at the time.
In addition to Visger, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who was charged with investigating Bergdahl's 2009 capture, testified during the Article 32 that the soldier should not be imprisoned for his actions.
On Monday, as the Army announced Abrams' decision regarding the case, Fidell again called on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to "cease his prejudicial months-long campaign of defamation against our client. We also ask that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees avoid any further statements or actions that prejudice our client's right to a fair trial."
In August, Trump called Bergdahl "a dirty, rotten traitor" during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. At the time, Fidell fired back, calling the candidate's remarks "contemptible and un-American" and "a call for mob justice."
Fidell in September railed against what he called "open season" on his client as he pushed for the public release of parts of the Army's investigation into the soldier's disappearance.
"It is an understatement to observe that Sgt. Bergdahl's case has been and continues to be the subject of intense and highly politicized media interest," Fidell wrote in a document submitted to the Army Professional Conduct Council.
The desertion charge, which falls under Article 85 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, carries a maximum punishment of five years confinement, a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances.
The misbehavior before the enemy charge, which falls under Article 99 of the UCMJ, carries a maximum punishment of confinement for life as well as a dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to E-1, and forfeiture of pay and allowances.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/12/14/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-face-court-martial-desertion-charge/77300686/
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Army sets arraignment date for Bergdahl
By Eugene Scott, CNN
Thu December 17, 2015 | Video Source: WRAL
Bergdahl will face a military court on charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers
Washington (CNN)Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who allegedly deserted his unit in Afghanistan and was held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years, will be arraigned for his court martial next week, the Army said Thursday.
The Army set a date of December 22. Bergdahl will face a military court on charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers in a hearing at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Bergdahl disappeared from his base in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was held in captivity by the Taliban until the U.S. released five Taliban detainees in a controversial exchange for Bergdahl in May 2014.
Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, ordered the court-martial on Monday, breaking with the U.S. military officer overseeing Bergdahl's preliminary hearing who recommended that Bergdahl be referred to a special court-martial and face no jail time.
Abrams on Monday ordered Bergdahl's case to a general court-martial, which means Bergdahl could face life imprisonment if convicted of "misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place."
Lt. Col. Mark Visger, the Army investigator who led the preliminary hearing into the charges Bergdahl faces, recommended against Bergdahl facing any jail time in October.
And Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who led the investigation into Bergdahl's actions in Afghanistan, testified in September that jail time would be "inappropriate" and said he did not find "any evidence to corroborate the reporting that Bergdahl was ... sympathetic to the Taliban."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/bowe-bergdahl-arraignment-hearing/index.html
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Bowe Bergdahl enters no plea during hearing
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, Nick Valencia and Devon M. Sayers, CNN
Tue December 22, 2015
Fort Bragg, North Carolina (CNN)—Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was arraigned Tuesday on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy during a hearing preceding his court-martial at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Sporting a shaved head and a blue military dress uniform, Bergdahl did not enter a plea and did not indicate a preference for a jury or bench trial. He showed little expression and looked straight ahead during the hearing.
Col. Christopher Frederikson, the judge in the case, explained that if Bergdahl opted against a bench trial, he would face a panel of at least five officers, all ranked higher than the sergeant. If the jury found Bergdahl guilty and elected to sentence him to more than 10 years in prison, it would require a three-fourths vote via secret ballot, the judge said.
The majority of Berghdahl's public comments consisted of "Sir, yes, sir," in response to Frederikson's questions. He also whispered occasionally to Lt. Col. Franklin D. Rosenblatt, one of his attorneys. In one of the few decisions to come out of Tuesday's hearing, Bergdahl told Frederikson he was pleased with his military and civilian counsel.
About 50 people, an even split of journalists and military personnel, attended the 11-minute proceeding, and then Bergdahl exited the courtroom with two military escorts and Rosenblatt. Bergdahl said hello to one reporter, but for the most part, did not make eye contact with the press corps.
The next hearing is set for January 12 at Fort Bragg. Frederikson said Col. Jeffery Nance, another judge, "has been detailed for all future judicial hearings in this case," according to a news release.
Generals disagree on jail time
Bergdahl stands charged with one count of desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty, aka Article 85, and one count of misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place, aka Article 99. A conviction could command life in prison.
Bergdahl disappeared from Combat Outpost Mest-Malak in Afghanistan's Paktika province near the Pakistan border in June 2009 and was later captured by the Taliban. President Barack Obama secured his release in a prisoner swap announced May 31, 2014. In the deal, Bergdahl was exchanged for five Guantanamo Bay detainees. He returned to the United States two weeks later.
His attorney Eugene Fidell, who did not attend Tuesday's hearing, has said his client endured torture during his captivity, including months chained to a bed and years chained on all fours or locked in a cage.
Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who led the Bergdahl investigation, testified this year that imprisoning Bergdahl would be "inappropriate" because Dahl's lengthy interview with the 29-year-old sergeant yielded no evidence that he was "sympathetic to the Taliban."
Dahl contended that Bergdahl left his post to call attention to what he felt was poor leadership within his unit, an assertion Bergdahl has made in interviews with filmmaker Mark Boal. The interviews with Boal have provided the storyline for the second season of the popular podcast "Serial."
"I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world that I was the real thing," Bergdahl told the "Zero Dark Thirty" producer during 25 hours of interviews. "You know, that I could be what it is that all those guys out there that go to the movies and watch those movies -- they all want to be that -- but I wanted to prove I was that."
He hoped his disappearance would spur investigations into the "leadership failures" at his outpost, he said.
Deserter or Jason Bourne?
Bergdahl, who is presently on administrative Army duty in San Antonio, said that once he left the outpost he realized he could face serious punishment and decided to emulate the fictional action hero, Jason Bourne, and collect intelligence on the Taliban so he could return to the U.S. military with something to show for his absence.
Instead, he said, Taliban fighters on motorcycles, armed with AK-47s, found him walking along a desert road and took him captive.
The leader of Bergdahl's platoon, Sgt. Evan Buetow, told CNN this year that he felt Bergdahl's actions were "completely dishonorable" and he doesn't believe Bergdahl was trying to expose problems in his platoon.
Troops were injured and killed looking for Bergdahl, Buetow said, and others in his platoon were in constant fear that Bergdahl would give up information -- either voluntarily or via torture -- that would endanger them.
