The execution of Private Berghdahl?

[Fasglas]

Originally Posted by VITE1

Try him, convict him, execute him.

Google: Opening scene Dirty Dozen.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by GentleBen

From the O'Reilly Factor last night:

A 2009 NCIS investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s activities while in Afghanistan reveal that there is clear evidence Bergdahl was “going over to the other side with a deliberate plan,” Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night.

Shaffer, a former military intelligence officer and Fox News contributor, said two senior sources told him that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation included a forensic review of his computer, which show Bergdahl’s apparent intent to travel to Uzbekistan.

“He was going to go off to Uzbekistan,” Shaffer told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “He had made contact with local Afghans and wanted to be moved to Uzbekistan and then made contact with the Russians because he wanted to talk to Russian organized crime ...

“Clearly he was not all there relating to what he was doing,” Shaffer told O'Reilly. “I think we’re going to see more and more, as this report is made public that there were a number of disconcerting things within Bergdahl.”

According to the sources, data collection at the time indicated Bergdahl made contact with an Afghan in an effort to lay the groundwork for his departure.

“He had Afghan contacts and he was actually trying to offer himself up with the Taliban. Both are very severe,” Shaffer added.

Shaffer said that the NCIS investigation, which included interviews with squad mates as well as Afghans working outside the wire, reportedly resulted in Bergdahl being charged with misbehavior toward the enemy.

Officials say Bergdahl, who was charged with desertion in March, walked away from his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. He was then released from Taliban control in a prisoner exchange last May for five Taliban commanders.

Fox News reached out to Bergdahl’s lawyer Eugene Fidell but he declined to comment.

And Obama had a rose garden presser w bergdahls parents where he call the kid a man of honor. And Susan rice and josh earnest both went on news programs and said he served with honor and distinction.

All the while knowing these facts since 2009.

And there are those who still support the deceiving president. Many supporters are on this forum, you know who they are...the guys who "don't want to talk politics but would vote for Obama again"

Fools among us.

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by LATB

And Obama had a rose garden presser w bergdahls parents where he call the kid a man of honor. And Susan rice and josh earnest both went on news programs and said he served with honor and distinction.

All the while knowing these facts since 2009.

And there are those who still support the deceiving president. Many supporters are on this forum, you know who they are...the guys who "don't want to talk politics but would vote for Obama again"

Fools among us.

Obama is a lying scum bag SOB who deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Sea Six]

[LATB]

[GentleBen]

This appeared in yesterday's Stars and Stripes.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 'a case nobody wants to see go to trial' - U.S. - Stripes

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 'A Case Nobody Wants To See Go To Trial'
By David Zucchino
Los Angeles Times (Tribune News Service)
Published: April 28, 2015

While the death penalty is a possible punishment in cases of desertion or misbehavior before the enemy — the charges leveled Tuesday against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — that sentence has rarely been imposed.

Whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl planned to return to his combat outpost is irrelevant, according to the desertion charge the Army has brought against him.

Every year since America's current overseas wars began 14 years ago, hundreds of Army soldiers have abandoned their units — almost 6,000 since 2001. More than 5,000 have been convicted of desertion or being absent without leave, and most were thrown out of the Army.

Yet few of those soldiers end up with the type of sentence confronting Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who could receive from five years up to life in prison if convicted of desertion and misbehavior charges.

The Army has routinely allowed soldiers to plead guilty to lesser charges in administrative actions that allow them to avoid prison time in return for their dismissal on other than honorable discharges.

Few, if any, of those desertion cases attracted the national attention focused on the dramatic tale of Bergdahl, who walked away from his remote combat outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 and was captured by insurgents who held him prisoner for five years.

In many cases, soldiers originally charged with desertion have pleaded guilty to lesser charges under plea deals that military lawyers say allow the Army to quickly rid itself of troublesome soldiers. A bad discharge strips soldiers of benefits and makes it difficult to find a good job.

"Desertions rarely go to trial. They usually end up with a plea," said Gary Solis, a Georgetown University law professor and a former military lawyer and judge.

Bergdahl's case is likely to end with a plea deal as well, according to military lawyers.

"This is a case nobody wants to see go to trial," Solis said. "Bergdahl just wants to go home. And for the Army, this case is just an embarrassment."

Bergdahl, 29, was released last spring under a contentious prisoner exchange that freed five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is awaiting an Article 32 preliminary hearing scheduled for July 8 at Joint Base San Antonio-Ft. Sam Houston in Texas.

Bergdahl's case is a rare example of a soldier abandoning a unit while deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq. Army figures compiled at the request of the Los Angeles Times show that of 6,077 cases of alleged desertion or being absent without leave since 2001, just 41 took place in Afghanistan and 150 in Iraq. Most of the other cases involved soldiers who left their units while stationed in the U.S.

There were convictions or guilty pleas in 33 of the 41 cases in Afghanistan and 133 of the 150 Iraq cases.

Cases stemming from offenses at bases elsewhere also have a high rate of conviction or guilty pleas — 5,110 of 5,886 cases.

Of those cases, just nine involved a charge of "misbehavior before the enemy," a rarely invoked offense. The Army lodged that charge against Bergdahl, who is accused by some members of his former unit of exposing soldiers to enemy attacks while they searched fruitlessly for him.

