This was rumored a while back and shot down, but now it appears to be real. Sgt. Bergdahl charged with desertion:
The U.S. military has charged Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with one count each of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, officials announced Wednesday afternoon. Bergdahl left his post in Afghanistan before being captured and held captive for five years.
The decision comes nearly a year after Bergdahl returned to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange and since the Army began a formal investigation into his disappearance from his unit in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009.
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. Several U.S. military officials CNN has spoken with suggested privately that the process took longer than expected.
I’ll just repeat what I said the last time- this is how the system is supposed to work:
If you’ll remember, wingnuts were furious that he was brought home, saying he should have just been left there based on their anecdotal evidence. But that is not how things are supposed to work. He is one of ours. You bring him home, and then you trust the military to investigate, and if it is determined he did something wrong, then he will face the charges in our justice system, not one run by a bunch of neanderthals who stone women for adultery and throw homosexuals off the roof of a building.
And what Soonergrunt said, too.
dmsilev
So, no trial-by-CPAC then?
Belafon
Countdown until wingers declare Obama’s being too hard on an American soldier…
WaterGirl
Even if he did desert, as it seems to have been decided…
It would seem awful to have him spend all those years in terrible conditions, fearing for his life, come home to freedom, only to be imprisoned again.
From everything I’ve read, it seems like he was an idealistic young man, totally unsuited for the army, and he made some bad decisions. This is truly a case where I feel he has been punished enough.
I do wonder if his parents have gotten to see him since his return. Last I read, it seemed like he did not want to see them, and it was his choice. How terrible to have your son in captivity for all those years and then not be able to see him when he returns.
burnspbesq
From the story that Sooner linked to in the post that Cole linked to:
Words to live by.
Anyway, Sgt. Bergdal will more than likely get competent counsel and a fair process. So be it. What will happen, will happen.
trollhattan
@Belafon:
Yup. Still his fault, no matter what.
Minstrel Michael
I’d be more at ease with this story if they were gonna charge Petraeus too.
Amir Khalid
So what punishment is Bowe Bergdahl likely to face? I imagine the Army wants him out of its ranks as quickly as possible, and might be willing to count some of his time as a hostage as part of his punishment.
Cervantes
@WaterGirl:
They have been in touch but not in person.
D58826
So according to our right wing friends Obama and Holder are the most anti-white racist terrorist loving officials ever to hold public office.
After all they launched a civil rights investigation into George Zimmerman’s actions but the result was no charges
And who can forget the investigation into Officer Wilson’s shooting of M. Brown. The result not only no charges but a debunking of the ‘hands up don’t shot’ version of the story
After demanding that Obama do sometime to get Bergdahl home they decided that the terrorist loving Obama would make him a hero. Well not so much since he is being charged with desertion which could result in a life sentence.
Funny how all that bile and they wingers turn out to be completely wrong
trollhattan
From Cole’s link: Blanche DuBois weighs in:
So we now know how Fox will be handling it, henceforth.
Belafon
@Amir Khalid: I suspect he’ll lose all of the rank gained while in capativity, along with corresponding pay, given time which will match the time in captivity, and then dishonorably discharged.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
IIRC there were some real problems with his unit which may have contributed to what happened.
It’s a sad situation all the way around. I feel for his family through all of this, too.
Elie
@Cervantes:
Wow – there is a story there — a terribly painful story, no doubt is my guess…
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
It’s hard to imagine them unleashing the maximum penalty, but if they do…
Belafon
@trollhattan: As a veteran, I’m thinking Graham should worry about people punching him.
Mike in NC
Has Ted Cruz announced that if elected Commander-in-Chief, he will personally execute Bergdahl with his bare hands?
WaterGirl
@MomSense: That’s right, I had forgotten about that.
@Belafon: I really hope you are right.
@Cervantes: Thanks for that info.
Tragic, all around. Stupid senseless war.
(P.S. Let’s charge McCain, too, for misbehavior before the enemy.)
mai naem mobile
I guess that means Lindsay Graham would.have let his SO John McCain rot at the Hanoi Hilton. Idiot. I have zero respect for Lindsay. I have a friend whose father served in Vietnam as a JAG and he himself, when you ask him about his Vietnam service, says he wasn’t one of the soldiers, he was just serving on a ship as a JAG as in “hey, I’m not any.kind of hero.” I have to wonder what Lindsay says about his own JAG position.
ted and hellen
“and then you trust the military to investigate,”
WHAT FUCKING DRUGS ARE YOU ON, COLE?