"You could go to sleep and never wake up because some guy just sneaks up because he knows your shortcomings in your security, or he knows your shortcomings here or there, and you don't wake up the next morning because they come and they attack you," Buetow said.
On December 14, Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, broke from the recommendation of Dahl, his fellow general -- as well as the testimony of Lt. Col. Mark Visger, an Army investigator -- that Bergdahl should face no jail time. Instead, Abrams ordered that Bergdahl face a general court-martial that could end with the sergeant spending his life behind bars.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/22/us/bowe-bergdahl-court-martial-arraignment/index.html
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They must be on crack.
Does Bowe Bergdahl deserve a POW Medal and Purple Heart? His lawyers think so.
By Dan Lamothe
January 12, 2016
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army officials grappled Tuesday with how to handle an estimated 300,000 pages of classified information in the desertion case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, as well as whether the soldier should be allowed to wear a Prisoner of War Medal, Purple Heart and two other decorations that could be associated with his five years of confinement in Pakistan.
The issues came up at a pretrial hearing at this Army base, where Bergdahl is expected to face court-martial beginning Aug. 8. He is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for deliberately walking off his infantry platoon’s outpost in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. He was captured within hours by the Taliban, and held under brutal conditions by the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Taliban, until a controversial swap was approved by the White House in May 2014 in which Bergdahl was released in exchange for five Taliban officials.
Bergdahl, 29, has so far deferred his option to enter a plea in the case and pick whether his case will be decided by a judge or jury. His lawyers have maintained that he should be charged with a lesser charge, absence without leave, which carries a penalty of up to 30 days of confinement. He currently faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The main purpose of the hearing Tuesday was to hammer out details of a protective order governing the handling of classified material and other issues in the case. One is expected to be signed in the coming days by Col. Jeffrey Nance, the judge overseeing proceedings. One of Bergdahl’s defense lawyers, Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt, argued repeatedly that the defense team needs more access to classified information, while prosecutors said that strict safeguards need to be put in place to prevent the unauthorized spillage of classified details into the public.
[Disillusioned and self-deluded, Bowe Bergdahl disappeared into brutal captivity]
Rosenblatt said that he and the rest of Bergdahl’s defense team have not been given access to thousands of pages of relevant classified information, making it difficult for them to prepare for court-martial. The defense team also wants to be able to directly request classified information from Defense Department agencies, but has been unable to do so to date, he added.
“The guy who has the most need to know this information in DOD has the least access to it,” Rosenblatt argued on behalf of his client.
But a prosecutor, Capt. Michael Petrusic, said that a senior official with the ability to classify and declassify sensitive information should be consulted for approval before information is released to the defense through discovery, and before the defense interviews witnesses who may have access to classified information. He also noted that there are more than 25,000 classified documents, each with an average length of 13 pages, associated with the case, underscoring the complexity of the proceeding.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, arrives for a pretrial hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., with his defense counsel Lt. Col. Franklin D. Rosenblatt on Tuesday. Bergdahl, who was held by allies of the Taliban for five years after he walked off a base in Afghanistan, faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson)
Bergdahl has said that he walked away from his base to cause enough of a commotion to get an audience to air gripes he had about his unit’s leaders. His disappearance sparked a months-long manhunt that endangered troops and drastically altered the way the war was waged as they resources were devoted to finding the soldier, Army officials say.
Nance said he will decide in coming days how information in the case will be handled. Nance said four individuals, who were not named, may have already disclosed classified information about the case in public. He did not describe the information.
“The bottom line,” he said, “Is everybody who wants access to classified information has to have the appropriate security clearance.”
The protective order also is expected to set out guidelines for public affairs, logistics and security for the court-martial. Nance said he needs the prosecution to submit a detailed plan for each issue. Unless security professionals suggest otherwise, he said, he doesn’t see a reason why armed military police will be needed in the courtroom, relying instead on a variety of other security measures in place.
[In podcast, Bowe Bergdahl says he compared himself to action hero Jason Bourne]
Rosenblatt asked Nance to consider intervening on Bergdahl’s behalf to find out why he has not been allowed by the Army to wear the POW Medal, the Purple Heart, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the NATO Medal. The service not doing so, Rosenblatt said, is prejudicial to Bergdahl’s case because he is required to walk in public while wearing a uniform that shows he is not authorized for awards directly associated with his case.
Nance asked Rosenblatt if the defense team has brought the issue up with the Army. It was raised with Bergdahl’s commanders, Rosenblatt said, but the issue has not been resolved. Army officials did not immediately respond to questions about it on Tuesday.
The POW Medal is rare, and authorized only for U.S. service members who are granted “creditable U.S. military service” and held captive while involved in a conflict with an opposing force, according to the most recent version of the law approved in 2013. It would serve as official acknowledgment that Bergdahl was held against his will.
The Purple Heart is awarded to any service member who is wounded or killed while serving in the Armed Forces by enemy forces. Bergdahl will require a lifetime of care for physical injuries suffered while in confinement at the hands of the Haqqani network, medical professionals who examined him testified during a pretrial hearing in September.
The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is authorized for any service member who has served in that country for 30 days consecutively or 60 days non-consecutively. Bergdahl was in Afghanistan about five weeks before walking away from his base, investigators have said.
The NATO Medal goes to soldiers to serve in a variety of international commands, including the International Security Assistance Force that oversaw operations across Afghanistan for much of the war there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/01/12/does-bowe-bergdahl-deserve-a-pow-medal-and-purple-heart-his-lawyers-think-so/
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remove his citizenship
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Trump is as bad as Obama.
Bergdahl Lawyers: Trump Attacks Damage Chances of Fair Trial
(http://images.military.com/media/news/people/bergdahl-interview-600x400.jpg)
This photo provided by Eugene R. Fidell shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl preparing to be interviewed by Army investigators in August, 2014. (AP Photo/Eugene R. Fidell)
Associated Press | Mar 11, 2016 | by Jonathan Drew
RALEIGH, N.C. — Donald Trump's ideas for punishing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl include that he "should have been executed," someone should "throw him out of a plane" without a parachute or he should be dropped in terrorist territory "before we bomb the hell out of ISIS."
