‘Hero’ Bowe Bergdahl charged as ‘deserter’ and ‘misbehavior’

The Obama administration took a ton of heat for releasing Gitmo prisoners to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from the Taliban and will likely be back in the GOP crosshairs now that Bergdahl has been charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Official charges against Bergdahl under Article 85 and Article 99 were announced Wednesday afternoon by US Army spokesman Col. Daniel King. If found guilty, Bergdahl may face dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of rank and pay, and imprisonment ranging from five years to life.

Bergdahl went missing from the US army base in Afghanistan’s Paktika province in June 2009. He was captured and reportedly held in Pakistan, until he was ransomed and exchanged for five men detained in Guantanamo Bay in May 2014.

“Had we waited and lost him,” said national security adviser Susan Rice stated at the time of the negotiations, “I don’t think anybody would have forgiven the United States government.”

Members of his battalion have claimed Berghdal had talked openly about leaving the Army prior to his disappearance, and were convinced he had willingly deserted. According to some, no fewer than six US troops died in the three weeks after Bergdahl’s disappearance as a result of search efforts aimed at recovering him.

Five Guantanamo detainees released in exchange for Berghdal include Mullah Mohammad Fazl, former Taliban chief of staff; Mullah Norullah Noori, a close associate of Taliban supreme commander Mullah Omar; former Taliban deputy intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq; and senior Taliban officials Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa and Muhammad Nabi.