Bergdahl Expected to Plead Guilty to Avoid Trial
Faces charges of desertion and misbehavior in front of the enemy.
Sources have told The Associated Press that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the man rescued from former President Barack Obama in exchange for Taliban members at Gitmo, is expected to plead guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy to avoid a trial.
Obama showed off Bergdahl and made a big deal of his exchange deal with the Taliban, but it didn’t take long for news to surface that Bergdahl actually deserted his post in Afghanistan and put other soldiers in danger.
From The Associated Press:
They tell The Associated Press that Bergdahl will submit the plea later this month and sentencing will start Oct. 23. The individuals weren’t authorized to discuss the case and demanded anonymity.
The 31-year-old Bergdahl could face up to five years in prison on the desertion charge and a life sentence for misbehavior.
Those who received injuries while searching for him will testify. Some soldiers lost their lives in the process of looking for Bergdahl.
Obama announced the release of Bergdahl on May 31, 2014, with Bergdahl’s parents. From Politico:
“We’re committed to winding down the war in Afghanistan and closing Gitmo,” Obama said, in a brief statement in the Rose Garden, flanked by Bergdahl’s parents, Bob and Jani.
But, Obama said, the nation also “made an ironclad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. It’s who we are as Americans,” he said. “Today, at least in this instance, it’s a promise we’ve been able to keep.”
A few days later, those who served with Bergdahl lashed out at the decision. From CNN:
“I was pissed off then, and I am even more so now with everything going on,” said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl’s platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009. “Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him.”
Vierkant said Bergdahl needs to not only acknowledge his actions publicly but face a military trial for desertion under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
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Many of Bergdahl’s fellow troops — from the seven or so who knew him best in his squad to the larger group that made up the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division — told CNN that they signed nondisclosure agreements agreeing to never share any information about Bergdahl’s disappearance and the efforts to recapture him. Some were willing to dismiss that document in hopes that the truth would come out about a soldier who they now fear is being hailed as a hero, while the men who lost their lives looking for him are ignored.
In March 2015, the Army announced the desertion and misbehavior charges against Bergdahl. CNN reported:
The Army concluded its investigation into the circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture in December. Until now, it has been in the hands of Gen. Mark Milley, head of U.S. Army Forces Command, who made the decision to charge Bergdahl. Several U.S. military officials CNN has spoken with suggested privately that the process took longer than expected.
Ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, officials said Milley only had a few choices. Though the sense had been that Bergdahl must be held accountable for his actions, there had been little appetite for a lengthy term in military confinement given the five years Bergdahl was held by the Taliban.
Bergdahl has been working desk duty at an Army base in Texas “pending the outcome of his case.”
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Comments
If someone would proofread that 1st para1st sentence) that would be great!
I didn’t catch that, but honestly, at the time we ALL needed rescuing from Obama.
So….one has to justifiably wonder…..
What all would come out about Obama and the Democrats if this went to Trial…….
He shoulda changed his gender and negotiated a deal with the previous Administration and he/she might be free today.
Maybe they can give him an unrequested sex change, and put him in with gen pop men in Leavenworth…
Nope he served his purpose as long as he still had some positive support he was an asset to them, however, once his crazy parents started shooting their mouths off and his platoon mates came forward he basically became toxic so they threw him away like they do anything once it has served its/their purpose.
Obama still probably fantasized about having sex with him.
Regardless of how much time Bergdahl spent with the Taliban, he still deserves a lengthy prison sentence. He put himself in the Taliban’s hands, so he deserves no sympathy for the 5 years he spent as their captive. And the families of the soldiers who were killed searching for this POS are going to spend a lot more than 5 years grieving for their dead loved ones.
I just wish Obama could be sharing the cell with him.
Susan Rice “Bowe Bergdahl served with honor and distinction.”
Here’s Obama with Bergdahl’s parents calling Bergdahl “unjustly detained” and painting the false narrative –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6u4voY44g
This deserter cost how many US lives? 6?
Anything Susan Rice says is always eventually determined to be false.
But, in her mind she was telling the truth because supporting the Taliban or Isis was actually considered honorable in that White House.
Susan Rice puts the ‘stink’ in distinction.
Also, I had forgotten about the “non-disclosure agreements”, when the hell did that become a practice in the military? I served in some operations that I am still not allowed to speak about today in the early to mid 90’s, but those remain classified I never had to sign a non-disclosure.
Heck, even when I was a witness to a crime and testified at an officer’s court martial, not even then did I sign a non-disclosure. This sounds pretty hinky to me. I think that whole non-disclosure business is obviously illegal since you are required by the UCMJ to report illegal or immoral orders or actions.
manual for courts martial spells out the jury requirements.
Yes, it does, not sure what that as to do with making soldiers sign non-disclosure agreements that are most likely illegal.
A firing squad is the appropriate remedy.
agree, what about the drones / and i don’t mean the mechanical kind / who inhabit the military ?
this smells so bad that even the carrion eaters refuse it.
bho has done so much damage to the USA, I don’t know how we recover.
article 99 (misbehavior before the enemy) can be death penalty.
yet this f**ker gets off free.
forgot link
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/899
Good men died looking for this POS, and he has been living the easy life for a couple of years as an E-5 performing make work on post.
He should get at least 20 years at hard labor. Military prison at hard labor is nothing like the sissy boy jail/prison as a civilian.
Looking forward to his demise, so he can start burning in hell!
My vote would be for a sentence of life, well life just enough to get him to the firing line.
Traitor … He should be standing in front of a firing squad.
Did they pay him the 5 years back pay when he was returned?
They absolutely did.
Bergdahl should face the same firing squad as Eddie Slovik did in World War Two. Obama should be put in front of him.
A trial puts evidence, testimony, and other documentation of Bergdahl’s crimes on prominent public display. And that would make Obama’s embarrassingly saccharine Rose Garden speech in 2014 even more embarrassing.
For the good of Obama’s sainted memory, the faster this fades from the news, the better. And no sacrifice is too great to see that that happens … at least if it’s not Obama himself who has to make the sacrifice, of course.
Obama could’ve pardoned Bergdahl, but he chose not to act upon Bergdahl’s request for one.
It wasn’t enough for Obumbler to flip the bird at the men and women who serve honorably by trading $3B and 5 terrorists for Bergdahl, he had to have him promoted to Sergeant, too. This man deserves a long prison term and if he’s not given that with a guilty plea then the prosecutors should insist on a trial. He’s a traitor and a deserter in the face of the enemy and should be shot, but that would be too harsh for the poor snowflake.
I am no fan of Obama, but Bergdahl’s promotion to Sgt. was based on his time in service and was something that had to be given to him, since he had not and has not been convicted of a crime under the UCMJ. Now his sentence will, most likely, strip him of his rank the moment his sentence is finished.