Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face general court-martial in connection with his 2009 disappearance from his base in Afghanistan, the service announced Monday, raising the possibility that the soldier could face life in prison after being held captive for five years.
Bergdahl, 29, is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He has been a political lightning rod since he was exchanged in May 2014 in a prisoner swap approved by the White House in which five Taliban officials were released from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and kept under supervised watch in Qatar.
The decision was made by Gen. Robert Abrams, the four-star commander of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. It came after Bergdahl broke his …show more content…
“After I heard it, there’s no way to get away from it.”
A spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.), whose office has closely tracked the case, questioned whether Bergdahl participating in the podcast may have forced the Army to seek the most serious form of trial.
“He came across nuttier than anyone could have foreseen, and there was already consensus he wasn’t all together to begin with,” said the spokesman, Joe Kasper. “There has to be little sympathy left, where there was some to take.”
Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, expressed frustration that the case continues to be politicized. Republicans in the House Armed Services Committee accused the White House in a report released last week of having an ulterior motive in exchanging Bergdahl for Taliban officials: closing down the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The report said that the congressional committee will “remain abreast of the disciplinary process which is underway” and “ensure that standard procedures are properly implemented and administered.”
The case should be handled by the courts, not politicians, Fidell said.
“That’s not their role at all,” Fidell said of the committee. “This is a dog
Bergdahl, 29, is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He has been a political lightning rod since he was exchanged in May 2014 in a prisoner swap approved by the White House in which five Taliban officials were released from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and kept under supervised watch in Qatar.
The decision was made by Gen. Robert Abrams, the four-star commander of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. It came after Bergdahl broke his …show more content…
“After I heard it, there’s no way to get away from it.”
A spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.), whose office has closely tracked the case, questioned whether Bergdahl participating in the podcast may have forced the Army to seek the most serious form of trial.
“He came across nuttier than anyone could have foreseen, and there was already consensus he wasn’t all together to begin with,” said the spokesman, Joe Kasper. “There has to be little sympathy left, where there was some to take.”
Fidell, Bergdahl’s attorney, expressed frustration that the case continues to be politicized. Republicans in the House Armed Services Committee accused the White House in a report released last week of having an ulterior motive in exchanging Bergdahl for Taliban officials: closing down the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The report said that the congressional committee will “remain abreast of the disciplinary process which is underway” and “ensure that standard procedures are properly implemented and administered.”
The case should be handled by the courts, not politicians, Fidell said.
“That’s not their role at all,” Fidell said of the committee. “This is a dog