Bergdahl's defense attorneys argue Trump's attacks are damaging his chances for a fair trial, saying the Republican presidential front-runner keeps repeating false information in front of large audiences.
Trump is the most vocal critic to pressure the military to punish Bergdahl, though several experts say it's unlikely his comments alone can convince the judge that the soldier's due process rights were violated.
"When they get that kind of media attention, it gets information in front of a jury," said Philip Cave, a retired Navy attorney who's not involved in the case. "There is concern that all of this information ... prejudices Bergdahl in getting a fair trial."
Bergdahl, who walked off a base in Afghanistan in 2009, faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the latter of which carries up to a life sentence. He was held five years by the Taliban and its allies before a swap involving five Guantanamo Bay detainees, prompting criticism from some in Congress that the move threatened national security.
Court documents show Bergdahl's attorneys intend to use statements from their client's critics — including U.S. Sen. John McCain — to bolster their case. They also sent a letter warning Trump they may seek his testimony, and sued for access to documents that may show improper congressional influence.
Bergdahl's lawyer Eugene Fidell said Thursday that Trump hasn't responded.
"There is a point beyond which prejudicial pretrial publicity represents a due process violation and basically subverts the legal process," Fidell said by phone.
Bergdahl attacks have been a staple of Trump speeches, and they're noted in what the defense calls a "Trump Defamation Log" included in the court record. A recent version contained 30 instances through January.
Among them are variations of this statement about returning Bergdahl to the Middle East, made at a December rally in Iowa: "Let's fly him over. We'll dump him right in the middle; throw him out of the plane. Should we give him a parachute or not? I say no."
Also problematic is Trump's repetition of debunked claims.
Trump has repeatedly said lives were lost during the search for Bergdahl — even though the Pentagon has said no soldiers died looking for him. The candidate frequently calls Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor," but a general who investigated the case found no evidence Bergdahl was sympathetic to the other side.
"There are thousands and thousands of people who seem to consider him a plausible candidate for the nation's highest position," Fidell said. "So I have to assume some, if not many, if not all of his listeners take his comments seriously."
A spokeswoman for Trump didn't return messages seeking comment Thursday.
A Feb. 4 motion filed seeking public release of the general's investigation sheds light on defense strategy regarding damaging public statements.
The lawyers write that they plan to file a motion alleging McCain's statements unlawfully influenced the case, according to the document, which says potential witnesses have refused to speak to them because of negative publicity. McCain said in October that the Senate Armed Services Committee he chairs would review the case if Bergdahl isn't punished.
Such "unlawful command influence" arguments wouldn't apply to Trump because he's outside of the military chain of command, legal experts said. But that could change if he's elected president and the case — currently delayed by a disagreement over classified documents — pushes into next year.
In the meantime, the negative statements add to "the very real possibility that it will be difficult to obtain a fair court-martial for Sgt. Bergdahl," said Rachel VanLandingham, an associate law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and former Air Force lawyer.
The defense could argue Bergdahl's due process rights were violated because negative publicity poisoned the jury pool. But she doubts the trial judge would rule in their favor, saying: "unfair in reality and unfair in legal due process terms are often different things."
Cataloguing Trump's negative comments in the court record may give defense attorneys a tool to shape the jury, which would consist of Army members, legal experts say. Bergdahl could also choose trial by judge alone.
Defense attorneys will have a chance to question potential jurors about Trump and ask the judge to remove any who admit biases, said Eric Carpenter, an assistant professor of law at Florida International University who served as an Army prosecutor and defense attorney. However, he expects most can separate what they've heard from their work on the case.
"It's going to be next to impossible for someone in the military not to have heard this stuff," he said. "That doesn't mean they're going to act on it."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/11/bergdahl-lawyers-trump-attacks-damage-chances-fair-trial.html?ESRC=army-a_160316.nl
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Bergdahl court-martial could wait until after presidential election
Emery P. Dalesio, The Associated Press
May 17, 2016
RALEIGH, N.C. — The military's case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl resumes with a pretrial hearing Tuesday that could result in his court-martial being moved until after this fall's elections.
The government has proposed delaying the start of the trial to December so classified documents can be properly reviewed and prepared.
Given the shape of the presidential campaign, that could mean Bergdahl will face military justice after voters decide in November whether the incoming commander-in-chief will be either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
Bergdahl's defense is already saying the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is damaging their client's chances for a fair trial by calling him a "dirty, rotten traitor," who "should have been executed."
The 30-year-old soldier faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The latter charge is relatively rare and carries the potential of life in prison.
Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was quickly captured after walking off his combat post in Afghanistan in 2009. He was held as a prisoner of war for five years by the Taliban and its allies until President Obama exchanged five Guantanamo Bay detainees for his safe return, saying the U.S. "does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind."
Obama's decision was harshly criticized. Some members of Congress said it jeopardized national security. Trump has targeted Bergdahl for scorn dozens of times on the campaign trail, saying he should have been thrown from a plane.
The defense's complaints about Trump have no bearing on the case right now, according to Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer who teaches at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. But if he is elected in November and keeps up his harsh comments about Bergdahl, the defense could more effectively argue that a President Trump is pressuring Army brass for a conviction, she said.
The lack of evidence that any service members were killed or wounded searching for the missing soldier led the Army's primary investigating officer to recommend against jail time, and a preliminary hearing officer recommended against a bad-conduct discharge.
But those recommendations were scrapped in December by the general overseeing the case. Gen. Robert Abrams, who leads the Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, sided with an Army lawyer's recommendation for a general court-martial.
Both sides also may address Tuesday whether that Army lawyer's advice to Abrams was so incomplete that it misled the four-star general.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials have been notified that threats against Bergdahl continue, his attorneys said in a February court filing.
"Given the many incendiary comments that have been broadcast and otherwise disseminated about Sgt. Bergdahl, his immediate commander at Fort Sam Houston has taken measures to ensure his physical safety when leaving the installation," they wrote.
A spokesman at the Texas post declined to describe these measures, citing security considerations. But as "a group of soldiers, battle buddies, we all look out for each other," Sgt. Maj. Matt Howard said.
