Posted on 01/27/2015 6:28:55 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Whatever happened to the investigation of Bowe Bergdahl and his capture by the Taliban? Last year, the Obama administration traded five high-ranking Taliban commanders to get Bergdahl back, but men in his former unit immediately objected to the trade, accusing Bergdahl of having deserted before his capture. Months later, there still has been no final determination of Bergdahl’s status — at least none made public. Last night, retired Lt. Col. Tony Schaffer told Bill O’Reilly that the Army has charged Bergdahl with desertion, but that the White House — and specifically Ben Rhodes, the national-security adviser/speechwriter to Barack Obama — has pressured the Pentagon to delay the release of that news (via Jeff Dunetz):
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Shaffer’s key point is that the charges will embarrass the White House all over again for coughing up five big fish for one deserter:
SHAFFER: This is shaping up to be titanic struggle behind the scenes. Believe me, the Army here wants to do the right thing. Factually there is no way they cannot do the right thing regarding Bergdahl, and the White House because of the political narrative, President Obama cozying up to the parents and because of he, President Obama, releasing five Taliban — by the way those five Taliban were never briefed to senior leadership to the Pentagon before it happened. The narrative is White House does not want to have –
O’REILLY: Of course they don’t want it. Look, the White House can’t tell the Army not to charge him with desertion. If what you say is true, they’re going to charge him with desertion.
SHAFFER: He has been– he has been charged.
O’REILLY: They got it. So now, what good does it do, for Ben Rhodes or anyone else, to say, “Don’t tell anybody”?
Yeah … that’s a pretty good question. If the Army has presented a charge sheet to Bergdahl’s attorney, the process is already underway. A hearing will soon take place to determine whether the Army has enough evidence to proceed to a court-martial, and that will be at least somewhat public, especially since there doesn’t seem to be much connection to top-secret operations under way more than five years after Bergdahl’s capture. That can only be kept bottled up for so long; it’s going to come out sooner rather than later, if Shaffer’s sources have the story right. Why drag it out any longer?
That’s not to say that it’s not true. Politicians and administrations do strange things to avoid the unavoidable. No one would consider Shaffer’s scenario to be unthinkable, certainly not in this most transparent administration evaaaah Hopenchangeland. It’s just that the risk-reward ratio is so far off that most rational people would choose to rip the Band-Aid off cleanly at this point than to have people keep talking about it. No matter what happens, this administration will still be the one that gave up the biggest bargaining chips they had with the Taliban to get nothing strategic in return, and suddenly reset expectations around the world that the US will bargain with terrorists for hostages. That wouldn’t change even if Bergdahl doesn’t get charged with desertion. If Shaffer’s correct, it just makes the foolish nature of the trade slightly more obvious.
Being charged is the easy part. Obama will do everything in his power to keep Bergdahl from trial and conviction.
Nothing justifies walking off your post... NOTHING.
Bergdhal is not the real issue, the real issue is the 5 prisoners and millions of dollars that went back to the terrorists. Odumbo needs to be hung for that “deal”. Bergdhal is only a ploy to keep the attention away from what those who were released are now involved with.
Obama looked at the trade deal as a freebie because he intended to free the Taliban terrorists anyway.
Can’t he, as commander in chief, simply order the case dismissed?
At the very least, I know he can just issue a pardon, but I don’t think he wants to let Bergdahl even be convicted.
They are both equally serious issues. Bergdahl most certainly is an issue to those serving in uniform.
Here is my prediction of how this will be handled. The White House will say they cannot comment publicly because the President is in the Chain of Command (CINC) and this is an active military legal process. Then, I expect a Plea Bargain deal to be made between Bergdahls attorney and the Army which will result in a guilty plea to some modified charges resulting in a reuction to Private (E-1) and a less than honorable (perhaps Dishonorable) discharge with no confinement and no payment of back pay.
Can the COC pardon all crimes?
I fully expect the Department of JUSTUS to insert themselves into the mix somehow to gum up the UCMJ process.
“Can the President Pardon all crimes?” He sure can, but I think a plea bargain (see previous post) is the likely outcome.
Or they’ll send him to WOC classes and hand him a helicopter.
‘Ya think anything will come of this???
Me neither.
I heard Obama is going to trade Pennsylvania to Canada for some magic beans.
If he’d limit that to Philadelphia, I don’t see a problem. That from someone whose ancestors landed there in 1650.
Bottom line is oshiitehead is one of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.