The decision by Gen. Robert B. Abrams, head of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., means that Sergeant Bergdahl, 29, faces a possible life sentence, a far more serious penalty than had been recommended by the Army’s own investigating officer, who had testified that a jail sentence would be “inappropriate.”
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"A top Army commander on Monday ordered that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a court-martial on charges of desertion and endangering troops..."
"... stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, prompting a huge manhunt in the wilds of eastern Afghanistan and landing him in nearly five years of harsh Taliban captivity."
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General Abrams will not get any more stars between now and January 2017.
Look for C-in-C Obama to fire Abrams and promote Bergdahl.
It's good that General Abrams has reached the pinnacle of his career, because he's dead to the White House now.
This is a good decision. I suspect Bergdahl will be found innocent of the charges of desertion however, due to mental defect. The young man was definitely not playing with a full deck.
Good.
Life sentence? Put him up against a wall, ready, aim, ....
Expect this top Army commander not to go very far beyond his current rank.
Having seen the emotional and dramatic play written about the last military deserter executed by the US, I for one await the play about Bergdahl with absolutely zero interest, but I would guess the leftist antiwar coalition will rise up with traffic-blocking protests and giant puppets of Bush/Cheney. If and only if Hillary does not win.
With her in the White House, the military can execute all the deserters they want, bomb all the civilians they can find, and expect not only no antiwar protests, but no media coverage.
Looks like Obama has failed in getting Bergdahl let off easy without a trial. I wonder just how long before Abrams is cashiered for disobedience?
I think it only fair that the time spent in captivity be deducted from his sentence. What's life minus 5 years?
Gen. Robert B. Abrams. His father was Creighton Abrams.
I'm pretty sure this a fall-on-your-sword moment for Gen. Abrams. He has 30 years in the Army. He's going to try, and stick it to the White House......because 'Merica!!
This is a good decision. I suspect Bergdahl will be found innocent of the charges of desertion however, due to mental defect. The young man was definitely not playing with a full deck.
He looks like he's got more on the ball than his father. I doubt seriously he gets a section 8-type pass.
Good. Bergdahl is a goofball, deserter -- anyone with a brain can see that.
General Abrams -- watch your back, Sir. You now have a big target plastered on your back by Valerie Jarrett. Good luck!
Good!!
I suspect Bergdahl will be found innocent of the charges of desertion however, due to mental defect.
There is nothing libtards won't excuse away.
You know who has a mental defect, Amanda?
The window-licking shit-for-brains who assured us that Bergdahl served "with honor and distinction" and the clueless dolt who hired her and who ok'd a deal to swap five hardcore terrorists for him so they could go back out on the battlefield and kill again.
My own thoughts (usual disclaimers about innocent until proven guilty apply):
(1) It is not in dispute that he left his post without authorization. How long he intended to leave and where he intended to go does not change the fact that he left without authorization. It may determine whether he was AWOL or deserted (e.g. if he intended to leave permanently), be a mitigating or aggravating factor as to his sentence and whether he should face additional charges.
(2) People were put into harm’s way looking for him and were pulled off of other duties that could have compromised the mission and endangered the people who depended on them performing the duties that they would have performed but for having to look for him. That no one died on the actual search is lucky but doesn’t change whether people were endangered because he left is post without authorization.
(3) If he is convicted, his time spent in captivity that came about because of he left his post without authorization should not count towards any sentence.
Abrams is probably willing to do the right thing since he is ready to retire. There are not enough senior Army officers willing to do that. He comes from a great lineage. His father led the armor column into Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge and then took over in Vietnam and changed the tactics but it was too late.
The White House jumped the gun on their "hero" remarks, apparently. Would have been better to hold off on that sort of talk until they'd confirmed whether the guy was a deserter. At least stick with "our policy is to leave no one behind" or something like that.
Look for a pardon to come down from on high in the next year.
Certainly the Army would not have left him type type typing in the typing pool all this while if he was nuts.
"Bergdahl served "with honor and distinction"" Goes to show, treason is honorable in the O admin.
"Bergdahl served "with honor and distinction""
Did he say whom Bergdahl served? Just curious.
... a far more serious penalty than had been recommended by the Army’s own investigating officer, who had testified that a jail sentence would be “inappropriate.”