Bergdahl can come and go the same as any other soldier from Fort Sam Houston, where he works a desk job in a headquarters unit, handling "a lot of administrative work that needs to be done. Paperwork, moving stuff from place to place, things like that," Howard said.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/05/17/bergdahl-trial-delay-november/84484578/
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Judge allows Bergdahl lawyers to get top generals' emails
Jonathan Drew, The Associated Press
July 7, 2016
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military judge agreed Thursday to give Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl access to emails from several top commanders as defense attorneys probe for evidence of whether his prosecution on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy was unfairly swayed by high-ranking officials.
The judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, ordered the government to give defense attorneys emails regarding the case that were sent and received by the head of U.S. Army Forces Command and his predecessor, along with communications by others involved in decisions about how Bergdahl's case has been handled.
Nance also "strongly suggested" that prosecutors help defense attorneys arrange an interview with Gen. Robert Abrams, the four-star leader of Forces Command who decided in December to proceed with the general court martial. Abrams declined a defense request for an interview in June.
"They need to be able to sit down with him and ask him some pointed questions," Nance said during the pretrial hearing.
The defense had sought Bergdahl-related emails from dozens of military and government officials — including former secretaries of defense — but Nance declined the request for most of the list.
One of the prosecutors, Army Maj. Justin Oshana, told the judge that defense attorneys were asking for what amounted to an "all-access pass" to top officials' emails.
Defense attorneys have said in court filings that they are gathering information on whether the case has been tainted by unlawful command influence. They have cited evidence of private discussions between high-level military and government officials and public remarks about the case by Sen. John McCain, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee.
After Thursday's hearing, defense attorney Eugene Fidell said he was pleased with the outcome.
"A number of the documents the judge said we have a right to see could be quite important," he told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the judge also agreed to give Bergdahl's attorneys more information on why his military service was extended by a decade.
Army Lt. Col. Frank Rosenblatt, a defense attorney, said that Bergdahl was eligible for a discharge in 2011 and should have been given the option to re-enlist or leave the military upon his return from captivity in 2014. Instead the government has chosen to keep him on active duty until 2022.
"This matter was handled entirely irregularly," Rosenblatt told the judge.
Nance ordered prosecutors to request emails about the extension decision from Army human resource officials and turn over what they find to the defense. Prosecutors had argued that the request was too broad.
Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after walking off his post in Afghanistan 2009 and winding up in enemy captivity for five years. The Obama administration was criticized for swapping Guantanamo Bay detainees for Bergdahl.
The trial is scheduled to begin in February 2017.
Nance is also requiring prosecutors to add further labeling and organization to hundreds of thousands pages of documents that they're giving the defense. The defense had argued that some file names were simply numbers and asked for other help in weeding out irrelevant information.
"You're not providing them in a way that makes it efficient," Nance told prosecutors. "They could eventually plow through all this stuff ... and then we would be trying the case in 2020."
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2016/07/07/bergdahl-attorneys-seek-illustrate-case-irregularities/86805676/
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Judge hears testimony about injuries during Bergdahl search
By: Jonathan Drew, The Associated Press, November 14, 2016
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military officer testified Monday that he saw another soldier shot in the head during the 2009 search for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who's accused of endangering his comrades when he walked off his post in Afghanistan.
The testimony came at a pretrial hearing at which an Army judge also agreed to delay Bergdahl's trial by several months until May 15, 2017.
Prosecutors are arguing that the judge should allow evidence of two wounded soldiers' injuries into the case to help them show that Bergdahl's disappearance effectively put other military members in harm's way.
Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the latter of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
U.S. Air Force Maj. John Marx testified about a firefight on July 8, 2009, when he and several other U.S. military members were seeking information on Bergdahl's whereabouts, with members of the Afghan National Army. They were attacked after setting up a checkpoint near a town in Afghanistan.
One of the two wounded soldiers cited by prosecutors is U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. First Class Mark Allen. Prosecutors said he was shot in the head and suffered a traumatic brain injury that has left him in a wheel chair. Another soldier had hand injuries and required surgery because of a rocket-propelled grenade.
Marx, who said the mission's sole purpose was to search for Bergdahl, testified that he was sitting next to Allen as bullets flew overhead.
"I looked at him, then I see a trickle of blood coming down his head," Marx testified. Asked where Allen was wounded, Marx pointed at his temples and said: "Right through his head."
Marx testified that he later carried Allen to the medevac helicopter, describing it as "probably one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life."
Bergdahl, dressed in a white shirt and blue pants, appeared stoic as he listened to Monday's testimony.
Prosecutors have written in a motion that the injuries will help them show that Bergdahl endangered his comrades, one of the elements of the misbehavior before the enemy charge. They asked the judge to allow them to use the evidence in their case.
Defense attorneys have argued in motions that Bergdahl was not responsible for the men's injuries, writing: "Allen's injuries were directly caused by the Taliban, not by SGT Bergdahl."
Further testimony and arguments are expected Monday afternoon.
Before the testimony on the soldiers' injuries, Army Col. Jeffery Nance decided to push the trial back to May after prosecutors requested a delay. They cited the pace at which they're able to get approval to give the defense classified evidence.
Defense attorneys also informed the judge that they were still waiting on software, computers and security equipment that would allow them to review some of the sensitive material.
Nance expressed frustration and told prosecutors that he would call military officials as witnesses at a pretrial hearing in December if some of the issues with classified information aren't resolved.
"Here's my problem folks ... We will nickel and dime this until we're not trying this case until 2020," he said.
Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years. The Obama administration's decision to swap prisoners for his return was heavily criticized by some Republicans.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/judge-hears-testimony-about-injuries-during-bergdahl-search
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Bergdahl bears some responsibility for risky missions to find him, judge says
Published December 16, 2016
FoxNews.com
A judge on Friday suggested the military would not let Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl off easy for walking off his post in Afghanistan, saying the soldier indeed bore some responsibility for the risky missions to find him.
Still, the judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, ultimately ruled at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors could not use evidence of soldiers' serious wounds suffered while they searched for Bergdahl. One soldier was shot in the head and suffered a traumatic brain injury; the other required hand surgery.
The 30-year-old sergeant, who was swiftly captured after walking off his post in 2009 and held captive for five years by the Taliban and their allies, hasn't decided whether to have a trial by jury or judge alone at his court martial, scheduled for April 2017.
