Bergdahl to be Charged with Misbehavior Before the Enemy

[longknife]

A charge seldom used since WWII. He's scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept 17th. While the article has several questions, it doesn't ask one – will Obama try to sway the general responsible for the military justice on this to back off? It's clearly an embarrassment and the Bumbler-in-Chief doesn't like losing face.



Read the story @ US Military Selects Rarely Used Charge for Bergdahl Case | Military.com

 

[NLT]

 

[Theowl32]

We should not pretend to think obama did not know exactly what he was doing. Let us not be deceived. He knew precisley what this loser was guilty of. He freed those five taliban generals while the losers father made some prayer in the rose garden. In the muslims world, that prayer consecrated the white house to allah.

Liberals are deranged assholes and this president is a fucking traitor. His actions are all deliberate.

The only ones more despicable than a traitor like this shit stain in chief, are his fucking voters. His entire fucking American hating useless bags of shit left wing voting base.

No exceptions.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dishonorably discharge an' put him inna booby hatch...

Lead Army Investigator Says Bergdahl Shouldn't Go to Prison
Sep 19, 2015 -- The officer who led the investigation of Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance and capture in Afghanistan six years ago says he doesn't think the Army sergeant should go to prison.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl testified Friday at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio that Bergdahl said he walked away from his post as part of a plan to spark a search and get the attention of a general so he could express his concerns about his unit's leadership. Dahl told a packed courtroom that Bergdahl felt the problems were so severe that they put his platoon in danger, but that Bergdahl's perceptions were "completely off the mark." Dahl said Bergdahl had an elaborate plan to head from his post to the forward operating base roughly 19 miles away, expecting to arrive while a search was underway and to create a "PR event" that might get a general to listen to him. "He felt it was his duty to intervene," said Dahl, who described Bergdahl as having few friends but who seemed motivated to help others. He concluded his statements by saying he doesn't think Bergdahl should serve time in jail.

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 being held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His commanding officers in Afghanistan testified Thursday about the grueling 45-day search for Bergdahl, saying it put other soldiers in danger. Military prosecutors charged Bergdahl in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. His Article 32 hearing, which was concluded Friday, will help determine whether he should face a court-martial. The prisoner exchange drew a lot of public criticism, with many Republicans and some Democrats saying they felt it was politically motivated and contrary to the U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, left, and defense counsel Eugene Fidell look on as Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl is questioned during a hearing to determine if Bergdahl will be court-martialed, Sept. 18, 2015, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Terrence Russell, with a military agency that works with soldiers and others who have been held captive and who debriefed Bergdahl, testified that Bergdahl was subjected to worse conditions than any American prisoner of war since the Vietnam War and was "skin over bones" near the end of his captivity. Russell said Bergdahl's captors treated him like a "dirty animal," beating him with rubber and copper hoses and giving him little food and water. He said Bergdahl was kept in a cage for three years and had uncontrollable diarrhea for years. Bergdahl tried to resist and attempted to escape on multiple occasions, including one attempt in which he managed to elude recapture for 8½ days, Russell said. He acknowledged the public criticism leveled at Bergdahl, but said Bergdahl did the best he could under the circumstances. "They don't know what the facts are. Nobody knows Sgt. Bergdahl's story. I hope someday the world gets to understand how difficult Sgt. Bergdahl had it," he said.

Curtis Aberle, a family nurse practitioner at Fort Sam Houston who has been treating Bergdahl, said Bergdahl suffered extensive injuries during his time as a prisoner that have made him unfit to remain in the military. He said Bergdahl has muscular nerve damage in his lower legs, a degenerative disc in his lower back and an injury that has left him with limited movement in his shoulder — injuries that he said were caused by Bergdahl being kept in a crouched position for extended periods. Aberle said Bergdahl also suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, but he didn't mention any other psychiatric issues Bergdahl may have.

More Lead Army Investigator Says Bergdahl Shouldn't Go to Prison | Military.com

See also:

Prosecutor: Bergdahl Deliberately Deserted, Endangering Other Troops
Sep 18, 2015 -- An Army prosecutor Thursday laid out the government's case against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, saying he deserted his post in eastern Afghanistan with "deliberate and knowing disregard for the consequences of his actions" and endangered other troops who had to search for him.