I wonder if this will interfere with the Army Investigating Officer's post-retirement career in "investment banking"?
"landing him in nearly five years of harsh Taliban captivity."
There's that objective factual "just the facts" reporting
Folks, it is General Robert B. Abrams. Barring WWIII starting shortly, there are no more stars available; 4 is it.
Amanda, There is nothing in Uniform Code of Military Justice that provides extenuation for mental instability. It is not an excuse in combat. Bergdahl will (I hope) be found guilty of desertion; he deserted and it should be clear that he deserted. In the punishment phase there may be some consideration of his lack of mental stability. However, Bergdahl had a lot of options open to him that did not include desertion. With a guilty verdict he really should be taken out and shot. We don't do that anymore, but it is the appropriate punishment for desertion. I don't care what the punishment is as long as the Army calls a spade a spade and convicts him of desertion.
"This is a good decision. I suspect Bergdahl will be found innocent of the charges of desertion however, due to mental defect. The young man was definitely not playing with a full deck."
Having a "full deck" is not the standard. I hope he spends every second of the rest of his life behind bars.
Interesting this happened right after the first Serial podcast episode. Wonder how much of Bergdahl blathering and lying on the podcast can be used against him.
Didn't he basically admit to deserting?
Makes that Rose Garden bit with bearded Dad so much more poignant..
"In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate,"
And what was with the Bergdahl Dad's Taliban/Hipster look at the Rose Garden presser?
Folks on the Left sometimes mock folks on the Right as being overly supportive of the military. It's true that reflexive, unthinking defenses of the military can be wrongheaded, but it's equally true that if you're looking for a group of people who believe in the concept of honor our military is by far the best place to start when considering our nation's major institutions (government, political elite, academy, etc).
Jason,
Only mental defects use the pejorative "libtards" as much as you do.
Why did the army send people to search for a deserter? That was a reckless decision.
Obama should never have made the prisoner swap for a deserter either.
So no one knew Bergdahl was a deserter until he was released?
"Stones" run in the Abrams family. I suspect the General cares less about what happens to him, than he cares about doing the right thing. So Bergdahl will be tried for desertion, but the officers and enlisted men who sit on the court martial are still subject to command influence. The C in C wants to in a medal on Bowe Bergdahl. We'll see how it all shakes out. It's a disgrace that it's taken this long to come to the conclusion that a trial for desertion is in order.
One suspects the outpouring of sympathy for the private is a reaction intended to screen the CIC and his handlers from exposure as the azz hats they proved to be. The love fest with Private B's family, the statement he served with honor (HONOR!), the release of five hard core Taliban fighters though we do not negotiate with terrorists (ha!).... disgusting.
- Abram tank named after R. Abram's father.
- E. Fidell married to NYT columnist L. Greenhouse
- K Dahl was promoted to 3 star general in Oct based on Obama recommendation
- K. Dahl's wife had P.S.T.D.
-K Dahl studied at the Brookings Institute under Peter Singer
-Bergdahl had psychological discharge from US Coast Guard.
Oh what a tangled web we weave.
Interesting that the mitigating factors cited by the NYT and their commenters had to have come from Bergdahl himself, including those that were relied upon by the investigator who recommended leniency.
Interesting that the Obama Administration chose to lie to the public about the nature and quality of Bergdahl's service when they brought him home.
Interesting that Bergdahl now has a story portraying him as a caring, but not demented, soldier who left his post for the benefit of his fellows.
Tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Why did the army send people to search for a deserter? That was a reckless decision.
Enemy tactics improved after he left, almost as if they had some kind of insider knowledge...
Look, consider how long how many people were trying to find him. He was captured within hours (so we're told, at any rate), but there were thousands seeking him for 45 days. I'm sorry he had a "harsh" five years, but in man-hour terms his compatriots have waaaaay the upper hand. And they were all risking their lives, while he was of better use to the Taliban alive than dead -- as in fact it proved.
I would assume that Lt. Gen Kenneth Dahl also has PTSD from the hazing that Cadet Ken Doll would have received at West Point.
It looks like his last combat command was an Arty brigade as a Colonel. Is it common to make Lt. Gen without commanding a division?