He is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy; the latter could put him in prison for life. Bergdahl has said he walked off intending to alert higher-ups to what he felt were problems with his unit.
"Sgt. Bergdahl is not responsible for a never-ending chain of events ... But he is responsible for a certain amount of that chain of events," Nance said at the hearing at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The Obama administration's decision in May 2014 to exchange five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for Bergdahl's freedom prompted criticism from Republicans including President-elect Donald Trump, who accused Obama of jeopardizing the nation's safety.
Bergdahl, from Hailey, Idaho, asked Obama to pardon him before leaving office.
One of the prosecutors, Army Maj. Justin Oshana, said Friday evidence of the injuries showed Bergdahl endangered his comrades, and "the endangerment prong is one of the critical pieces of this trial."
But defense attorney Army Maj. Oren Gleich said many other factors that had little or nothing to do with Bergdahl coalesced into the hastily planned mission during which the two soldiers were wounded.
"You have to factor in all the intervening causes as to what created a dangerous situation," Gleich said.
Prosecutors have not mentioned any deaths of service members linked to the search for Bergdahl, Stars and Stripes reported.
Prosecutors said they wanted to use evidence related to a particular search mission involving half a dozen U.S. service members embedded with 50 members of the Afghan National Army. Another officer involved in the mission has previously testified that its sole purpose was to search for Bergdahl.
The group was attacked near a town in Afghanistan on July 8, 2009. U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Mark Allen was shot in the head during the firefight; prosecutors say he uses a wheelchair and is unable to communicate. Another soldier had hand injuries because of a rocket-propelled grenade.
Defense attorneys have presented evidence that the mission was shoddily planned, even by the standards of the missing-soldier alert Bergdahl caused. They also questioned whether the wounded soldiers fell within the specific group of military units Bergdahl is accused of endangering.
Also on Friday, Nance said he wasn't going to require testimony from government intelligence officials -- despite threatening to do so -- because progress was made on providing classified evidence to the defense.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/16/bowe-bergdahl-due-in-court-for-pretrial-hearing.html
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Judge rules against dismissing charges against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By Eugene Scott, CNN
Sun February 26, 2017
(CNN) — A military judge has ruled against dismissing charges against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl despite his lawyers' claim that President Donald Trump violated their client's due-process rights.
Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers after he disappeared from his base in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was held in captivity by the Taliban until May 2014.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said Bergdahl "should be shot" for walking off his post. Trump also said that "in the good old days, he would have been executed."
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment Saturday on the judge's ruling.
After Trump became president, Bergdahl's lawyers argued the judge should dismiss the charges against their client because of Trump's comments, contending that it would not be possible for Bergdahl to get a fair trial.
But Army Col. Jeffery Nance wrote Friday that while Trump's comments were "troubling," they did not constitute a sufficient due process violation.
"The comments by Mr. Trump that might be considered pretrial publicity are not so pervasive and unfair as to saturate the community and prevent any trier of fact from being impartial," Nance wrote. He added: "Mr. Trump has said nothing about the accused or his case since August 2016. Under these facts, the court cannot find a due process violation sufficient to make amelioration measures futile."
Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl's chief defense lawyer, told CNN on Saturday that his legal team will take the case to the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday.
"The military judge's decision was wrong," Fidell added. "Extraordinary relief is required to protect Sgt. Bergdahl's rights to protect the integrity of the military justice system."
Since the officers who could help decide the outcome of Bergdahl's case ultimately report to the President, Fidell argued that Trump's statements constituted "unlawful command influence" -- the idea that anyone with the "mantle of command authority" could wrongly take actions that influence decisions about a defendant.
Trump "has tremendous influence over the entire system," Fidell told CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/25/politics/bergdahl-trump-judge-dismiss/
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Bowe Bergdahl chooses to have trial heard by judge and not jury
Published August 21, 2017
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. – Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has decided be to tried by a judge — not a military jury — on charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan.
Bergdahl's lawyers told the court in a brief filing last week that their client chose trial by judge alone, rather than a panel of officers. He faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy at his trial scheduled for late October at Fort Bragg. The latter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Defense attorneys declined to comment on the decision. But they previously questioned whether Bergdahl could get a fair trial by jury because of negative comments President Donald Trump made on the campaign trail.
Earlier this year the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance rejected a defense request to dismiss the case over Trump's criticism of Bergdahl.
Potential jurors had already received a questionnaire including questions about their commander in chief, but defense attorneys weren't allowed to ask jurors if they voted for Trump.
Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer not involved in the case, said defense attorneys likely felt limited in how they could probe juror opinions.
"They lost their ability to ask all the questions they wanted to ask, one of those being: 'Did you vote for President Trump?'" said VanLandingham, who teaches at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. "They felt that was very important ... for fleshing out whether a panel member could be fair."
Beyond concerns about jurors, she said Nance has so far demonstrated his objectivity.
"His pretrial rulings have shown that he's fair," she said.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban shortly after he left his remote post in 2009. The soldier from Idaho has said he intended to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit.
He was freed from captivity in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners. Former President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans who claimed the trade jeopardized the nation's security.
Bergdahl has been assigned to desk duty at a Texas Army base pending the outcome of his case.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/21/bowe-bergdahl-chooses-to-have-trial-heard-by-judge-and-not-jury.html
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More legacy of the worst president of my lifetime (Obama).
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to plead guilty to desertion, misbehavior
By Bob Fredericks October 6, 2017
(https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/bb.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1328&h=882&crop=1)
Modal Trigger Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to plead guilty to desertion, misbehavior
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrives for a pretrial hearing at Fort Bragg in 2016. AP
Disgraced Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who abandoned his post in Afghanistan and was held prisoner by the Taliban for five years, is expected to plead guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Bergdahl’s decision to admit his guilt rather than face trial marks another twist in a bizarre eight-year drama that caused the nation to wrestle with difficult questions of loyalty, negotiating with hostage takers and America’s commitment not to leave its troops behind.
President Trump has called Bergdahl a “no-good traitor” who “should have been executed.”
It’s unclear whether the Idaho native, 31, will be locked up or receive a lesser sentence that reflects the time the Taliban held him under brutal conditions.
