Media Down Playing Bergdahl Punishment
Since an Army general has finally demonstrated the backbone, rarely seen nowadays among his peers, to defy the White House and proceed with the prosecution of Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the liberal media is doing its very best to downplay the possible seriousness of the charges. Even conservative venues are repeating the deceit that the desertion charge carries a maximum penalty of five years confinement while the lesser known second charge can result in a life sentence at maximum.
I hate to disappoint all the liberal Democrats and their media mouthpieces whose war heroes always seem to be tainted, often so much so as to be heroes to our enemies, such as John Kerry and Jane Fonda, both venerated by Communist Vietnam, but the truth is that both charges against Bergdahl do, in hard fact, carry the death penalty. For the charge of desertion, it is this subparagraph from Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that puts the lie to the liberal misinformation campaign:
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.
Violations of the seldom-used Article 99, Misbehavior Before The Enemy, also may bring the ultimate punishment:
Any person subject to this chapter who before or in the presence of the enemy-
Runs away;
Shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;
Through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;
Casts away his arms or ammunition;
is guilty of cowardly conduct;
Article 99 continues with several additional offenses but the money phrase is the one with which it concludes:
Shall be punished by death or such punishment as a court-martial may direct.
So, as you can see, while the media is doing its very best to sugarcoat Bergdahl’s treachery, they are clearly wrong and their boy Bowe is in big trouble, particularly if any infantry NCOs, his true peers, are seated on that court-martial panel. The reason for the media’s deception is patently clear; they are seeking desperately to cover for their beloved Obama, who foolishly traded the equivalent of five enemy general officers for this one sorry slug of a deserter who is not even a legitimate sergeant. Bergdahl, a private first class when he deserted, was promoted in absentia in accordance with military policy regarding POWs. There must be millions of us former sergeants across America, who earned our stripes the hard way, who would dearly love to rip those chevrons from Bergdahl’s arms and make him eat them.
Or maybe save one set of stripes and make that worthless wimp in the White House choke it down.
Crossposted from American Thinker
Bowe Bergdahl –
Guilty. As. Fucking. Hell.
Yep.
no doubt….
You bet! start building a scaffold where birddog can see it, he will get the idea then!
Rat bastard deserting piece of crap…he got some folks killed while hiking through Afghanistan on a one man mission of stupid as fuck.
He should never see the sun set as a free man again.
Not only that, VOV, but we gave back five kebabs from Gitmo for this worthless pile of buzzard puke. How do we count what those five guys are doing against our country right now? You can bet they aren’t working an honest job and raising families!
They may be banking on the fact that since war was never officially declared, those provisions don’t apply.
Smitty, the UCMJ uses the term, “In time of war” with no mention of the official status, declared or undeclared, of that war.
While that is true, the legal precedent is that what is NOT spelled out benefits the defense, not the prosecution.
Don’t get me wrong, Id like to see him hang. I just dont see it happening. Even if he gets life or death as a max punishment (if they even bother to convict him), you know the POTUS will just pardon him. I don’t see anyway that they don’t let him walk. Unfortunately
Uhh, yes, the Global War on Terror was officially declared.
No it actually wasn’t. Saying we are at war, and Congress actually declaring war are two different things. Congress authorized military action, they did not issue a declaration of war and have not done so since 1941.
It is a legal technicality that I am sure his defense is going to jump all over if it gets that far.
Smitty, the fact that we have been in several undeclared wars since WWII has served to alter the commonly accepted definition of the term “war”. While a defense lawyer may try to get the court to accept the earlier and stricter definition of that term, all I can say is lotsa luck. He’ll be trying to convince a panel of soldiers who have been in war, some many times, without any formal declarations. I believe those officers and NCO’s will be far more inclined to apply their interpretation of the term to the proceedings than that of a desperate defense lawyer grasping at semantic straws.
Additionally, it is your interpretation that it is not spelled out. The Article states clearly, “In time of war”. I don’t see any lack of clarity in that. War is military conflict, with or without a congressional declaration. The reality of our times is that wars are fought regularly and routinely without benefit of formal declarations.
Any decently prepared prosecutor should have no problem in convincing a panel that Bergdahl’s offense took place in time of war.
Except that the military classifies it as MOOTW. Military Operations Other Than War.
There have been at least a couple of Supreme Court decisions which deemed the AUMF an equivalent of declaration of war.
