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

The U.S. military officer who headed a hearing in the case of accused deserter Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl recommended that the man held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan should not be sent to a military prison, Bergdahl’s lawyers said. --In a memorandum issued on Friday, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Visger, the presiding officer at the so-called Article 32 hearing last month in San Antonio, recommended “non-judicial punishment” for Bergdahl, the lawyers said.

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WSJ: Release of Taliban Detainees Alarms Afghan Villagers

SHEYKHAN, Afghanistan—Taliban forces led by Mohammed Fazl swept through this village on the Shomali plain north of Kabul in 1999 in a scorched-earth offensive that prompted some 300,000 people to flee for their lives.

Fifteen years later, local residents here are responding with fear and dismay to the U.S. release of the notorious commander, along with four other Taliban leaders in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American prisoner of war who was held by the Taliban. The group released a video on Wednesday showing the hurried handover a few days earlier of the American captive, looking gaunt and dazed.

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Swift Boat Vets Co-Chair: Bergdahl Is No Hero, Just Like Kerry

A former chairman of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth defended Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers from a White House charge that they are unfairly “swiftboating” the former Taliban captive by coming forward to criticize him. Bergdahl’s questionable conduct, he suggests, is analogous to that of Secretary of State John Kerry, whom the group famously opposed in the 2004 presidential election.  “Those guys had friends who died in Afghanistan like we had friends who died in Vietnam, and to allow this kind of thing to occur really does tarnish the whole memory of all those people who gave their lives,” former co-chairman John O’Neill told National Review Online. “To allow a guy like this to be posed as a hero, like Kerry self-posing as a hero, is really an affront to everybody who died there, and that’s why those guys in his platoon have come forward and that’s why we came forward 40 years ago and ten years ago.”

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Remember these heroes

Via Tammy Bruce on Facebook: These are the six men who died looking for Bergdahl after he went AWOL. These are the heroes. Remember their names. Via Pocket Full of Liberty.

Comment from Rusty Redican (FB): Bowe Bergdahl is no "hero". Here are the facts: In the weeks leading up to his "capture", Bergdahl made statements that he was "ashamed to be an American" and "The horror that is america is disgusting." He shipped his personal belongings home. He asked his Squad Leader what would happen if he took someone else's weapon and other sensitive items off base.

On the day of his departure, he was drinking with the Afghans he had befriended. After being caught, he was verbally reprimanded. That evening, angry after being reprimanded, he left behind his weapons, took a knife (by some statements up to five knives), some bottled water, and hid in the back of a vehicle owned by one of the local laborers. Bergdahl and at least two Afghans then drove off base to go smoke hashish, according to multiple statements. After smoking hashish, Bergdahl then walked off into the countryside. By some accounts, he set off to go "find himself" in the mountains. By other accounts, his plan was to walk to Pakistan.

He was discovered missing the next morning at about 0900. By 1200 that day, the entire war in Afghanistan had ground to a halt as all available air assets in Afghanistan were diverted to search for Bergdahl.

In the end assessment, the acts of this "soldier" cost the lives of other Americans (ones that didn't leave their posts in combat), and cost us hundreds of millions of dollars due to his selfish, dishonorable acts. He is a deserter, EVERYBODY in the Chain of Command knows it, and the fact that the US Government continues to pay and promote him shows the lengths they will go to manipulate public opinion.

Now, some of you will insist that we make every effort to rescue this deserter, that we will "leave no man behind". Ask yourself: Knowing the facts, would you send your son or daughter to rescue him? If not, why should someone else's son or daughter, husband or wife, brother or sister, risk their lives to rescue someone who intentionally left their post in a time of war and deserted? Ask yourself why there is no official statement as to the circumstances of his capture? I anticipate a sudden "deal" being made just before the mid-term elections, with Bowe returning to a hero's welcome, and a White House dinner with the Dali Bama.

I saw this on another post: Forwarded from Jeff Howard. "We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize that the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday." Read More......

Bergdahl release arrangement could threaten the safety of Americans, Republicans say

Amid jubilation Saturday over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity by the Taliban, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were troubled by the means by which it was accomplished, which was a deal to release five Afghan detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Top Republicans on the Senate and House armed services committees went so far as to accuse President Obama of having broken the law, which requires the administration to notify Congress before any transfers from Guantanamo are carried out. ✧ “Trading five senior Taliban leaders from detention in Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl’s release may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans. Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans.

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