He has said he was caged, kept in the dark, beaten and chained to a bed.
Bergdahl could face up to five years on the desertion charge and a life sentence for misbehavior.
Freed three years ago, Bergdahl had been scheduled for trial in late October.
He chose to let a judge rather than a military jury decide his fate, but a guilty plea later this month will spare the need for a trial.
Sentencing will start on Oct. 23, individuals with knowledge of the case told the Associated Press.
During sentencing, US troops who were seriously wounded searching for Bergdahl in Afghanistan are expected to testify, the sources said.
It was unclear whether prosecutors and Bergdahl’s defense team had reached any agreement ahead of sentencing about how severe a penalty prosecutors will recommend.
Bergdahl’s lawyer, Eugene Fidell, declined to comment on Friday. Maj. Justin Oshana, who is prosecuting the case, referred questions to the Army, which declined to discuss whether Bergdahl had agreed to plead guilty.
“We continue to maintain careful respect for the military-judicial process, the rights of the accused and ensuring the case’s fairness and impartiality during this ongoing legal case,” said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman.
(https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/soldier_34782573.jpg)
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Private Bowe Bergdahl speaks in a video released by his captors in Afghanistan in 2009.Reuters
Bergdahl was a 23-year-old private first class in June 2009 when, after five months in Afghanistan, he disappeared from his remote infantry post near the Pakistan border, triggering a massive search operation.
Videos soon emerged showing Bergdahl in captivity by the Taliban, and the US kept tabs on him with drones, spies and satellites as behind-the-scenes negotiations played out in fits and starts.
In May 2014, he was handed over to US special forces in a swap for five Taliban detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison, fueling an emotional debate about whether Bergdahl was a hero or a deserter.
As critics questioned whether the trade was worth it, President Obama stood with Bergdahl’s parents in the White House Rose Garden and defended the swap.
The US does not “leave our men or women in uniform behind,” Obama said, regardless of how Bergdahl came to be captured.
(https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ap_594281574101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1328)
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Jani Bergdahl and Bob Bergdahl speak at the White House with President Barack Obama in 2014.AP
Trump, as a presidential candidate, was unforgiving of Bergdahl, who has been assigned to desk duty at a Texas Army base pending the outcome of his case.
At campaign events, Trump declared that Bergdahl “would have been shot” in another era, even pantomiming the pulling of the trigger.
“We’re tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who’s a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed,” Trump said at a Las Vegas rally in 2015.
http://nypost.com/2017/10/06/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-to-plead-guilty-to-desertion-misbehavior/
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I wonder what President Obama and Susan Rice have to say about this?
Bergdahl Pleads Guilty in Desertion Case
Monday, 16 Oct 2017
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told a military judge on Monday that he's pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
"I understand that leaving was against the law," Bergdahl said.
"At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations," Bergdahl added, saying that now he does understand that his decision to walk off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 prompted efforts to find him.
Bergdahl, 31, is charged with endangering his comrades by walking away from his post. Despite his plea, the prosecution and defense have not agreed to a stipulation of facts in the case, according to one of his lawyers, Maj. Oren Gleich, which is an indication that they did not reach a deal to limit his punishment.
The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years. He appears to be hoping for leniency from the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance.
The guilty pleas bring the highly politicized saga closer to an end eight years after his disappearance in Afghanistan set off search missions by scores of his fellow service members. President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans for the 2014 Taliban prisoner swap that brought Bergdahl home, while President Donald Trump harshly criticized Bergdahl on the campaign trail.
The serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl are still expected to play a role in his sentencing. The guilty pleas allow him to avoid a trial, but he still faces a sentencing hearing that's expected to start on Oct. 23. Bergdahl's five years of captivity by the Taliban and its allies also will likely factor into what punishment he receives.
Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, previously chose to have his case heard by a judge alone, rather than a jury.
Legal scholars have said that several pretrial rulings against the defense have given prosecutors leverage to pursue stiff punishment against Bergdahl. Perhaps most significant was the judge's decision in June to allow evidence of serious wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl at the sentencing phase. The judge ruled that a Navy SEAL and an Army National Guard sergeant wouldn't have wound up in separate firefights that left them wounded if they hadn't been searching for Bergdahl.
The defense also was rebuffed in an effort to prove President Donald Trump had unfairly swayed the case with scathing criticism of Bergdahl, including suggestions of harsh punishment. The judge wrote in a February ruling that Trump's campaign-trail comments were "disturbing and disappointing" but did not constitute unlawful command influence by the soon-to-be commander in chief.
Defense attorneys have acknowledged that Bergdahl walked off his base without authorization. Bergdahl himself told a general during a preliminary investigation that he left intending to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. He was soon captured.
But the defense team has argued that Bergdahl can't be held responsible for a long chain of events that included many decisions by others on how to conduct the searches.
The military probe of Bergdahl began soon after he was freed from captivity on May 31, 2014, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners. Facing Republican criticism, Obama noted that the U.S. doesn't leave its service members behind.
Bergdahl has been assigned to desk duty at a Texas Army base while his case unfolds.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Bowe-Bergdahl-desertion-case-plead-guilty/2017/10/16/id/819874/
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President Trump just cannot keep his mouth shut.
Bowe Bergdahl’s Sentencing Delayed Over Trump’s Comments
by MORGAN RADFORD and CORKY SIEMASZKO
OCT 23 2017
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The long-awaited sentencing of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was delayed Monday after a legal battle erupted over the word "but" in President Donald Trump's most recent remarks about the case.
Bergdahl's defense team argued that their client could not get a fair shake from the court because Trump, during a Rose Garden appearance on Oct. 16, at first said he couldn't talk about the case and then added: "But I think people have heard my comments in the past."
Trump has described Bergdahl as a “dirty rotten traitor” and called for the 31-year-old Idaho native to be executed by firing squad or thrown from a plane minus a parachute.
The defense showed footage of Trump talking last week and video from December 2015 when then-candidate Trump lambasted Bergdahl and the deal that got him sprung from the Taliban.
Prosecutors argued that Trump in the Rose Garden was trying to distance himself from his campaign trail comments and that the "but" didn't undermine that attempt.