..So I don’t think the deserter will get very far with that argument.
I agree with most of what you are saying Poe. my only disagreement would be the trade, I’ve always looked at Afghanistan as a failed state / civil War, as much as I hate to say this we needed to get that SOB back so he could face justice. and the way the media has handled it is stunning at best..
I wonder how many people here remember the hipster reporter from rolling stone magazine that went off the reservation and tried to do a story on him before he had a accident and the story disappeared
probably not many. all we can do now is hope and pray that justice will prevail….
Thank You for your great penmanship. right on point…
Damn…. I forgot this turd is NOT A NCO ! ! ! ! he didn’t earn it PERIOD !!!!!!
Skippy, I totally agree as I mention in the piece. However, for purposes of his court-martial, Bergdahl’s peers are legally and factually, other NCO’s.
Roger
Poetrooper I apologize with the way I wrote that I’m babysitting and typing at the same time it doesn’t work 🙂
you are right the fake N$& is going to be judged by a Jury of Honorable NCO for his actions…. I Hope
Let’s pray that he gets convicted and sentenced to a stint at the USDB. I wonder how soon the DNC Pravda media will begin to portray him as a “victim” of something or another like they still do with BRADLEY Manning who would be the perfect cellmate for Bowe Bergdahl.
Well, that would give Bergdahl a chance to pitch instead of catch . . . .
I’m sure that the Preezy will wield that pen, and take care of his boy, Bowe.
I’m with you on that…
I have heard it before, he has suffered enough…
unfortunately you may be right UpNorth
What, and give them the comfort of each others’ company? F*** that. They need to have individual cells down in the sewer, where the only company they have are the rats.
I see what you mean, those two could somehow mate and produce an offspring as foul as all of the Dutch Rudder gang put together, an offspring SO FOUL it could permanently END human evolution!
Give him a fair trial and then hang him.
That is all
. . .and then hang him.
By the testicles. Then beat him like a cheap pinata.
As Hugh Farnham said:
“Jerked Quisling. By the Neck.”
I pray the court-martial has the balls to do the right and necessary thing here and condemn his sorry ass.
TOW: I’d guess there’s a very good chance he gets convicted. I’m also guessing there’s essentially zero chance of him getting the needle, though IMO that’s richly deserved.
Hopefully he gets a loooooong strech in Leavenworth, along with a DD, reduction to E1, and full forfeitures – including all back pay while captive.
Hondo, the fact that his offenses are legally punishable by death could make a life sentence appear to be leniency by the court. That’s one reason I wrote the piece, is to make folks aware that while it is highly likely he won’t be executed, under the existing UCMJ, he damned well could.
The liberal media is trying to hide that truth.
No argument, PT. But the reality is that it’s a virtual lock that Bergdahl won’t get the needle. He should; he cost several their lives and several others their health. But he won’t.
Garwood didn’t. Neither did that other a-hole Jenkins who deserted to North Korea, then 40+ later decided to come home. All they got was reduction, forfeitures, and a DD – and, in Jenkins’ case, 30 days confinement, from which he was released 6 days early. Garwood, whose case parallels Bergdahl’s quite well, got no time.
If he received the death sentence, the resulting protests by libidiots outside military facilities would be the first order of business, and the first attention center for all of it.
If instead, he gets a life sentence with no parole, that probability is lessened.
While I do sympathize with your perception, I’m also aware of the ludicrous excuses made by people on the libretard side of the fence.
It’s better for him to receive a life w/no parole, no appeal sentence and fade away, to be forgotten and buried in a numbered grave.
Wouldn’t it be an ironic slap in the face if this POS gets the death sentence and at the last minute is given a Prez. pardon? Stranger things have happened.
Put absolutely NOTHING past this a_____le until he is out of office and gone from D. C. with a one-way ticket
Trials can take a long time. The Glorious Leader may not be in office anymore by the time a verdict gets handed down. Can the president issue a pardon before somebody’s been convicted?
Yes, remember Ford and Nixon? No doubt that the preezy can pardon him, and I believe that he will, if he’s convicted, or before Øbama leaves office.
“Presidential pardons can be granted anytime after an offense has been committed including before, during, or after a conviction for the offense”. http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=61&pageid=321
Wanna bet? The president will not pardon him. Period. I know folks want the president to pardon him as a form of validation, but it isn’t happening. And the ones convinced that it will happen won’t do any reflection as to why they were wrong.
