Bowe Bergdahl, Facing Desertion Trial, Asks Obama for Pardon

[Begabig]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the former American prisoner of war in Afghanistan who was freed in a 2014 swap for five Taliban detainees, has asked President Obama to pardon him before leaving the White House to President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has called the soldier “a no-good traitor who should have been executed.”

After the presidential election, Sergeant Bergdahl’s legal team submitted copies of a clemency application to the White House, the Justice Department and the Pentagon, according to White House and Justice Department officials.

It requested a pre-emptive pardon that would avert Sergeant Bergdahl’s court-martial trial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered fellow soldiers. The trial is scheduled to begin on April 18.

Sergeant Bergdahl left his outpost in Afghanistan without permission in 2009 and was captured by militants, prompting a dangerous but fruitless search. His captors held him in brutal conditions for five years, including locking him in a cage and in darkness for lengthy periods.

The Obama administration eventually secured his release in exchange for sending five high-level Taliban detainees from the Guantánamo Bay prison to Qatar, which agreed to monitor them and not let them travel.

Read more: http://nyti.ms/2gWw98u

---

Nope...0

Say Hello to Leavenworth...

[philosslayer]

1. I hope he gets a pardon

I've seen nothing to indicate he should be locked up.

[Botany]

3. some troops in Bergdahl's unit got killed looking for him (or so the media tells me)

n/t

[ToxMarz]

6. There isn't that much to directly connect the deaths to the search for Bergdahl

They were killed during the time that Bergdahl was missing but weren't specifically on missions looking for him from what I've read. Anecdotally they seem to be blaming him believing the Taliban chose to attack at that time because they thought the troops were stretched thin searching for Bergdahl

[metroins]

26. Desertion

No thanks.

If you go AWOL on mainland, I can see leniency.

If you desert while active duty, from your base, and join the enemy....prison until you're 60.

If he just tried to go back home I'd have leniency, but he actively tried to join the enemy.

[leftynyc]

43. Fuck this deserter

People DIED looking for his pathetic ass.

[cstanleytech]

2. I dont see it happening as he has not been convicted of a crime as of this moment and

still has a chance with the upcoming trial.

[MADem]

4. In order to get a POTUS pardon, the recipient MUST ACKNOWLEDGE GUILT.

This idiot was:

a. A low quality recruit who washed out of the Coast Guard boot camp (no offense, but that's not the hardest boot camp going);

b. A poorly educated, poorly socialized home-schooled TWIT who spent his life believing he was some kind of special snowflake;

c. A pain in the ass to his chain of command;

d. Passed along in Army boot camp because they were desperate for warm bodies;

e. A prisoner of the Taliban for five fucking years.

Give him the pardon, give him an OTH/dishonorable discharge, and move on.

Why should the American people have to pay to feed and house him at Leavenworth? He really has been punished enough--and face facts, he's mentally unsound. It takes an idiot to walk out of a forward operating base wearing mufti and get captured while taking a shit.

Put this chapter behind us all.

[uppityperson]

7. Exactly. He was imprisoned this 5 yrs, give OTH discharge and be done

[yeoman6987]

58. I'd go with dishonorable and walk

OTH is not high enough.

[yallerdawg]

8. From wiki:

"The Justice Department requires that anyone requesting a pardon wait five years after conviction or release prior to receiving a pardon. A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime."

[MADem]

11. ACCEPTANCE of the pardon means you have acknowledged you committed the crime.

Here ya go--a source a bit more schooled that wiki, which is highly editable:

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/10/opinion/l-doesn-t-a-pardon-still-imply-admission-of-guilt-514193.html

"No," he told me, "I would neither seek nor accept a Presidential pardon, which requires an admission of guilt. I would not perjure myself to obtain a pardon. I am innocent." Mr. Kerner died some months later proclaiming his innocence.

That understanding was confirmed to me by Deputy Attorney General Charles B. Renfrew, a former Federal judge serving in the Carter Justice Department.