The misbehavior charge covers nine broad categories of misconduct. It applies to a soldier who "runs away"; "shamefully abandons [or] surrenders" a post; exhibits "cowardly conduct"; "casts away his arms or ammunition" or commits other offenses. Bergdahl is accused of leaving his weapon behind when he walked away from his base.

The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Bergdahl is also accused of "desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty." That charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Desertion normally refers to service members who leave their units without permission for more than 30 days. Service members who abandon their units for less than 30 days are typically charged with being AWOL.

Desertion rates in today's war are probably the lowest of any war in U.S. history, said Fred L. Borch III, regimental historian and archivist at the JAG Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Va.

In World War II, about 50,000 service members deserted from a fighting force of 13 million. Desertion and AWOL were rampant during the Vietnam War, when the conflict was unpopular and draftees resented the military.

Some cases were dealt with through plea bargains or administrative separations, Borch said. But thousands of service members faced court-martial and were imprisoned.

In one notorious case, Pvt. Eddie Slovik was court-martialed and executed in 1945 for deserting before the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. That was the only documented case of execution for desertion in modern U.S. history, Borch said.

The Army said it could not provide statistics on the penalties imposed in the 6,000 desertion cases since 2001, but military lawyers said punishment is more severe for cases in combat zones than on U.S. bases.

Penalties are also significant in cases in which a soldier leaves a U.S.-based unit that has received orders to deploy overseas — a serious offense known as missing a troop movement.

For most other desertion cases that occur away from war zones, soldiers often plead guilty to lesser offenses — usually AWOL — and are reduced in rank and thrown out of the Army with an other than honorable discharge, known as "bad paper."

Even if a plea deal allows a soldier to avoid prison time, the penalty is still significant. A bad discharge carries a stigma that can hamper employment or advancement.

For Bergdahl, who says he was tortured and beaten, his ordeal could mitigate any punishment and possibly the charges against him, military lawyers said. His lawyers could argue that his time as a prisoner is tantamount to time served in military prison, even though Bergdahl's own actions led to his capture.

"The judge might think, well, this guy did do five years with the enemy," Solis said. "He did bring it on himself, but it was no cakewalk."

An other than honorable discharge could prove problematic in Bergdahl's case, said Greg T. Rinckey, a lawyer who has represented service members who left their units.

"This is an individual who will probably need mental healthcare the rest of his life," Rinckey said. "Does the government really want to take away mental healthcare for a soldier who has been held captive and tortured?"

My comment: Maybe the current administration doesn't want to take away Bergdahl's mental healthcare but as a retired military member I would stand him against a wall, line up his former platoon mates, and execute him by the numbers.

[Aerovette]

They should just ship him back where he came from. Maybe we could view his beheading on Youtube.

[VITE1]

When do they try and then convict this scum bag?

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by VITE1

When do they try and then convict this scum bag?

Why bother, Nobam just going to issue a last second/midnight pardon, like for another 500,000 max ward prisoners....BET on it....

[GentleBen]

Bergdahl's defense team has requested that the Article 32 inquiry be pushed back two months until Sept. 17th.

Bowe Bergdahl preliminary hearing postponed - Washington Times

If his defense team keeps slowing matters down we might have a new President before Obama can offer this POS a pardon.

[GentleBen]

Well, it looks as if he could go to trial, be convicted, be sentenced to serve time in the US Army Disciplinary Barracks and be discharged all before Obama leaves office.

Officer in Bergdahl Hearing Recommends No Jail Time, His Lawyers Say - ABC News

U.S. Army hearing officer recommends no jail for Bergdahl | Reuters

According to the news story it appears that the Art. 32 Officer is recommending only a Special Court-Martial, not even a BCD Special, and no confinement. Basically, should a Court-Martial be convened and follow LTC Visger's recommendations, Sgt Bergdahl would also probably be able to keep the $400+K that he presumably earned while it Taliban captivity.

Talk about Political Correctness running rampant and trampling reality into the mud.

It is the first time since 1968 (LT Calley and My Lai Massacre) that I have been ashamed of the actions of my brother officers. I am most heartily disgusted with the findings of MGen Dahl, the Investigating Officer, and LTC Visger, the Art. 32 officer.

The only saving thought is that GEN Abrams, the four-star commanding FORSCOM, does not have to accept the findings and could still order a General Court. He can, but he won't. . .

[wwomanC6]

[kim]

Obama Hilary and Sgt bergdal need the guillotine in my opinion

[wwomanC6]

Well at least someone has some balls!

Senator John McCain said he would call for a hearing if Berghdahl does not get prison time!

[6spdC6]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

Well at least someone has some balls!

Senator John McCain said he would call for a hearing if Berghdahl does not get prison time!

Well even POSRINO McCain gets something right once in a while!

Looks libe our muzzie "president" obunghole wants to help out his buddy.

IMNSHO Bergdahl should be executed, the sooner the better!

[Bill]

The guy is going to skate on this, because I doubt anyone in the military has the stones to stand up and say the emperor has no clothes and point out that O traded a traitor for 5 terrorists. It's a shame that doing the right thing now can result in the end of your military career. We have already seen plenty of good people forced out already because they wouldn't toe the party line.

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

The guy is going to skate on this, because I doubt anyone in the military has the stones to stand up and say the emperor has no clothes and point out that O traded a traitor for 5 terrorists. It's a shame that doing the right thing now can result in the end of your military career. We have already seen plenty of good people forced out already because they wouldn't toe the party line.