Hell yes I would reflect. WTF wouldn’t he pardon his boy?
OK, I’ll bite – reflect as to why we are wrong? What does that mean??
Meanwhile, we are correct to expect that he will indeed pardon this fool. Seems that he is willing to do (or not do) anything which makes the US look foolish and/or weakens our ability to remain significant in the world.
Am hoping that my assessment is wrong. Really. It would be great to be wrong.
You are correct that should I be proven wrong, I will spend no time reflecting upon the why of it. If that happens, I will be entirely too filled with joy to waste a moment reflecting upon a former occupier. We have suffered enough.
If Ford’s pardon of Nixon was legal, then yes. It has been determined that the President’s power to pardon is absolut. At least that was the argument used at the time of the Nixon pardon.
Hmmmm…piss off the MSM or kick everyone that is serving or has ever served honorably in the junk?
Good choice general.
As an old Marine NCO, thank you Poetrooper for pointedly calling him Pvt. Bergdahl. The deserting son of a bitch is no way, no how an NCO.
Yes, thank you, PoeTrooper. I saw that also, and silently cheered (I’m at work).
I’m torn. One the one hand, I’d like to see him get the death sentence, because he did much more damage than that Hollywood skanky bitch. On the other hand, life w/no parole means that eventually, he will fade away to nothing and no one will remember his name, only what he did.
Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t a life w/o parole sentence end with him being buried in a remote graveyard with only a marker bearing his inmate number?
I was thinking a Pi$$ tube and funnel would work also.
Personally, I’d prefer that Uncle Sam not have to pay to house, feed, and care for the bastard for decades if he’s convicted. But since there’s little chance of him getting the death penalty, the more time he gets the better.
I’m typing in a hurry and don’t have time to check….but if I remember the phrase “time of war” is defined in the Manual for Courts-Martial as either a war declared by Congress (which we haven’t had in a long time), or a “state of emergency tantamount to war” as declared by the President.
So, a thing that we call a “war” in common language, and that involves warlike things, may not be a war in the legal, MCM sense of the word. And word definitions are taken very strictly in the criminal law…under an ancient principle, if there’s an ambiguity, you read it in favor of the accused.
I want, as much as anyone here, to see Bergdahl get a really long sentence. But I’m afraid it’ll take the Misbehavior conviction to get him more than 5, and we’ll be lucky if he gets even 5.
I won’t say all I know, but I have some knowledge of the judge who is trying the case. I expect the defense to go with a judge alone trial instead of a panel, and I expect this judge to be really hard on the prosecution, and not so hard on the deserter.
P.S. – Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas Sir, from a big fan.
P.P.S – An extra problem with the death qualification…the Supreme Court has more recently said that it’s unconstitutional to inflict the death penalty for any crime in which a death does not occur (so states can’t execute people for raping tiny children anymore, unless the tiny children die). Even if the prosecution were seeking death, they’d be up against that.
I know of that case. Still, as there are purely military crimes for which death has been a customarily available punishment, I can see the possibility that SCOTUS might carve out an exception, if it had occasion to rule on the issue. I suspect this case will never reach that level, though. I’ll be satisfied if Sergeant Bergdahl leaves as Private Bergdahl with a long prison sentence.
The post-9/11 state of emergency declared on 14 Sep 2001 was still in effect when Bergdahl went on his Afghan “walkabout”. That’s the legal authority under which we began combat operations against the Taliban in OEF in 2001. It’s also the authority under which combat operations in Afghanistan were continuing in 2009.
The current POTUS has renewed that state of emergency 7 times – 2009 through 2015, inclusive. It remains in effect today.
Bottom line: Bergdahl’s desertion certainly appears to me to meet the MCM criteria for wartime desertion. It occurred during a POTUS-declared state of emergency tantamount to war and during combat operations pursuant to said state of emergency in support of which Bergdahl was deployed.
They should let someone from his old unit cut that fucking E5 rank off his ASUS and all those stripes, that fuck face does not deserve that NCO rank I hope he gets a life sentence
No prison in the world can hold him. Didn’t you hear? He is like a real life Jason Bourne!
This guy is a turd!