Hildebrand
Wait – are you telling me that the system worked as intended? Good lord, next thing you will tell me is that if responsible adults run the government with a wee bit of common sense and decent critical thinking skills that the government will produce positive results for a rather large group of people.
I am utterly gobsmacked. Utterly.
ted and hellen
@Minstrel Michael: I’d be more at ease with this story if they were gonna charge Petraeus too.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Welcome to the LAND OF OLIGARCHIA. It has forever been thus. Obama is a douche.
Pogonip
@Amir Khalid: I believe that if they really want to get shitty about it they can execute you for desertion. I think the last time it happened was in WW II.
Don’t know what happens when a merc deserts, does anyone?
Violet
The relationship with his parents seems really fraught.
NCSteve
These are also the people who believe that stealing a handful of Swisher Sweets or being in possession of an iced tea drink and a pack of Skittles while wearing a hoodie totally make it okay to gun someone down in a struggle.
Archon
History shows that occupation troops that are captured by a local insurgency can expect torture and summary execution. To that end, Berghdahl “wondering off” in unfriendly territory suggests he was mentally ill and unfit for combat duty.
gene108
I wonder, if the right-wing backlash against him made it easier for the military to push for higher penalties?
If he’d gotten the welcome, his home town had planned for him, when he was returned and was treated with a degree of respect, maybe public pressure would have nudged the military to look for less harsh penalties.
J R in WV
@Pogonip: You lose your 401K funding, right?
Right!!
I think there were a lot of intgernal problems in his unit, part of which may have been cliques and a lack of support from comrads in arms, plus the unit itself seemd to be poorly supported by their base camp.
Left in the middle of nowhere all alone…
Amir Khalid
@Pogonip:
From what the Army spokesman said, Bergdahl is not facing a capital charge — a theoretical 99 years, but not the firing squad (or whatever the Army uses nowadays.) And CNN reports the Army isn’t keen to put him away for a long spell, either, since he was already a hostage for five years.
Cervantes
@mai naem mobile:
He used to call himself an “Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran” until someone pointed out that he did his service entirely as a lawyer in South Carolina.
Gin & Tonic
@ted and hellen: Well, look who’s back.
Keith G
The fact that Bergdahl ended up in a combat unit in an active war zone despite his history since volunteering does not speak well for the Army.This is a pooch that was screwed, but it is not the decisive issue.
If found guilty with no mitigation, I would be happy if Bergdalh received a punishment in line with what others in this situation have received.
Should he get “time off” since he was captured? I do not think that this is essential, but I would understand an humanitarian impulse to do so. That said, he did not join a humanitarian organization. He joined an army at war.
As in a civilian court, does the defense have a chance now to use an emotional defect defense or was that an issue considered before the charges? That would seem to be a mitigating issue if it can be proven at this stage.
Belafon
@gene108: I doubt it. Prosecutors go for everything they can, unless a white cop shoots a black man.
myiq2xu
I don’t want to see Bergdahl in prison.
I want to see him in front of a firing squad.
trollhattan
@Cervantes:
I guess that makes me a “veteran” of those operations too, as I was glued to my teevee for both.
Have never understood why anybody who actually served in the military feels the need to inflate his (and it’s typically a dude) service record. You served, that’s all anybody could ask of you.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
I was hoping we could all ignore the foul smell coming from that nym.
trollhattan
@myiq2xu:
Of course you do, cupcake.
Eric U.
@Gin & Tonic: dougj?
D58826
@Gin & Tonic: and when are they going back to wherever you were hiding? Bob in Portland’s attic perhaps
chopper
wow, ted and hellen AND myiq in one thread. memories.
trollhattan
@chopper:
Really bad ones, but yeah. Pandora’s banhammer box sprang a leak.
Belafon
@Keith G:
A good defense will go after the Army for the documented breakdown in command at his post, and how Bergdahl felt that his “roaming” from post was OK since it had been done before.
celticdragonchick
@myiq2xu:
No doubt you will want a video of the shooting so you can fap yourself raw while humming “Proud to be an American”.
celticdragonchick
@Belafon:
I was thinking that as well. His previous roaming was known and was even a source of amusment.
burnspbesq
@Gin & Tonic:
And we all shall surely benefit from his/her/its/their wisdom.
D58826
@celticdragonchick: I’m sure ISIS will be more than happy to post the video on their web site. Maybe the Army could subcontract the execution to ISIS
Mandalay
Dumb question: If Bergdahl is found guilty and serves time will he continue to be paid?
