Fellow soldiers testify Bowe Bergdahl endangered lives

The Obama administration mishandled the process of retrieving Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after allegedly deserting his comrades at an outpost in Afghanistan, according to a former member of the captured soldier’s unit and the father of a soldier who died during initial searches for the sergeant in 2009.

A congressional hearing Wednesday on the controversial five-for-one U.S.-Taliban prisoner swap the Obama White House pursued last month to secure Sgt. Bergdahl’s release offered a fresh glimpse into the sergeant’s mysterious case.

Recent weeks saw the White House attempt to paint the 28-year-old sergeant as a prize military recovery, returned to the United States in exchange for five former high-level Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay — a fact that has ruffled the feathers of those who feel they have been betrayed by a fellow soldier and their government.

Mike Waltz, a senior national security fellow for New America Foundation who commanded a U.S. Special Forces company in eastern Afghanistan when Sgt. Bergdahl went missing, said the administration handled the return of the wayward soldier inappropriately.

Had there been a quiet family meeting upon Sgt. Bergdahl’s return then perhaps the situation would have been embraced differently, said Mr. Waltz.

Now the case is a study for how to use a soldier as a strategic bargaining tool, he told lawmakers holding the joint hearing of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittees on the Middle East and North Africa and terrorism, nonproliferation, and trade.

“I am confident in saying that Sgt. Bergdahl endangered the lives of the thousands of men and women sent to search for him,” Mr. Waltz said.

Retired Sgt. Cody H. Full, who served with Sgt. Bergdahl in Blackfoot Company, second platoon, said he believes Sgt. Bergdahl planned his disappearance and should face a slew of charges including desertion, willfully disobeying his superior officer, misbehavior before the enemy and misconduct as prisoner.

“If Bergdahl hadn’t deserted us, then he would have never been held in captivity,” he said.

In addition, the Pentagon should make public the initial details it collected while searching for Sgt. Bergdahl in 2009, according to Mr. Full.

Freed soldier faces backlash in Idaho hometown over desertion claims

HAILEY Idaho (Reuters) - A hometown celebration of Bowe Bergdahl's release from five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan will go on this month as planned, despite a growing backlash against the U.S. Army sergeant over allegations he was a deserter, friends and supporters say.

Days after the small mountain community of Hailey, Idaho, erupted in elation over news that he had been freed in a prisoner exchange, the festive mood in town has been tempered by claims from former members of his combat unit that Bergdahl had deliberately abandoned his post.

Some of his one-time comrades assert that the massive search for Bergdahl after he went missing in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, may have cost the lives of up to six fellow soldiers who searched for him.

The U.S. military has said the circumstances under which Bergdahl disappeared have yet to be fully investigated, though Pentagon officials have indicated Bergdahl is unlikely to face charges regardless of what the Army learns of his capture because he has suffered enough.

Still, for all the outpouring of hometown joy and national media attention lionizing Bergdahl immediately following his release on Saturday, supporters in Hailey insist they never regarded him as a hero.

“People in Hailey have been aware for some time that there were questions about how Bowe came to be captured, and that there was a chance that Bowe could be in trouble when he came home,” said Stefanie O'Neill, a co-organizer of a welcome-home rally planned for June 28.

Obama fires back in defending Bergdahl trade — ‘We seized that opportunity’ (What else could he say)

What am I missing here? He has the audacity to use Washington and Lincoln in the same breath as a DESERTER, is he comparing himself to them?  Can you say .... "Cover up?" "OK, he may have deserted, OK, yea, we lost some lives looking for him, I give you that, but, well, he kinda looks peekid, don't you think and, well, it may not leak out he deserted his comrades .. and his Dad, well, that beard and all .............."

President Obama said Tuesday he had an obligation to secure the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, regardless of the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban five years ago and despite claims he’s a “deserter” who walked away from his unit.

Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw alongside Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Mr. Obama said he, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and FDR before him, must take every possible step to bring home American fighting men and women held in captivity at the end of a war.

U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan will cease at the end of the year, though 9,800 troops will remain there through 2015.

As the end of combat operations drew closer, the president said the White House consulted with Congress “for quite some time” about a possible prisoner exchange to retrieve Sgt. Bergdahl.

“The U.S. has always had a pretty sacred rule, and that is we don’t leave our men or women in uniform behind. And that dates back to the earlier days of our Revolution,” Mr. Obama said. “We saw an opportunity. We were concerned about Sgt. Bergdahl’s health … We seized that opportunity.”

The Washington Times reported Monday that the Pentagon on multiple occasions knew where Sgt. Bergdahl was being held but commanders scrapped rescue missions because they were unwilling to risk casualties for a man they believed to be a “deserter,” according to sources familiar with the plan.

The Obama administration over the weekend secured Sgt. Bergdahl’s release in exchange for five former Taliban fighters held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Mr. Obama was asked directly about accusations Sgt. Bergdahl was a deserter and said any member of the U.S. military held in captivity, no matter how they ended up there, should be brought home.

“Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity, period. Full stop. We don’t condition that,” the president said. “That’s what every mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent over to the war theater should expect, not just from their commander in chief but from the United States of America.”

There is a possibility, Mr. Obama said, the five Taliban prisoners swapped for Mr. Bergdahl could return to the battlefield and target Americans. But, he said, the deal won’t affect American national security.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if I thought it would be contrary to American national security,” Mr. Obama said. “This is what happens at the end of wars. That was true for George Washington. That was true for Abraham Lincoln. That was true for FDR. That’s been true in every combat situation — at some point you try to get your folks back.”

We will never know the truth .... because ......

I doubt that the Army will ever be allowed to pursue desertion charges. What a total embarrassment it would be to the current administration, to have exchanged five dangerous, convicted terrorists ... for a deserter. Ooooppppssss to say the least. This story will be buried and die, per a memo ... from the White House. "I don't want justice, I want silence."

The Army may still pursue an investigation that could lead to desertion or other charges against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was freed from five years of Taliban captivity in a prisoner exchange last weekend, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.

Dempsey also told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his plane that Bergdahl's next promotion to staff sergeant, which was set to happen soon, is no longer automatic because Bergdahl isn't missing in action any longer.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the case, Dempsey said he does not want to prejudge the outcome of any investigation or say anything that might influence a commander's decision.

But he said U.S. military leaders "have been accused of looking away from misconduct, and it's premature" to assume they would do so in Bergdahl's case, despite the soldier's five years as a Taliban prisoner.

Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. Army special forces Saturday in exchange for the release of five detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility.

Service members who are missing in action routinely continue to be promoted on the same schedule as their peers. But, Dempsey said, "his status has now changed, and therefore the requirements for promotion are more consistent with normal duty status." As a result, he said, other things needed for promotion, such as proper levels of education and job performance, would now apply. That makes Bergdahl's promotion less automatic.

There are a variety of offenses related to an absence without proper approval, and a number of potential actions could be taken by the military. He could be tried by court martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for desertion; he could be given a non-judicial punishment for a lesser charge, such as being away without leave. And he could be given credit for time already served while he was a prisoner.

Dempsey stressed that any decision would be up to the Army. (I doubt that!)

He said he has not yet spoken to Bergdahl or his parents since the release, noting that medical personnel want him to come to grips first with his new freedom and status.

Members of Bergdahl's unit and military officials have complained that Bergdahl's decision to leave his base unarmed put his fellow soldiers in danger and that some were killed in missions that included looking for him.