Mr. Renfrew told me that no application for a Presidential pardon would be passed on by the Justice Department to the White House unless the petitioner formally acknowledged guilt.

In short, a Presidential pardon, contrary to the widespread public perception, does not erase the guilty finding by a judge or jury, but rather restores the guilty party's civil and other preconviction rights.

The context is the Weinberger pardon--he wasn't convicted of a crime, either.

More:

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/opinion/l-constitution-allows-pardons-before-conviction-590688.html

Accordingly, the Constitution simply provides that the President ''shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment'' (Article II, section 2).

The leading Supreme Court case is Ex parte Garland (1867). Justice Stephen J. Field, writing for the Court in a 5-4 decision, held that the President's pardoning power is ''unlimited,'' and ''It extends to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.''

In Murphy v. Ford (1975), a Federal District Court in Michigan rejected a suit for a declaratory judgment that President Ford's unconditional pardon of Richard M. Nixon was unconstitutional. The court found that the President had the constitutional power to grant a pre-indictment pardon, citing Ex parte Garland in its support....

Still more:

In general, a pardon is the act of forgiving a crime. A pardon nullifies punishments or other legal consequences of a crime. However, a presidential pardon does not expunge a crime or remedy the past act. In other words, the crime can still be taken into consideration against the wrongdoer (e.g. on a job application or when giving a sentence for a different crime). For example, if the pardoned person is later tried for a similar crime, the pardoned crime may be taken into consideration when giving the sentence for the new crime. The pardon does not blot out the past.

One key thing to keep in mind: Presidential pardons only apply to federal criminal acts against the United States.

So, the president cannot pardon a person for violations of any federal civil laws or state criminal or civil laws. For example, if a person commits armed robbery at a local gas station and is convicted under state law for armed robbery, that person cannot receive a presidential pardon. Why? Because that person committed a state criminal act, not a federal criminal act. However, if that person also robbed a U.S. post office (a federal facility), then he or she could petition the president for a pardon of the robbery at the U.S. post office.

Presidential pardons can be granted anytime after an offense has been committed including before, during, or after a conviction for the offense. If granted before a conviction is given, it prevents any penalties from attaching to the person. If granted after a conviction, it removes the penalties, and restores the person to all his or her civil rights. However, a pardon can never be granted before an offense has been committed – because the president does not have the power to waive the laws.

Furthermore, because the power of the presidential pardon comes directly from the U.S. Constitution, it cannot modified, diminished or altered by any laws passed by Congress, except by an amendment to the Constitution (which is generally very difficult to do). Also, the president has unlimited pardon power, except in cases of impeachment. This means the president can pardon as many individuals as he or she wants for any federal criminal acts against the United States, unless that individual has been impeached by Congress (which is also very rare).

http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=61&pageid=321

[Leontius]

10. Nope, sorry but desertion while engaed with any enemy doesn't just get a pass because he's a twit.

And the crap about he's been punished enough, no his punishment for his crime if he is found guilty hasn't even started.

[MADem]

12. "Engaged with the enemy?" He was pooping when he was picked up.

I believe that mental incapacity is a strong factor in mitigation. Also a factor in mitigation is that he had been held prisoner in harsh circumstances for half a decade.

If he'd been rescued or traded three days after they got him, I'd have a different POV. But sometimes, enough is enough. The Army shares blame for this moron--they scraped the bottom of the barrel when they passed him through, and scraped it so hard they could see daylight. Their pisspoor judgment contributed to the circumstance that caused this matter. And it's not like they were not forewarned--they KNEW he was an initial entry OSVET wash-out when they processed him.

I would not be surprised if his initial Army enlistment date was very close to the end of the month in which he enlisted. A lot of shitty recruits slide by at the end of the month, due to a glut of personnel being processed on the same day--a lot gets missed.

[Leontius]

19. Yeah I forgot nobody shits in a combat zone.

[MADem]

22. They don't wear civvies and go walkabout if they're of sound mind. nt

[metroins]

27. He actively sought the enemy

He wanted to join them.