BillinGlendaleCA
@burnspbesq: You funny.
Amir Khalid
@Cervantes:
Doesn’t it make the military haz a angry when a person misrepresents his service like that?
Keith G
@Belafon: That makes sense.
Without checking, I seem to remember that there was evidence that Bergdahl had communicated to others that he had plans to “bug out” and not just a have a “there and back” walk about. If that is the case, the “born to roam” defense may be problematic.
Tree With Water
In an anthology of stories told by WW2 Marines I once read, one junior officer spoke of the suicide of friend and fellow officer after their second or third battle. The victim had been on the edge of a breakdown that no one saw coming, and left a note saying he could not bear the thought of letting down those Marines under his direct command during the heat of the next inevitable fight. And his solution was to take his own life. A nation that sends its citizens to war should be mature enough to handle its myriad casualties. The army has dealt with deserters before, and will again. Begdahl volunteered to serve us, we sent him into harm’s way, and he apparently couldn’t handle it. If convicted, he will serve the appropriate sentence, and will then deserve to be left alone.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
They probably keep their yaps shut when it’s a guy who controls their budget.
D58826
@Keith G: It might make the defense problematic but certainly doesn’t say much for the soldiers in the unit if they let him talk about deserting without trying to stop him or reporting it to the unit commander
John M. Burt
@Archon:
One might call it the “Rudolf Hess Syndrome”.
Belafon
@Keith G: If I remember correctly, the “bug out” was something that came up afterwards from the soldiers in his unit that really didn’t like him. As was documented in the Rolling Stone article, he’d gone out and returend before. And when he was captured, he escaped once and tried more often than that. But since I’m not part of the trial, I’m not going to claim to remember 100%.
trollhattan
@D58826:
To be fair, the guys on “F-Troop” spent tons of time over at the Hekawi camp and nothing ever came of that, so I’ll propose the “Agarn Defense.”
aimai
@Minstrel Michael: Well put. An American soldier who wandered off post in Afghanistan could basically expect to be committing suicide by Afghan Mujahadeen. What was Petraeus doing? Oh, right, trading information for sex.
Cervantes
@Amir Khalid:
There was a law passed a decade or so ago that (roughly) made it an offense to lie about having received a medal or other military decoration. The Supreme Court eventually threw that law out, mostly on First Amendment grounds.
As for what military high-ups think about statements and exaggerations such as Graham’s — officially, to a first degree of approximation, it does not matter.
Elie
@Keith G:
There is a deeper story here that may predate his time in the service. There may be other contributing issues related to his state of mind.. In other words, his defense may be psychological aberration of some sort. I read somewhere that he had a troubled history. We have all sorts of bad possibilities — terrible situation. It is bad to have anyone who deserts — obviously .. esp an all “volunteer” army…
Bobby Thomson
@Gin & Tonic: one troll door closes and another opens.
Stillwater
He is one of ours. You bring him home, and then you trust the military to investigate
Trust? Really?
Why not “demonstrate in a public court” or some such?
raven
Levi Pettit on live.
Elizabelle
I hope they treat Sgt. Bergdahl fairly, and with mercy.
@gene108: Makes me sad to remember the cancelled welcome home celebration.
Fox News world is such an ugly and small little acid planet.
However unsuited for duty, Sgt. B was serving his country, until he walked away.
Compassion is called for.
Gravenstone
@chopper: Nightmares, more accurately.
Violet
@raven: What’s he saying?
sharl
@myiq2xu: Firing squad? What kind of sissy-boy pansy are you anyway? A quick death is a merciful death, and we cannot have that. No, I suggest repeated stabbing with a Meat Pr0d – very slow and drawn out process, not to mention really yucky.
raven
@Violet: Total apology with the full knowledge he can never take it back. He’s surrounded by African American leaders.
D58826
@sharl: cut his heart out with a spoon
catclub
@WaterGirl:
The only one who has suffered enough is Petraeus. Obvs.
myiq2xu
@sharl: You mean life in prison?
feebog
@Elizabelle:
I’m with you on this issue. I am a Viet Nam era Veteran who was drafted in 1965. I hope they cut a deal and give him a dishonorable discharge with loss of pay and rank and call it a day. If he is found guilty in a Court Martial I hope the judge shows compassion and sentences him to minimal or no time.
