Army Charges O Hero Bergdahl; Misbehavior Before The Enemy & Endangering Soldiers

[bigwave]

Former Taliban captive Bowe Bergdahl hit with charge that has rarely been used since WWII and could mean life behind bars.

 

·        Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl was charged with misbehavior before the enemy

·        Bergdahl was held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

·        Earlier this year he was charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the US to bring him home.

·        The new charge is a much rarer offense that carries a stiffer potential penalty in this case.

·        Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers.

·        Misbehavior before the enemy was used hundreds of times during World War II, but its use appears to have dwindled in conflicts since then.

 

Military prosecutors have reached into a section of military law seldom used since World War II in the politically fraught case against Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year Bergdahl was charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the United States to bring him home. And now he has also been charged with misbehavior before the enemy, a much rarer offense that carries a stiffer potential penalty in this case.

 

'I've never seen it charged,' Walter Huffman, a retired major general who served as the Army's top lawyer, said of the misbehavior charge. 'It's not something you find in common everyday practice in the military.

 

Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he 'left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations'.

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Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl was charged with misbehavior before the enemy months after being charged with desertion after the deal brokered by the United States to bring him home after he was held prisoner for years by the Taliban after leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009

Huffman and others say the misbehavior charge allows authorities to allege that Bergdahl not only left his unit with one less soldier, but that his deliberate action put soldiers who searched for him in harm's way. The Pentagon has said there is no evidence anyone died searching for Bergdahl.

'You're able to say that what he did had a particular impact or put particular people at risk. It is less generic than just quitting,' said Lawrence Morris, a retired Army colonel who served as the branch's top prosecutor and top public defender.

The Obama administration has been criticized both for agreeing to release five Taliban operatives from the Guantanamo Bay prison and for heralding Bergdahl's return to the United States with an announcement in the White House Rose Garden. 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3225310/Military-selects-rarely-used-charge-Bergdahl-case.html#ixzz3l5hxS9hl

[nannab]

Let's see how O handles this. I am still wondering what deal he made with or for Putin

after this last election. My mind is not what it use to be. Didn't he get caught with an open mic

telling Putin that he will have to wait until after the election to give Putin a better deal? Or

something to that effect.

[DinarMillionaire]

"Held prisoner for years by the Taliban" or was he the Talibans b!tch. What's up with "there's no evidence anyone died during Bergdahls search"? It's been said 6 solders died looking for that bastard. He should be hung on prime time. What a piece of shiite.

[dantach]

There will be a trial, a sentence, and a pardon.

[dog53]

There will be a trial, a sentence, and a pardon.

 

 

Unfortunately I think you just hit the nail square on the head dantach.  

[tankdude]

In my mind - they dug out the harsher, lesser used charge in order to try and drive a plea bargain out of him. They'll dangle some lesser charge in front of him - or maybe just settler for a plea on the desertion charge.

 

The maximum U.S. penalty for desertion in wartime remains death, although this punishment was last applied to Eddie Slovik in 1945. No U.S. serviceman has received more than 24 months imprisonment for desertion or missing movement in the post-September 11, 2001 military.

[Whatshername]

In my mind - they dug out the harsher, lesser used charge in order to try and drive a plea bargain out of him. They'll dangle some lesser charge in front of him - or maybe just settler for a plea on the desertion charge.

 

The maximum U.S. penalty for desertion in wartime remains death, although this punishment was last applied to Eddie Slovik in 1945. No U.S. serviceman has received more than 24 months imprisonment for desertion or missing movement in the post-September 11, 2001 military.

"Misbehavior" is the HARSHER charge? :roll eyes: Wow! So basically, Bergdahl will get a time-out for misbehaving. Awesome.