Attorney: Army Officer Recommends No Jail Time for Bergdahl
Hey, remember how the right was going on about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl being a dirty Jihadi traitor, and Obama’s prisoner swap to gain the captured soldier’s freedom was part of his evil plot to impose sharia law or something….blah, blah, blah?
Yeah, it turns out not so much.
[D]efense attorney Eugene Fidell said Lt. Col. Mark Visger has recommended that Sgt. Bergdahl’s case be referred to a special court martial, which is a misdemeanor-level forum. It limits the maximum punishment to reduction in rank, a bad-conduct discharge and a term of up to a year in prison.
Fidell also said that Visger recommended that there be no prison time or punitive discharge against Bergdahl. In light of Visger’s recommendations, the defense is asking that the case be disposed of non-judicially, rather than by any court martial.
Visger presided over last month’s Article 32 hearing in Texas that reviewed evidence against Bergdahl. Visger submitted a report with his recommendation on Monday, but the Army hadn’t said what Visger recommended.
Yeah, a misdemeanor. Which means the Army is conceding that Bergdahl probably wasn’t trying to join the Taliban (duh), and that he is guilty of showing poor discipline (a problem that plagued his entire unit by the way). I wonder how all the wingnuts who were calling for his head will react? (Actually, I think we can make a good guess.)
More: Attorney: Army Officer Recommends No Jail Time for Bergdahl