[MADem]

63. No, he thought he'd walk to India. He wasn't in his right mind. nt

[metroins]

64. He wrote letters to his dad

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl

Seems coherent to me. If he wanted to walk to India and desert his country, while actively in war, then he'll have to live with the consequences.

mom, dad

The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting. [...] [Three good sergeants had been forced to move to another company] [...] and one of the biggest shit bags is being put in charge of the team. [...] [My battalion commander was] a conceited old fool. [...] In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. ... The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, [...] I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live... We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them [...] I am sorry for everything. The horror that is america is disgusting. There are a few more boxes coming to you guys. Feel free to open them, and use them.[1]:4

[MADem]

66. I invite your attention the Newsweek article I have posted.

The Army ADMITS he was mentally defective. That's game/set/match right there. They screwed up in accessing him. If you think that letter is "normal" you are short of understanding as to his daily work situation or his expectations for his service. He wanted to be a cross between Ghandi and Rambo and he didn't get that wish.

The defense offered three main arguments in response:Argument one: Bergdahl is guilty of going AWOL, during which time (about eight to 10 hours) he was kidnapped. His decision to leave his base was not realistic, necessary or wise, but he did not intend to leave permanently and is therefore not guilty of desertion.

Argument two: The Army shares the blame for this tragedy. In 2006, Bergdahl washed out of Coast Guard basic training with a mental breakdown. In 2008, the Army issued him a waiver and deployed him to one of the world’s most dangerous war zones. This, despite the fact that an Army psychiatry board determined that at the time of his deployment he suffered from “a severe mental disease or defect.” In Afghanistan, his superiors ignored a concerned report about Bergdahl’s mental state from a sergeant in his platoon.

Argument three: The many years he spent in brutal captivity should be a mitigating factor. The grim details of that ordeal, as well as his good conduct in the face of such adversity, make a prison sentence both redundant and inhumane.

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/02/05/serial-bowe-bergdahl-mystery-pow-419962.html

This "lock him up/hang him high" shit I expect from the likes of Trump, who got a medal for bed-making in military school, but not the sort of thing any thinking, experienced military leader would endorse. We've come a long way from "shell shock" and "battle fatigue." This young man was playing Army with one hand tied behind his back--he had no business in uniform in the first place; he was unfit for service on the day he arrived at MEPS for his physical.

[Leontius]

36. You can quit digging now, I'm sure it's getting warm in that hole.

Deserters always stay on post in uniform would never walk away and change clothes to avoid notice or take a shit. If he wants to claim he was insane or incapable of rational thought on his action go for it but until he produces evidence of that and/or his innocence of the act he needs to face the consequences of his act.

[MADem]

65. You can stop being snarky and personal, and discuss the topic like an adult.

He asked his supervisor if it was OK for him to go walkabout, and his supervisor didn't say no.

I'd say the one who needs to "quit digging" is you.

But there is a serious problem with that report: It doesn’t exist. Shortly after the Fox story aired, the NCIS told Newsweek that no one at Fox had called to confirm what the report said or even to verify that it existed. “There are no records of NCIS conducting an investigation of the type being reported,” said Ed Buice, NCIS public affairs officer. “There is no NCIS report.”

No matter—in the court of public opinion, Bergdahl never had a chance. In the absence of any plausible explanation for his disappearance, rumors swirled right from the start. Men from Blackfoot Company grumbled that Bergdahl liked to spend a bit too much time with the Afghans. He didn’t drink. He didn’t hang out. The soldiers didn’t question their duty to rescue him, but they weren’t happy about risking their lives to save this misfit.....When soldiers desert their posts in war, they typically run from the fight, toward safety. Bergdahl did the opposite, walking directly into his own kidnapping. Over the course of his 1,797 days in blindfolds and chains, he was starved, beaten and under the constant threat of execution. For more than three years, he lived in a 6-by-6-foot steel cage with no running water, no toilet paper and severe chronic diarrhea.