Col. Jeffrey R. Nance, the military judge who holds Bergdahl's fate in his hands, said he had a "hard time" buying the prosecutors' argument. Nance said Trump's most recent comments were the equivalent of the president saying, "I shouldn't comment on that, but I think everyone knows what I think on Bowe Bergdahl."
And what Trump thinks is key because, as commander in chief, he is Nance's boss as well as the prosecutors'.
Related: Bowe Bergdahl Says Returning to U.S. Was as Tough as Captivity
Nance said there is a vital public interest in "maintaining confidence in the military justice system" and the public "is going to be influenced by context."
Before concluding the 59-minute proceeding and recessing the court until Wednesday, Nance also offered Bergdahl the chance to withdraw his guilty plea. He refused.
His lawyers have argued that the only way to ensure a fair sentence is take any possible jail time off the table.
Nance, who has wide latitude over sentencing, could jail Bergdahl for life.
The issue of Trump’s campaign trail comments came up last week when Bergdahl entered his guilty plea without striking a deal with prosecutors, leaving his sentence up to Nance.
Bergdahl’s lawyers argued Trump’s remarks while running for office made a fair trial impossible because as commander in chief, everybody involved in the trial answers to him.
Nance said Trump’s comments were “disturbing and disappointing” but did not constitute unlawful command influence because they were uttered before he was elected.
Related: Trump Criticism of Bergdahl Is 'Disturbing,' Judge Says
Bergdahl fell into Taliban hands after he vanished on June 30, 2009, from a post in the remote Paktika Province. He had set off with the intention of reaching other U.S. Army commanders and blowing the whistle on what he considered misconduct in his unit.
Prosecutors, however, said Bergdahl deserted and his decision to walk sparked intense search-and-rescue missions during which some service members were seriously injured.
“At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations,” Bergdahl said. “I believed they would notice me missing, but I didn’t believe they would have reason to search for one private.”
For the next five years, Bergdahl was tortured and abused and forced to spend long stretches of time in solitary confinement, including three years in a metal cage. He was released in 2014 in a prisoner swap for which President Barack Obama was roundly criticized by Trump and the Republicans.
Bergdahl’s lawyers have repeatedly urged Trump, who received five deferments during the Vietnam War and has never served in the military, to butt out of the case.
In an interview on Sunday with The Sunday Times, Bergdahl shrugged off Trump’s taunts.
“He’s a politician,” Bergdahl told The Sunday Times, “but I know I can’t convince the people who say, ‘Just string him up and shoot him.’ So you just move on.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bowe-bergdahl-s-sentencing-delayed-over-trump-s-comments-n813251
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President Trump just cannot keep his mouth shut.
Bowe Bergdahl’s Sentencing Delayed Over Trump’s Comments
by MORGAN RADFORD and CORKY SIEMASZKO
OCT 23 2017
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The long-awaited sentencing of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was delayed Monday after a legal battle erupted over the word "but" in President Donald Trump's most recent remarks about the case.
Bergdahl's defense team argued that their client could not get a fair shake from the court because Trump, during a Rose Garden appearance on Oct. 16, at first said he couldn't talk about the case and then added: "But I think people have heard my comments in the past."
Trump has described Bergdahl as a “dirty rotten traitor” and called for the 31-year-old Idaho native to be executed by firing squad or thrown from a plane minus a parachute.
The defense showed footage of Trump talking last week and video from December 2015 when then-candidate Trump lambasted Bergdahl and the deal that got him sprung from the Taliban.
Prosecutors argued that Trump in the Rose Garden was trying to distance himself from his campaign trail comments and that the "but" didn't undermine that attempt.
Col. Jeffrey R. Nance, the military judge who holds Bergdahl's fate in his hands, said he had a "hard time" buying the prosecutors' argument. Nance said Trump's most recent comments were the equivalent of the president saying, "I shouldn't comment on that, but I think everyone knows what I think on Bowe Bergdahl."
And what Trump thinks is key because, as commander in chief, he is Nance's boss as well as the prosecutors'.
Related: Bowe Bergdahl Says Returning to U.S. Was as Tough as Captivity
Nance said there is a vital public interest in "maintaining confidence in the military justice system" and the public "is going to be influenced by context."
Before concluding the 59-minute proceeding and recessing the court until Wednesday, Nance also offered Bergdahl the chance to withdraw his guilty plea. He refused.
His lawyers have argued that the only way to ensure a fair sentence is take any possible jail time off the table.
Nance, who has wide latitude over sentencing, could jail Bergdahl for life.
The issue of Trump’s campaign trail comments came up last week when Bergdahl entered his guilty plea without striking a deal with prosecutors, leaving his sentence up to Nance.
Bergdahl’s lawyers argued Trump’s remarks while running for office made a fair trial impossible because as commander in chief, everybody involved in the trial answers to him.
Nance said Trump’s comments were “disturbing and disappointing” but did not constitute unlawful command influence because they were uttered before he was elected.
Related: Trump Criticism of Bergdahl Is 'Disturbing,' Judge Says
Bergdahl fell into Taliban hands after he vanished on June 30, 2009, from a post in the remote Paktika Province. He had set off with the intention of reaching other U.S. Army commanders and blowing the whistle on what he considered misconduct in his unit.
Prosecutors, however, said Bergdahl deserted and his decision to walk sparked intense search-and-rescue missions during which some service members were seriously injured.
“At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations,” Bergdahl said. “I believed they would notice me missing, but I didn’t believe they would have reason to search for one private.”
For the next five years, Bergdahl was tortured and abused and forced to spend long stretches of time in solitary confinement, including three years in a metal cage. He was released in 2014 in a prisoner swap for which President Barack Obama was roundly criticized by Trump and the Republicans.
Bergdahl’s lawyers have repeatedly urged Trump, who received five deferments during the Vietnam War and has never served in the military, to butt out of the case.
In an interview on Sunday with The Sunday Times, Bergdahl shrugged off Trump’s taunts.
“He’s a politician,” Bergdahl told The Sunday Times, “but I know I can’t convince the people who say, ‘Just string him up and shoot him.’ So you just move on.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bowe-bergdahl-s-sentencing-delayed-over-trump-s-comments-n813251
Nope, and this may lead to no jail time and just a discharge from the Army
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The apology and accepting responsibility are great. Now he just needs a long prison sentence.