Bergdahl left -- "snuck off," according to Maj. Margaret Kurz on the first day of his Article 32 hearing -- to hike 30 miles to a larger base, FOB Sharana, to report what he said was misconduct to the commanding general there. After he disappeared, Kurz said, "for 45 days, the only operations in Paktika province was to find the accused." Bergdahl, 29, sat calmly during the proceeding at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, flanked by his attorney, Eugene Fidell, and two Army defense lawyers. There has been no announcement of whether he will testify. He is charged with desertion with intent to shirk hazardous or important duty, which carries a maximum penalty of five years, and misbehavior before the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence. Bergdahl stared straight ahead through most of the six-hour hearing, blinking repeatedly and rarely speaking with his lawyers. His parents were not in attendance.

According to testimony Thursday from his former platoon commander, Capt. John Billings, Bergdahl was a stellar soldier before he disappeared in the early morning hours of June 30, 2009. "A great soldier from all accounts," he testified. "Always did everything he was asked to do. Never complained. No issues." His disappearance, Billings said, came as a shock that quickly became a burden. The operations tempo increased significantly, he said, with less planning and fewer safeguards, all seeking Bergdahl, who had been captured by the Taliban-associated Haqqani network. He was held for five years until a controversial Obama administration prisoner exchange freed him. Soon after the disappearance, Billings said he took a nine-man foot patrol beyond the wire for 19 days to look for Bergdahl in searing heat.

Defense lawyer Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt told Billings that many people believed the search for Bergdahl resulted in the deaths of six or seven soldiers and asked whether that were true. "None of my guys died looking for Sgt. Bergdahl," Billings said. Rosenblatt also revealed that Bergdahl, who had once sought to join the Foreign Legion, had been discharged from the Coast Guard for psychological issues before he was allowed to enlist in the Army in 2008, when standards had been lowered to field enough troops, and had also been found by an Army medical board to be suffering from a severe mental disease or defect.

Maj. Silvino Silvino, Bergdahl's company commander, was also called upon by Kurz to discuss the dangers of the area he was responsible for, which he said doubled in size and grew more dangerous during the 45 days the company searched for the missing soldier, "sleeping in the dirt," cold and "miserable" for weeks at a time. The men in "Blackfoot" company were confused, Silvino said, by why they had to search village to village in three provinces for a man they believed had walked away and put them at risk. "I'd tell them: 'He's our brother. We have to get him back,'" Silvino said. One soldier was in three IED hits, Silvino said, and had to recuperate at FOB Sharona for a likely concussion.

More Prosecutor: Bergdahl Deliberately Deserted, Endangering Other Troops | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Armor officer to decide on court-martial for Bergdahl...

Gen. Abrams to Decide Whether Bergdahl Case Goes to Court-Martial
Oct 12, 2015 | The fate of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is now at the wide discretion of Army Gen. Robert B. "Abe" Abrams, son of the legendary Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Jr. for whom the MIAI and M1A2 Abrams tanks are named.

As the convening authority in the case under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Abrams, head of U.S. Forces Command, can order a general court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He can also order a special court-martial, recommend non-judicial punishment, or choose to take no action at all. Abrams took over at Forces Command in August and became the convening authority in Bergdahl's case, succeeding Gen. Mark Milley, the new Army chief of staff. Abrams is an armor officer like his father, who commanded the 37th Tank Battalion in the Third Army of Gen. George S. Patton during World War II. Creighton Abrams later succeeded Gen. William Westmoreland as U.S. commander in Vietnam and was Army chief of staff until shortly before his death in 1974. It was Milley earlier this year who ordered an Article 32 fact-finding hearing in the Bergdahl case on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for leaving his post in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009.