Wow - the NYT really loves this very political general.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/booming/after-30-years-in-the-army-cocktail-hour-counts.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0
The Chicago fixers couldn't get to this General. I surmise he's about to retire and is doing the right thing.
Mental defect? Moral defect, something a mentally, and morally defective troll is incapable of understanding.
Abrams has his goal, to save the U S Army's discipline. Obamamuhammed had his goal, to destroy the U S Army's discipline.
mccullough:
"Why did the army send people to search for a deserter?"
In case you're actually asking, not just being wry: If a soldier is unaccounted for in a combat zone, finding him becomes the priority mission. The circumstances of his becoming unaccounted for are irrelevant. It's a good system, even if on occasion it means you risk and lose good men's lives looking for a shitbird, and the Army is all about systems.
The evidence is not so much that Bergdahl was suffering from mental illness as he was suffering from pangs of anti-American and anti-Army sentiment. The investigators have his emails and notes which indicate he was dissatisfied with his place in life, thought the Army was operating in violation of his own personal morality and more. He was fairly clear he intended to desert, he sent his personal possessions home for safekeeping, etc. His latest version of why he decided to walk away is complete BS and self-serving (Jason Bourne indeed).
I assume he'll be convicted in a trice, Presidential wishes notwithstanding, but the sentence will be mild and more pro-forma than meaningful.
I also assume General Abrams was struggling with how to manage this decision, which Bowe Bourne decided to do a little self-promoting on Serial and made things so much easier.
BTW, spend two minutes checking out the father and you'll better understand the son.
But in his testimony, General Dahl — who was recently promoted from major general to lieutenant general — said that no troops had died specifically searching for Sergeant Bergdahl and that no evidence was found to support claims that he intended to walk to China or India or that he was a Taliban sympathizer.
So, that was Obama's method.
Hillary and Obama can't handle the truth!
JPS,
If a soldier deserts in a combat zone, then the system should be to not send people after him. It was senseless for these men to die searching for Bergdahl if people knew he was a deserter.
I am listening to Serial's new season and I am already enthralled. It is produced by NPR so pubes won't like it.
tits and muscles.
"It may determine whether he was AWOL or deserted"
To me, the answer is rather easy to determine. Did he take his dog tags with him or did he leave them with the other stuff he left behind when he departed? If he took his dog tags with him, he was AWOL, not a deserter.
Amanda: Only mental defects use the pejorative "libtards" as much as you do.
Libtard is as libtard does, you little twit.
It's been said before, but I'll repeat it again.
"I suspect Bergdahl will be found innocent of the charges of desertion however, due to mental defect." is not a court martial option. There are no insanity pleas in courts martial.
A court martial decision is based on- Was the charge proven or not proven? If the charge was proven, is there some circumstance which mitigates the charge? That won't come up in a desertion case- there is never a mitigating circumstance.
I won't be happy until they put his parents in jail with him. Take them all to Cuba.
D.E. Cloutier said...If he took his dog tags with him, he was AWOL, not a deserter.
The Army only has to prove that he left his combat position without permission, and that he did not plan to return.
His uniform or accessories have no legal bearing on desertion or without leave status.
If he was just going into town for fornication or sodomy, that would be a winning strategy.
If a soldier deserts in a combat zone, then the system should be to not send people after him. It was senseless for these men to die searching for Bergdahl if people knew he was a deserter.
I don't think they knew for sure, though they sure suspected strongly.
In a just world he'd spend his final moments against a wall and blindfolded. But we don't live in such a world. He'll probably get rich by selling his side of the story to some dim-witted Hollywood type.
"Honor and Courage" General.Something of which Obama and Bergdahl know nothing.
Skeptical Voter said...
So Bergdahl will be tried for desertion, but the officers and enlisted men who sit on the court martial are still subject to command influence.
The Members (Jury) on a General Court Martial must be at least 5 on a non-death penalty case. In the case of a GCM of an enlisted man, upon request of the defendant, 1/3 shall be enlisted.
Nobody would ever recommend that Bergdahl request enlisted members. The SGTs Major who would be selected, would not be amused by his story...
We'll all see in real time military justice in action.
Now if we can just get that traitor Snowden back.
Bergdahl isn't insane. He wasn't hallucinating. He's just another sociopathic little narcissist.
Basically your typical liberal. No wonder libtards love him so much. He's one of them.
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