Free Republic

HAILEY, Idaho -- It was the third text message from the unfamiliar number -- the one that made direct reference to Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl -- that frightened Sherry Horton. It was written in nearly unintelligible gibberish, but its tone was unmistakably menacing. Ms. Horton had reason to be fearful: Hailey is the hometown of the American soldier who was vilified as a deserter and possibly even a traitor days after his release from Taliban captivity in May 2014 in a prisoner swap. Here in Hailey, death threats soon followed -- hundreds of calls to the Chamber of Commerce and to...

On December 16, 2013,  Michael Berdahl, 66, shot and killed David Wimmer, 43.  Wimmer was visiting Berdahl at his apartment in Enid, Oklahoma.  Berdahl fled, but was arrested the next day in Anthony, Kansas.  He had a pistol on his person, and admitted to the shooting.  Bond was set at 1 million dollars.  Berdahl did not make bail and stayed in jail. The trial took place on 1 September, 2015, more than 20 months later.  The jury was out for little more than an hour when they came back and rendered a not guilty verdict.   Berdahl's use of warning...

Last July, President Obama presented Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts of New Hampshire with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony. Pitts single-handedly defended an outpost from hundreds of attacking Taliban fighters. He emptied machine guns, tossed grenades and did whatever it took to protect his fellow soldiers. As Obama put it, “Against the onslaught, one American held the line.” Less than two months earlier, Obama had been in the White House Rose Garden, grinning while the father of Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl gave his son an encouraging shoutout in Pashto — the language of the Taliban. A Rose...

Last Monday retired Lt. Col. Tony Schaffer, citing unnamed military sources, told Bill O’Reilly that the Army was planning to charge Bergdahl with desertion. He claimed that his sources confirmed that were given a charge sheet. It didn’t take Obama’s spin doctors long to have the Pentagon lying and denying that any charges were filed or any charge sheet presented to Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene Fidell. At the time of writing Mr. Fidell declined to speak to the press. In a surprise move NBC cited an anonymous senior defense official who said that Bergdahl will be charged with desertion very soon....

The Army has no plans to release the results of an investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance and capture by the Taliban in 2009, a spokesman said Friday. "We recognize the importance of the media and the public understanding of our investigative process, and look forward to future discussions on this issue. However, the Army's priority is ensuring that our process is thorough, factually accurate, impartial, and legally correct," Army spokesman Wayne Hall said in a statement. The Army is looking into whether Bergdahl deserted his post or was absent without leave, both of which would punishable under military law...

An Obama administration official has floated the idea that Bowe Bergdahl was justified in deserting his platoon in Afghanistan and joining the Taliban over disagreements with the platoon's leadership. Brandon Friedman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the Department of Housing and Urban Development posted a series of tweets Wednesday evening in which he speculated that Bergdahl deserted over bad leadership of his platoon and that is why his fellow soldiers were smearing him."Here's the thing about Bergdahl and the Jump-to-Conclusions mats: What if his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership? (1/5)"" What if he grew...