Bergdahl was captured, reportedly by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, and was held captive for nearly five years. He was freed in May 2014 in a controversial exchange for five detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base. Last week, Army Lt. Col. Mark Visger, the hearing officer in the Article 32 proceeding, "recommended that the charges be referred to a special court-martial and that a punitive discharge and confinement would be inappropriate given all the circumstances," according to Bergdahl's defense team. Visger's recomendations have not been made public. Bergdahl's lawyers have called for their release. "It is unfortunate that the government has not simply released Lt. Col. Visger's report, which is unclassified," said Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl's civilian lawyer. In a filing, Lt. Colonel Franklin D. Rosenblatt, Bergdahl's military attorney, wrote to Visger that "Given your conclusion -- with which we agree -- about whether confinement or a punitive discharge are warranted, and the factors you cited in support of that conclusion, non-judicial punishment under Article 15, UCMJ, is the appropriate disposition."

Special courts-martial are convened for cases that would equate to misdemeanors in the civilian system and limit maximum punishments to one year of jail time, a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge. Gen. Abrams' courses of action are not limited by Visger's recommendations. It is not unprecedented for a convening authority to go against the recommendations of an Article 32 hearing officer. During the Article 32 hearing, Bergdahl's defense team argued that he walked away from his post in a misguided effort to report to a general officer 19 miles away on problems in his unit. Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who conducted a lengthy preliminary investigation of the Bergdahl case, testified at the hearing that he did not believe Bergdahl deserved jail time. "I do not believe that there is a jail sentence at the end of this process," Dahl said. "I think it would be inappropriate." Dahl, who interviewed Bergdahl at length, described him as "young, naive and inexperienced," adding that "I believe he is remorseful."

Gen. Abrams to Decide Whether Bergdahl Case Goes to Court-Martial | Military.com

 

[shadow355]

Burden of proof Is on the Government.

Constantly changing, amending and filing different charges is not going to accomplish anything ; but make the prosecutor look unprepared - incompetent and an idiot legal counsel.

What is the difference between the Article 32 hearing, and the evidence - and the now current charges. What was the Government alleging in the Article 32 hearing? What are they alleging now?

Again.......someone is lying. Maliciously lying.


Shadow 355

 

[waltky]

Bergdahl loses another motion in trial...

Judge Denies Efforts to Remove General from Bergdahl Case
Oct 03, 2016 — A military judge has denied defense efforts to disqualify the four-star general overseeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's case.

Defense attorneys argued Gen. Robert Abrams should be removed from the case for reasons including involvement in search efforts for Bergdahl and that he destroyed letters from the public. The head of U.S. Army Forces Command referred the case to a general court-martial last year.

But the judge, Army. Col. Jeffery Nance, ruled Friday that the defense failed to show the letters contained admissible evidence.

The defense also argued Abrams had prior involvement in search efforts after Bergdahl's 2009 disappearance from a post in Afghanistan. But Nance wrote Abrams wasn't personally involved in decisions on the search.

Bergdahl's trial is scheduled for 2017 on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Judge Denies Efforts to Remove General from Bergdahl Case | Military.com

 

[Vigilante]

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

Burden of proof Is on the Government.

Constantly changing, amending and filing different charges is not going to accomplish anything ; but make the prosecutor look unprepared - incompetent and an idiot legal counsel.

What is the difference between the Article 32 hearing, and the evidence - and the now current charges. What was the Government alleging in the Article 32 hearing? What are they alleging now?

Again.......someone is lying. Maliciously lying.


Shadow 355

I bet he gets off. From the news it seems he has an aggressive JAG defense team. The government will have an uphill battle proving anything.

 

[JoeMoma]

Burden of proof Is on the Government.

Constantly changing, amending and filing different charges is not going to accomplish anything ; but make the prosecutor look unprepared - incompetent and an idiot legal counsel.

What is the difference between the Article 32 hearing, and the evidence - and the now current charges. What was the Government alleging in the Article 32 hearing? What are they alleging now?

Again.......someone is lying. Maliciously lying.


Shadow 355

I bet he gets off. From the news it seems he has an aggressive JAG defense team. The government will have an uphill battle proving anything.

I kind of agree, but I expect he will get some kind of slap on the wrist...which can be interpreted as getting off considering what he deserves.