....Bergdahl was quickly taken from Afghanistan to Germany and the Air Force’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where he received medical care and was questioned. He asked if he could have some peanut butter. He was then transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where hostage experts, survival psychologists, FBI agents and intelligence officers interrogated him further. He had been promoted twice in captivity, to sergeant, but he rejected the rank and asked others to address him as private first class.

....Dahl was called to the preliminary trial at Fort Sam Houston as a defense witness, but he did not defend Bergdahl’s actions. He did, however, discuss the findings of his 15-6 report, which helps explain the seemingly inexplicable—how a maladjusted young soldier made a colossally bad decision born not of treason or malevolence but of tragic and remarkably naïve idealism. He described a 23-year-old with the delusional and sometimes grandiose perspective of a sheltered adolescent. “A lot of people are home-schooled and don’t have social interaction challenges,” Dahl said, but Bergdahl’s unique upbringing, 8 miles along a dirt-road canyon, “on the edge of the grid, denied him, frankly, some normal social development opportunities.”

He testified that Bergdahl joined the Coast Guard in 2006, “looking for some adventure.” He was “interested in saving lives.” He lasted three weeks. “He became overwhelmed and then found himself in the hospital,” Dahl said. “He wasn’t ready for it.” The Coast Guard categorized it an “entry-level separation” and diagnosed him with “adjustment disorder with depression.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/02/05/serial-bowe-bergdahl-mystery-pow-419962.html
The Army failed UTTERLY in their vetting of this individual. They created the environment that allowed this mess through their carelessness and complete negligence in admitting personnel to their ranks.

His sentence should be time served.

[jmowreader]

14. You can only be dishonorably discharged after a general court-martial

I would give him a General discharge and be done with it. It still fucks with your life some, but not as bad as an OTH. It removes the problem child from the ranks. And the paperwork is fairly minimal.

[MADem]

15. They could expedite his courts martial and issue the pardon after the fact.

He'd have to agree, plead guilty with the understanding that a pardon is forthcoming, and there ya go.

It could be over and done in three days.

[jmowreader]

17. If the military would agree, that would work.

[MADem]

23. Manning did something similar. Guilty plea in exchange for taking the DP off the table.

She will be dishonorably discharged at the end of her confinement.

[MADem]

73. His lawyers could make the deal directly with Justice/WH lawyers.

He pleads guilty and POTUS pardons him. POTUS would, of course, cut in DOD, and DOD would go along. USArmy would have nothing to say at that point. Zip it and let it rip.

It's what should happen. They can give him the DD if it means that much to them. But this idiot (and yes, he was an idiot) was a) Improperly accessed into the USA, he was UNQUALIFIED by reason of mental defect; and b) Suffered torturous confinement by the enemy for a period of 5 years.

We are humans who do not inflict mindless torture on our fellow humans. We're better than that--or at least we should TRY to be better than that. Label the guy what he is (an incompetent who was wrongly recruited), and let him go.

[Jose Garcia]

57. The President has pretty much unlimited power to grant pardons in federal cases

[MADem]

59. The POTUS does not sign off on any pardon that has not been vetted by Justice and the

WH legal team. The requirement for a person to receive a pardon, is, as I said, acknowledgement of guilt. There's a link discussing this elsewhere in the thread.

[Jose Garcia]

60. Nixon never admitted guilt, yet Ford pardoned him

[MADem]

68. The act of accepting the pardon is the acknowledgement of guilt.

Does no one study history anymore? I remember this when it was "current events."