Bowe Bergdahl offers tearful apology to soldiers who searched for him
By Emanuella Grinberg and Kellie Keesee, CNN
Mon October 30, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/30/us/bergdahl-court-martial-witness-testifies/index.html
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Nope, and this may lead to no jail time and just a discharge from the Army
Good call.
Bergdahl dishonorably discharged, no jail time after emotional trial
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/bergdahl-awaits-sentence-after-days-emotional-testimony.html
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Good call.
Bergdahl dishonorably discharged, no jail time after emotional trial
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/bergdahl-awaits-sentence-after-days-emotional-testimony.html
What a political game/joke. This is awful. So Obama can try and make him a hero and that is fine but Trump saying anything is not ok. Hmmm... Facts are facts.
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Trump, remarking anyone is a traitor given his efforts to avoid service should be taken with a grain of salt. That he doesn't understand the difference between traitor and deserter isn't surprising. I understand the soldier spent years in captivity and that was taken into account, but I think due to the fact people were hurt/maimed attempting to find him, and the message it sends other servicemen who are considering deserting, a couple years at least should have been given in my view
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Good call.
Bergdahl dishonorably discharged, no jail time after emotional trial
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/bergdahl-awaits-sentence-after-days-emotional-testimony.html
Yea. Honestly this is actually the best outcome. If Bergdahl had served any prison time, the Army would have been on the hook for millions of dollars for medical treatment from being tortured.....now they don't have to pay shit as he has a dishonorable discharge. However, the dishonorable discharge may actually be thrown out because his enlistment time was moved up without his consent.
Trump needs to keep his fucking mouth shut but he won't and now that New York terrorist's attorney is filing a motion for his comments.......UGH!!!!! ::)
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Yea. Honestly this is actually the best outcome. If Bergdahl had served any prison time, the Army would have been on the hook for millions of dollars for medical treatment from being tortured.....now they don't have to pay shit as he has a dishonorable discharge. However, the dishonorable discharge may actually be thrown out because his enlistment time was moved up without his consent.
Trump needs to keep his fucking mouth shut but he won't and now that New York terrorist's attorney is filing a motion for his comments.......UGH!!!!! ::)
A couple million dollars... if that is the case, is a drop in the bucket of their budget. There is no reason to believe tax payers won't end up footing the bill on a now unemployed ex soldier. Sending a message that deserting will not be dealt with lightly weighs more in my opinion
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What a political game/joke. This is awful. So Obama can try and make him a hero and that is fine but Trump saying anything is not ok. Hmmm... Facts are facts.
It was wrong when Obama did it. It was wrong when Trump did it. No president should say anything that could influence the outcome of an ongoing criminal matter.
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Trump, remarking anyone is a traitor given his efforts to avoid service should be taken with a grain of salt. That he doesn't understand the difference between traitor and deserter isn't surprising. I understand the soldier spent years in captivity and that was taken into account, but I think due to the fact people were hurt/maimed attempting to find him, and the message it sends other servicemen who are considering deserting, a couple years at least should have been given in my view
Meh. Draft dodging or not, Bergdhal is a traitor, so Trump is right. Still, he should have kept his mouth shut.
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Yea. Honestly this is actually the best outcome. If Bergdahl had served any prison time, the Army would have been on the hook for millions of dollars for medical treatment from being tortured.....now they don't have to pay shit as he has a dishonorable discharge. However, the dishonorable discharge may actually be thrown out because his enlistment time was moved up without his consent.
Trump needs to keep his fucking mouth shut but he won't and now that New York terrorist's attorney is filing a motion for his comments.......UGH!!!!! ::)
He would have been given medical treatment, if needed, during his prison sentence, just like any other prisoner.
No his discharge will not be thrown out because of his ETS. The Army doesn't need the Soldier's consent to keep them on active duty past his/her ETS. This happens during times of war when there is a need (which includes recalling retired Soldiers), and when a Soldier is kept on active duty so they can face disciplinary proceedings.
Yes Trump needs to keep his mouth shut. I doubt that will ever happen.
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https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/11/08/army-to-determine-if-bergdahl-is-owed-back-pay-for-his-time-in-captivity
>:(
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https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/11/08/army-to-determine-if-bergdahl-is-owed-back-pay-for-his-time-in-captivity
>:(
It should be zero.
And that the heck is this?? >:(
Reached for comment, Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, said the defense team’s focus has turned to preparing the case for an appeal. He declined to elaborate.
“We are currently identifying the issues we will be pursuing,” Fidell said.
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US Army commander approves Bowe Bergdahl sentence, no prison time
By: Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
June 5, 2018
WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. military commander is endorsing the decision to spare Army Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl prison time for abandoning his post in Afghanistan, endangering military comrades who participated in the lengthy search for him.
Army Gen. Robert Abrams, head of U.S. Army Forces Command, approved the court-martial sentencing handed down last November. Bergdahl was reduced in rank from sergeant to private and ordered to forfeit $1,000 a month in pay for 10 months. The judge also gave him a dishonorable discharge.
When Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl came home in 2014, he was potentially entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay that accumulated over five years while he was in Taliban captivity in Afghanistan.
The fine and rank reduction were effective two weeks after the judge’s sentence was delivered. The case is now referred to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which automatically reviews any punitive discharges.
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and held for five years.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/05/us-army-commander-approves-bergdahl-sentence-no-prison-time/
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The Obama and Susan Rice legacy.
Bowe Bergdahl's court-martial conviction voided by U.S. judge
By Phil Stewart
July 25, 2023
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bowe-bergdahls-court-martial-conviction-voided-by-us-judge-2023-07-26/
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Yea. Honestly this is actually the best outcome. If Bergdahl had served any prison time, the Army would have been on the hook for millions of dollars for medical treatment from being tortured.....now they don't have to pay shit as he has a dishonorable discharge. However, the dishonorable discharge may actually be thrown out because his enlistment time was moved up without his consent.
Trump needs to keep his fucking mouth shut but he won't and now that New York terrorist's attorney is filing a motion for his comments.......UGH!!!!! ::)
Well, I was somewhat right although I had no insight on the judge applying for a job. But I did know that Trump's mouth would come back to piss on this case. The same thing is going to happen to Derek Chauvin