JPL
So the little mccain’s were out campaigning against the President because we leave no soldier behind and now they are campaigning against the President because he didn’t leave the soldier behind.
Cervantes
@myiq2xu:
And for your next witticism, please do tell us what that “pound of flesh” was in The Merchant of Venice.
Go ahead. You know you want
itto.Cervantes
@feebog:
I believe I speak for many of us here when I say Amen.
Violet
@raven: That sounds good. I heard he was going to meet with various African American leaders today before the apology. I hope he’s learning some things from all this.
Tree With Water
@D58826: They must have thought, “Desert? Desert to where”? In WW2, GI’s in Europe deserted. It was a rare occurrence in the Pacific theatre.
Villago Delenda Est
@myiq2xu: Actually, the one who needs to be in front of a firing squad for desertion (among other infamous crimes) is the 43rd President of the United States.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: No, and he’ll probably have to pay back a lot of the pay connected with his promotions while held in Afghanistan.
Elizabelle
@feebog: From your lips …
I hope someone as wise and humane sits in judgment. I think we will see a good outcome on this one.
Villago Delenda Est
@trollhattan: The military has more than its share of braggarts and embellishers of service records. What astounds me is that they think they can get away with this sort of thing when it’s all scrupulously documented.
One of the things you’re cautioned to do, particularly with decorations, is to make sure that they’re properly documented in your service records. It’s not unheard of for you to be awarded a medal in front of your unit but the paperwork gets fouled up somewhere and your service records are never updated to reflect that award.
Tree With Water
@Villago Delenda Est: Indeed, that observation could well serve in any dispute about what to do with Bergdahl the accused soldier.
Last night, someone posted a list of the Bush Family’s most odious accomplishments, but but getting elected to the presidency after deserting a champagne unit during a time of war wasn’t one of them.
Mandalay
@raven:
Good for him. He made a massive mistake, but he’s really facing up to it, including shaming himself publicly. I don’t see what more he can do.
I’m sure he wishes it had never happened, but my guess is that he will come out of the whole thing as a better and stronger person.
AxelFoley
@ted and hellen: Aw, HELL NAW. This asshole is back?
Eric U.
@Villago Delenda Est: yeah, they gave me a MSM when I left the Air Force, ceremony and everything. I blame my idiot boss for not putting in the paperwork, because I’m pretty sure it never showed up on my records. I suppose I should have fought a little harder to fix that, but I don’t think it will ever hurt me. Speaking of time served, when my boss was out for two weeks having a manic episode I kept hoping that they would separate him, but no such luck. We were required to be world-wide deployable, and I believe that a manic episode so severe that you think you are John the Baptist is disqualifying.
As far as Bergdahl goes, I am pretty sure he has suffered enough. I know they say people died trying to save him, which is unfortunate. I don’t see how that’s really his fault though, he wasn’t in charge of those missions
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@ted and hellen:
Aw fer fuck’s sake.
Who melted down the ban hammer for wine money?
myiq2xu
@Villago Delenda Est: That’s fine with me. I never liked, supported or voted for that asshole. In fact, until Obama took office I thought 43 was the worst president ever.
Tenar Darell
@trollhattan: Whoah. That’s some great supporting of the troops there. None of that “leave no men behind” sh*t for Lindsay.
Ken T
@Belafon: “Countdown until wingers declare Obama’s being too hard on an American soldier…”
Wingers only care about “supporting the troops” as long as they’re over there, killing brown people. Once they get home, meh.
Cervantes
@Tenar Darell:
But objecting to certain kinds of trades is not tantamount to suggesting that people must simply be abandoned, is it?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@myiq2xu:
Yeah, taking us into an unneccessary and expensive war vs getting health insurance coverage for 10 million Americans. How do you possibly decide which one is the bigger asshole?
Oh, that’s right, you decided that the guy who took us to war is less of an asshole than the guy who got health insurance coverage for everyone. Because saving people’s lives is morally worse than killing them.
Ruckus
@feebog:
Pretty much the same story here. And I have no combat experience so I can’t put myself in his place but I did see many who were having a hard time fitting in or being in the military. It’s a lot different than civilian life and I’d imagine that combat is very, very much farther away. Even with testing and training some will just not make it, they are not suitable.
The man was captive and tortured for 5 yrs.
A dishonorable discharge would be more than fair, to the military, the country and his fellow soldiers given everything I’ve read about his service, unit and those he served with.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): blah
There is no higher crime.
Paul in KY
@Archon: Good point.