So, apparently everything we've heard about this case was rumor and innuendo.
No soldiers died trying to rescue Bergdahl.
Influenced by Ayn Rand. Craved combat and frustrated that his platoon wasn't more aggressive.
Chief investigator does not believe he deserves jail time.
Certainly the guy had issues. But, I'm not surprised at all it seems that Conks worked overtime to slander a POW suffering from mental issues.
SAN ANTONIO—The Army major general who led the military’s investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl testified Friday that he didn’t believe the soldier should be jailed for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who was called by Sgt. Bergdahl’s defense, offered his testimony during the second and final day of a military hearing at an Army base here that will determine whether Sgt. Bergdahl should face a court-martial for desertion and other misconduct.
Gen. Dahl said that Sgt. Bergdahl was naive and disenchanted about his time in the Army, and was seeking to draw attention to himself when he snuck away from his unit in 2009, spurring a massive rescue mission. But he said a prison sentence wouldn’t be appropriate for what occurred.
Sgt. Bergdahl was eventually returned to the U.S. in a controversial prisoner swap in 2014 after being held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years.
“I do not believe there is a jail sentence at the end of this process,” Gen. Dahl said.
The testimony represented the first time Gen. Dahl has spoken publicly about his investigation, which lasted 60 days. His account cast a fresh light on Sgt. Bergdahl’s case, which has long been shrouded in secrecy.
In addition to desertion, which carries a five-year sentence, Sgt. Bergdahl is charged with misbehavior before the enemy, which could lead to life in prison if convicted.
Lt. Colonel Mark Visger, who oversaw this week’s hearing, will give a recommendation on whether Sgt. Bergdahl should be court-martialed. Gen. Robert Abrams, who heads Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., will then determine how to proceed.
Gen. Dahl described Sgt. Bergdahl as deeply idealistic, influenced by the author Ayn Rand and Samurai culture, and a loner of sorts who was also an exemplary soldier.
But Sgt. Bergdahl craved combat and was frustrated that his platoon wasn’t being more aggressive, and he wanted it to spend more time capturing and killing Taliban, Gen. Dahl said.
He said Sgt. Bergdahl eventually grew so upset that he hatched a bizarre plan to leave his unit in a remote outpost in Afghanistan and run some 19 miles through the night to a base in the hopes that the ensuing rescue mission would draw the attention of a general.
“He would present himself and say ‘I’m the guy you’re looking for, and I’m not saying anything until I talk to the general,’ ” Gen. Dahl said.
Sometime between June 29 and June 30, he walked away from his unit and into the darkness, leaving his guns behind and taking with him only water, Afghan currency and traditional Afghan clothing. Eight to ten hours later, however, Sgt. Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban.
“I got the impression they didn’t know what the heck to do with him,” Gen. Dahl said.
Throughout the two-day hearing, prosecutors sought to portray Sgt. Bergdahl as motivated by selfishness. And several of his commanders told of the furious high-risk search and rescue missions that ensued after he disappeared, efforts they said left troops mentally and physically haggard.
In her closing statement on Friday, Maj. Margaret Kurz said Sgt. Bergdahl’s disappearance had changed the mission of American forces in Afghanistan. While acknowledging he had suffered while in captivity, she said he still needed to be held responsible for breaking Army rules.
“The accused’s motive, while interesting, is legally irrelevant,” she said.
Still, Gen. Dahl’s testimony that he didn’t believe jail time was warranted appeared to undermine prosecution arguments that Sgt. Bergdahl should face serious punishment. Contrary to some reports, he said, no soldiers were killed searching for Sgt. Bergdahl, and he said he believed that the soldier was being truthful during a lengthy interview conducted with him as part of the Army’s investigation.
On Friday, one of Sgt. Bergdahl’s sergeants, Gregory Leatherman, testified that many fellow soldiers believed Sgt. Bergdahl was the best solider in their unit.
But Mr. Leatherman said Sgt. Bergdahl was also growing increasingly detached while in Afghanistan. When Mr. Leatherman reported those concerns to a superior officer, he said, they were ignored.
The final defense witness, Terrence Russell, who interviews prisoners of war for the military and assessed Sgt. Bergdahl upon his release from captivity, said Sgt. Bergdahl had been subjected to some of the most horrific torture any American soldier had suffered since the Vietnam War. That abuse included beatings and starvation that left Sgt. Bergdahl near death, he said.
“Bowe Bergdahl has been accused of many, many things,” said Mr. Russell. “But you cannot accuse him of a lack of resistance in captivity and his willingness to serve his country.”
In his closing statement, Sgt. Bergdahl’s lawyer, Eugene Fidell, argued that there was only enough probable cause to charge his client with one day’s worth of AWOL, the amount of time he was away from his unit before being captured.
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