Posted by Jack
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.
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.
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.
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.
Life in prison is too good for Bergdahl.
” …he was handed over to US special forces in a swap for five Taliban detainees…”
Not what I’d call an artful deal. Me thinks the O-man got played.
I try to give most people the benefit of doubt, however over time I have felt Bergdahl was a deserter and AWOL, excerpts from a news article in 2014 do not favor Bergdahl actions one bit:
“Bergdahl’s unit commander, Evan Buetow said he couldn’t prove it, but he believed Bergdahl began helping the Taliban attack his own unit. After that, Buetow says, the assaults were much more direct, and Bergdahl would have known the unit’s tactics and how they would respond to an attack.
U.S. forces in the area spent the next two months on a single mission: trying to find Bergdahl. It is beyond dispute that any American killed during that time was killed on a mission to “rescue” Bergdahl from his new comrades.
Bergdahl wasn’t being “left behind” or “left on the battlefield.” He was being left where he wanted to be, with the poor, innocent Talibanists, far away from this “disgusting” country that made him ashamed to be an American.”
But to Obama, Bergdahl was the picture of American manhood and military honor.
Harold that was very well said and I’m of the same opinion. I saw the same reports you did and right from the very start everything that was coming in said we had an army deserter in a combat zone. This is the worst possible place anyone could think of walking away! The only possible direction that he could go was right into the enemy’s hands, cause he sure wasn’t going to walk back to the USA. No, the only thing outside his camp was the Taliban.
But, he didn’t make the fateful decision on his own, did he? No, he was corresponding with dear old Dad and asking him what to do, but we can’t charge the father. In many ways I would like to do that more than charge his messed up kid. In the early days of this incident I had my share of nay-sayers, telling me how I had it all wrong. Well, those people were not military, had never been military and further they were not even conservatives, so what the heck could they know about it? NOT MUCH as this story proves. On behalf of Harold, Tina, myself and a whole lotta military folk, let me say loudly and clearly, “We told ya so!”