After Ford left the White House in 1977, he privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision which suggested that a pardon carried an imputation of guilt and that acceptance carried an imputation of confession.[8] In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Ford for his pardon of Nixon.[9] In presenting the award to Ford, Senator Ted Kennedy said that he had initially been opposed to the pardon of Nixon, but later stated that history had proved Ford to have made the correct decision.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon

Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915),[1] was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that:
A pardoned person must introduce the pardon into court proceedings, otherwise the pardon must be disregarded by the court.
To do this, the pardoned person must accept the pardon. If a pardon is rejected, it cannot be forced upon its subject.
A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power intrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed. It is the private though official act of the executive magistrate, delivered to the individual for whose benefit it is intended. A private deed, not communicated to him, whatever may be its character, whether a pardon or release, is totally unknown and cannot be acted on.
United States v. Wilson established that it is possible to reject a (conditional) pardon, even for a capital sentence. Burdick affirmed that the same principle extends to unconditional pardons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdick_v._United_States

[yallerdawg]

5. How would Bergdahl get a fair court-martial...

if the next Commander-in-Chief publicly states he deserves execution and spreads malicious lies about him?

Obama has the power to end this travesty.

[MADem]

75. His best bet is a plea deal, ASAP, as outlined upthread--IMO.

Guilty plea in exchange for pardon or a sentence of "time served."

I always trusted the military as an institution, having served in it for decades. Trump, though, seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with a lot of his picks from the military sector. It was a rare occasion when I ran into people quite so assholish as those he seems to adore--and if those bums are allowed to hold sway, it could negatively impact the culture of the place for a decade or more.

[Mc Mike]

9. Probably military intel.

[Begabig]

20. What?

[keithbvadu2]

13. GOP criticized Obama for not getting him back and then criticized Obama for getting him back.

GOP criticized Obama for not getting him back and then criticized Obama for getting him back.

They just wanted to criticize Obama and they don't really care about Bergdahl.

[underpants]

51. Yes and his father was used for fundraising

At least one event with Michael Steele has n attendance.

[Sunlei]

53. That exchange was scary to watch, especially with Republicans turning up their nagging of Obama.

Republicans hoped a tragic disaster happened so they could "we told you so Obama".

[jmowreader]

16. Trump thinks Bergdahl should have been executed

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/09/donald-trump-says-bowe-bergdahl-should-have-been-executed.html

I would not put it past that disease-ridden worm Trump to exert "undue command influence" to get Bergdahl sentenced to death for going AWOL. (The charge they have him under is desertion, but there is a hell of a mitigating circumstance here: it was impossible for him to return to US military control because he was a prisoner of war for five years. So, AWOL is the correct charge.) The only way to guarantee Bergdahl stays alive is for Obama to pardon him preemptively.

[Sunlei]

18. 5 years as a prisoner of war and another couple years waiting trial is ENOUGH PUNISHMENT.

[hollowdweller]

21. Family is Republican and Obama already did them one favor at his expense

I say Obama should stay out of it and let the GOP deal with it once they in in charge since that's who they supported.

[FairWinds]

24. Do any of you valiant fighting keyboarders really know what war does to human beings ?

Although this article may kick out the foundations of your militaristic pseudo-reality, you need to read it . .

It is based on decades of Veterans Admin research.

As a Vietnam vet, I wrote it and stand by every word.

http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/bowe-bergdahl-psychology.html

Veterans For Peace stands with Sgt. Bergdahl, and all the
other millions who chose to walk away from war.

Honorable discharge.

[Begabig]

25. I've been there and done all that and Bergdahl can rot...

[FairWinds]

30. So have I . .

guess you did not learn much.

First, you need to not get your info from "fake news."

Second, do you have any idea how many US troops just walk away every year?
( It is in the tens of thousands) But the only one you (or Drumph) want to punish
is that poor SOB from Hailey.

Shame on you.

[Begabig]

34. Are you saying the NY Times is fake news?

Some walk away... They should face justice for that.

Not too many of them do it in an active combat zone.

Fuck him.

[FairWinds]

38. Are you kidding me with your . .

"Are you saying the NY Times is fake news?"

Ever hear of Judith Miller? Didn't think so.

The Times coverage of the Iraq was has PROVEN to be fake.
And much else is fake in it besides - I know, I'm a subscriber.

You must have been out to lunch for most of 2002-3.

[Begabig]

40. Did Judith Miller write this?

No, she did not. What do you find to be factually incorrect about this specific article that leads you to believe it is 'fake news'?

