Josh Rogin, Bloomberg: Bergdahl's Defense Is He Was Planning to Come Back
Former Taliban prisoner and U.S. Army soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl told military investigators that he left his base in June 2009 to report on misconduct in his unit and always intended to come right back. That will also be his defense if and when he faces a court martial for desertion, according to his lawyer.
“He had concerns about certain conditions in the unit and things that happened in the unit and he figured that the only way to get any attention to them would be to get that information to a general officer,” Bergdahl’s lawyer, Eugene Fidell, told me Thursday. Fidell plans to argue that Bergdahl was thus technically "absent without official leave" (AWOL), rather than a deserter. The distinction could mean the difference between one month of confinement or life in prison for his client.
WNU Editor: So .... he left the camp to report on misconduct in his unit but he always intended to come right back .... but he was captured and as a result he had to endure years of torture. He even tried to escape 12 times .... but always failed. This is going to be an interesting case.
2 comments:
The DoD has anonymous hotlines to report misconduct.
He is just digging himself a deeper hole.
The best deal Bergdahl can get is life imprisonment next to Private Manning.
He is going to tell tales of misconduct by his platoon mates. They have a dog in this fight, their reputation. He speaks put, he had better have proof.
How many kinds of idiot is Bergdahl. The Taliban blows up hospitals, girls schools (3) & markets? Bergdoll better have something more than moxie and talking points.
"Unlawful influence" notwithstanding, there will be pressure to cut a deal.
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