SHUT UP, BUNNY-FART!! YOU are not even a US Army BCT reject, YOU ARE a Reception Battalion throwaway, a cut or three below the panhandlers one sees while driving down busy Interstate highway exit ramps. GFY sideways with a hundred truckloads of barrel cacti wrapped in asbestos after you’ve been thoroughly examined by an extremely sadistic Proctologist with huge fingers and PISS-POOR depth perception wearing asbestos welding gloves!!! And SPARE US your BULLSHIT tales of you being a Rodeo Competitor, we believe that shit even less than we do your bullshit about you making it back in and going overseas, you sniveling bucket of poodle shit!!
Where’s that DD214, bunni-boi? Did you send Jonn a copy of that document yet?
A stamped envelope and one photocopy together cost less than a dollar. Hell – if you’re so short on cash that you can’t afford to spend $1 to clear your name, send Jonn your mailing address and I’ll mail you the freaking stamped envelope.
Now go home and get your (flaming) shine box!
As a former Marine SNCO, I don’t even refer to him as Pvt Bergdahl, he is simply Bergdahl. Back to recruit status bitch. Just the fact he was even allowed to be called sergeant is an insult to anyone who actually had to earn NCO.
You watch. Obama and the Administration will let this proceed on the theory of political advantage, think Black lives Matter, Occupy, etc. They will use and exploit his “persecution” by the “misogynist military” to the hilt, then they feel there is no more gain he’ll walk in some way, A quiet pardon, sentence, etc. These people don’t think or care about the same things you guys do, to them it’s all about domestic power and the military is the latest target. They’ll keep using Bergdahl as a stick to beat on the military and with the MSM in their pocket I bet they think they can gain alot. One general stood up and did the right thing, will any of the rest follow suit? This is a pivotal moment for the military. If they cave on Bergdahl it’s over for a long long time. Poettrooper, remember how long it took to rebuild the army after Nam? The damage this could do will make that look like a walk in the park.
Gents, I’ve skimmed the comments and hate to break it to some of you, but he is not facing the death penalty at his court-martial. As an initial matter, and as some of the commenters have noted, there is a great debate in the military legal community as to whether or not the GWOT (Iraq and/or Afghanistan) qualifies as “a time of war” for purposes of the death penalty. I’ve been out of the military justice world for a bit so my research is not completely up to date, but the general consensus is (or at least used to be) that the GWOT does NOT qualify. As a result, it’s likely not even a possibility. Even assuming the GWOT qualified as “a time of war” for purposes of making this a capital case, we would actually already know if they were seeking the death penalty b/c the case would have been referred capital. That’s a disclosure that comes up front. Since the case has been referred for trial and the media has not been screaming about it, I can only assume that it has not been referred as a capital case. There are tons of reasons why the government wouldn’t refer this capital. Most notibly is the underlying debate as to whether the conflict qualifies legally as “a time of war.” That is an issue that the defense would challenge up front and that would have to be litigated and resolved before the trial would begin. Also, the government might’ve already decided that even if they can refer it capital, they don’t believe that he’ll actually get the punishment. If they don’t think they can get it, sometimes it’s not worth the time/energy/expense/etc. to jump through all the necessary hoops to even keep it on the table. Finally, even if they believe they can refer it capital and get the punishment, the government opens itself up to a lifetime of appellate litigation challenging the imposition of the sentence. Given how capital litigation is treated by the appellate courts, there would, in all likelihood, be allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel,… Read more »
GWOT is “Global War on Terror”, correct?
Is it Defense counsel’s position that the Global War on Terror is not a War? If so, why is the Government calling it a War?
Is Defendant wearing a GWOT ribbon? Did Defndqnt object to this? No? Then I beleive Defence, by accepting and wearing a GWOT ribbon without objection, has stipulated that the Unitd States are at War.
……oops….
Gah.. My typos really detract from my posts….
Not sure if spell-check and auto-correct are a net plus for me.
But would folks here pay good money to see the above scene in the upcoming movie “some dare call it treason”?
Thanks for the info Poe. I have not heard that information on any media sites anywhere. They are all downplaying the possible penalties for obvious reasons.
I seriously doubt he’ll get the death penalty- that might be the one punishment that could spur The White House to issue a pardon. Contrary to what many think, I don’t think POTUS will pardon him- unless he draws either a death sentence of life in prison.I think the administration just wants this to go away and they’ll happily throw him under the bus to make that happen. I think he’ll wind up getting about as mild of a sentence as possible- I’m just hoping that it includes him being stripped of all benefits.