There's not much wiggle room here. Either he ran off or he didn't. Either he is asking for a pardon or he isn't.

[FairWinds]

41. You made a GENERAL comment about . .

the NYT and "fake news."

You were wrong.

[Begabig]

46. About what?

You're just rambling without actually saying anything.

[brooklynite]

37. The way to "walk away from war" is to invoke one's right to not join the military in the first place

Having freely chosen to enlist, Bergdahl is stuck following the rules.

[FairWinds]

42. Again, you have no idea at all . .

how many deserters from the US military there are every year,
and you call for punishing only one of them - the one Trump
and the Reich want to punish . . what a coincidence.

Questions for you: What percentage of US vets come home from
Afghanistan and Iraq mentally damaged? How many of them
are there?

The answers are in this article, which I am sure you will not bother
to read . . because if you did, you might learn something.

http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/bowe-bergdahl-psychology.html

[MADem]

67. It is incumbent on DOD to vet personnel before accessing them.

Berghdal was judged to be mentally defective after he washed out, stressed and overwhelmed, from Coast Guard boot camp two years before he joined the Army. His RE-4 should have been sustained, but Army gave him a waiver because they were desperate to make their recruiting quotas. He was the scum that insinuated itself into the wood at the bottom of the barrel. When he shipped out to Afghanistan, he was UNQUALIFIED for military service. Army psychiatrists have formally come to that conclusion.

The Army shares the overwhelming burden of responsibility for Berghdal. They KNEW he was a low-quality, mentally incompetent recruit, and they brought him onboard anyway.

[MADem]

69. Indeed.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

28. He shouldn't get one.

[doc03]

29. He shouldn't get one and I don't know why Obama stuck his neck out

to get him back

[beachbum bob]

31. pardoning Bergdahl would be disgracefull...

[FairWinds]

32. Where was your outrage when Scooter Libbey

got comuted ??

[leftynyc]

44. All over DU

Try and find anyone here from that time who supported that. You'll be wasting your time but go ahead.

[FairWinds]

33. And why are y'all so in love with a Republican war of choice ??

I have yet to meet a SINGLE Afghanistan or Iraq was vet
who thinks either one is a good mission. All they do it chew up lives.

They should ALL walk away.

And you fighting keyboarders should work on ending
the Forever War.

Veterans For Peace

[EX500rider]

35. Really, at Veterans For Peace they were against it....what a surprise..

....I know military who are all for hunting down the Taliban like cockroaches...After spending time in Kandahar Province I agree.

[FairWinds]

39. To reiterate . .

those wars are useless expenditures of lives and treasure.

I'm very proud that Vets For Peace was against them from the start -
Iraq especially was an avalanche of lies.

And I'm also proud that VFP was there at Standing Rock in solidarity
with the water protectors.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

45. He already served a five year sentence.

Contrary to what the Madman (and apparently the OP) wants you to believe, he was not a "traitor" who defected. He went AWOL, was captured by the Taliban, and spent a very harsh five years in captivity before finally being freed.

Pardon him, or if that's too much for people like the OP to swallow, commute his sentence to a dishonorable discharge and be done with it. Making a pointless show trial is ridiculous. And the Madman is going to whip up all the manufactured fury if Bergdahl goes to trial under him, all to distract us from other things under his nose.

[Begabig]

47. Play stupid games... Win stupid prizes...

That doesn't excuse his actions or relieve him of the responsibility to take the legal punishment he deserves.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

48. Not sure why you are so caught up on this as if this guy was an actual traitor.

But thanks for playing the Trump game.

But if you want to tell me what a show trial and a redundant prison term will serve justice where a simply less than honorable discharge won't, be my guest.

[Begabig]

49. There was a world before Trump...

... and it's not a Republican view to want to hold someone accountable.

What makes it a 'show' trial? The fact that it isn't held behind closed doors or just the fact that it's happening at all?

I've been there when someone goes missing and seen what happens. Everything just stops.

People and assets are all diverted until there is some sort of resolution. That means missions aren't going and people who intentionally bomb civilians have a free pass while our eyes are elsewhere.

IEDs were set, MWE were moved and time sensitive info was lost because we had to deal with this guy instead.

That's the price to be paid for an actual hostage who was taken against their will. Someone who goes out on their own ? Fuck 'em.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

50. Trump made it a point to falsely call Bergdahl a "traitor" and use it as an argument against Obama.

If the Army wants to hold him accountable, give him a discharge. Easy and done.

Wasting our time attempting to punish someone who effectively punished himself is completely pointless and a waste of judicial resources.

[Begabig]

61. Accountability doesn't mean washing our hands of him...

People, money and time were all consumed because of his decision and he deserves to face our legal system.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

62. At this point, I don't trust the irrational incoming President who wants to politicize the case.

I'd much rather the rational, outgoing President bring the unnecessarily long and drawn out matter to a close and move on.

[MADem]

74. You're mistaken. They KNEW where he was. IN PAKISTAN.

They used "Looking for Berghdal" as an excuse to make incursions into areas to get the lay of the land and hunt down enemy.

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/02/05/serial-bowe-bergdahl-mystery-pow-419962.html

The Pentagon’s inconvenient problem here is that the Army has never explained why Andrews, or any infantry platoon, was searching for Bergdahl nearly two months after officials believed his captors had moved him to Pakistan. As Newsweek reported in April, elite Army units were waved off the search within a week of his disappearance, and military sources told ABC News on July 20 that Bergdahl was in Pakistan. Pentagon public affairs insisted he wasn’t, and in an interview that day in New Delhi, India, then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dodged the question.It all leads to the troubling question: Why search for Bergdahl in Afghanistan when solid intelligence placed him in another country? Several military sources—enlisted men and officers—tell Newsweek the Army used the Bergdahl crisis to gain a strategic advantage in the war. “It was common knowledge that commanders in the field used searching for Bergdahl as a justification for more aggressive tactics to achieve stability in the area,” the former senior Defense Department official says. “Everyone knew it was going on.”A former officer who served in the region at the time says the searches were a versatile tactic. “It was a good excuse,” because missions that included “personnel recovery” were granted greater assets and quicker approval for raids on Afghan villages and homes, he says. Some officers “were using that code to request assets months after the fact…. ‘Bergdahl’ became a language tactic to get assets.”

[Sunlei]

52. "clemency application" submitted, not a pardon. Can the President grant clemency as POW time served?

the mans is not going to walk off his post to use the closest restroom again, anyway.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

54. That's even less problematic.

He wouldn't even be absolved from his actions from clemency.

I have no idea why some people are so caught up on this.

[Sunlei]

55. Obamas used clemency a lot recently. I just don't know if he could use it for a military case?

Federal prisoners he has used mostly clemency. Over 1,000 today, more then all Presidents in history combined.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

56. I would think as Commander in Chief he could.

But that's just my guess.

On edit:

There would at the very least be precedent from the clemency discharge for people who evaded service or deserted in Vietnam:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/32/724.112

[Blue_Tires]

70. Obama already got him one "pardon" by getting him home...

[FairWinds]

71. There were 4,000 deserters in 2001 alone . .

but Bowie is the only one you Righties and the Drumph
want to hang . .

Shame, shame on you.

That poor sob has suffered more than enough.

Veterans For Peace

For the reality-based community, here are the facts.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/quick-facts-army-deserters-bergdahl

Vets For Peace

[phleshdef]

72. Bergdahl never should've been allowed to stay in the military to begin with.

He had known mental health issues before ever being deployed.

The people he was stationed with did in fact come under a lot of scrutiny for "disciplinary problems".

The system failed to identify a lot of problems as far as the whole Bergdahl story goes.

But if you don't think he has suffered enough after being locked in a box for 5 years, then don't dare call yourself a liberal, a progressive or a Democrat.