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Conley
02-12-2013, 09:41 PM
Got this in an email, hadn't heard of the guy:

Friends and Family,

This is really out of character for me, but I recently (thanks to the Daily Show) learned that the White House allows you to directly petition them about issues of importance; if an issue gets more than 25000 signatures, the White House will respond. Since the White House received enough signatures to respond to the petition to build a Death Star, surely we can use this to bring SGT Bowe Bergdahl home. Bergdahl is the ONLY current American POW in Afghanistan. He's been held prisoner by the Taliban since June of 2009. Both April and I have written our Representatives, our Senators, the Secretary of State, and the President, but still nothing has been done. SGT Bergdahl has been forgotten by the American public. Perhaps if we can get enough signatures, we can force the White House to react. Please help by signing this petition:

If this was any of us (God forbid), I'd like to know that my government was working to get us home. During the Vietnam war, the wives of American POWs had regular audiences in the White House, and Amerians for and against the war wore POW bracelets as a sign of solidarity. As a military officer, and an American, I feel I owe Bowe's family the same commitment.

If this message offends you, please accept my apologies and delete it. If not, please encourage your friends to sign the petition as well.

Thank you

Conley
02-12-2013, 09:42 PM
The missing serviceman's fate is tied up in U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government, a high-level, high-risk diplomatic initiative which appeared to be on the cusp of a breakthrough before the Taliban suspended preliminary talks in March 2012. For months, U.S. negotiators were seeking to arrange the transfer of five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay military prison to the Gulf state of Qatar. The transfer was intended as one of a series of confidence-building measures designed to open the door to political talks between the Taliban and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.[28] That move - at the center of U.S. strategy for ending the long, costly conflict in Afghanistan - was also supposed to lead directly to Bowe's release. The Taliban has consistently called for the United States to release those held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for freeing Western prisoners. But the Guantanamo transfer proposal, which would have required notification to Congress, ground to a halt when the Taliban rejected U.S. conditions designed to ensure transferred Taliban would not slip away and re-emerge as military leaders. The Obama administration has since become pessimistic that any such peace deal with the Taliban will occur before the bulk of NATO forces leave in 2014.[29]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl

Peter1469
02-12-2013, 09:57 PM
War sucks.

Conley
02-12-2013, 09:59 PM
War sucks.

No doubt...being a US POW in the hands of the Taliban sucks even more

Peter1469
02-12-2013, 10:04 PM
No doubt...being a US POW in the hands of the Taliban sucks even more

Well, he clearly isn't held by the real radicals, or his head would have been sawed off with a dull knife by now.

Alif Qadr
03-07-2013, 11:29 AM
Got this in an email, hadn't heard of the guy:

Friends and Family,

This is really out of character for me, but I recently (thanks to the Daily Show) learned that the White House allows you to directly petition them about issues of importance; if an issue gets more than 25000 signatures, the White House will respond. Since the White House received enough signatures to respond to the petition to build a Death Star, surely we can use this to bring SGT Bowe Bergdahl home. Bergdahl is the ONLY current American POW in Afghanistan. He's been held prisoner by the Taliban since June of 2009. Both April and I have written our Representatives, our Senators, the Secretary of State, and the President, but still nothing has been done. SGT Bergdahl has been forgotten by the American public. Perhaps if we can get enough signatures, we can force the White House to react. Please help by signing this petition:

If this was any of us (God forbid), I'd like to know that my government was working to get us home. During the Vietnam war, the wives of American POWs had regular audiences in the White House, and Amerians for and against the war wore POW bracelets as a sign of solidarity. As a military officer, and an American, I feel I owe Bowe's family the same commitment.

If this message offends you, please accept my apologies and delete it. If not, please encourage your friends to sign the petition as well.

Thank you




I just signed a petition for Mr. Bergdahl at this link (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/raise-awareness-us-army-sgt-bowe-bergdahl/mCfSqk68)

Newpublius
03-13-2013, 10:36 PM
No doubt...being a US POW in the hands of the Taliban sucks even more

Having one might make the smart terrorist to see him as an asset to be treated well? (I'm HOPING)

Conley
03-14-2013, 12:10 AM
Having one might make the smart terrorist to see him as an asset to be treated well? (I'm HOPING)

I would hope so...but if they're desperate and dumb then not likely. From what I read McCain was tortured more and had to deal with extra because he was a high value POW, it might be the same with Bergdahl

waltky
11-15-2016, 11:35 PM
Soldier Was Shot During Search for Bergdahl... Officer Testifies That Soldier Was Shot During Search for Bergdahl Nov 14, 2016 — A military officer testified Monday that he saw another soldier shot in the head during the 2009 search for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who's accused of endangering comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan. At the same hearing, an Army judge also agreed to delay Bergdahl's trial by several months until May 15, 2017.
Prosecutors are arguing that two wounded soldiers' injuries should be allowed as evidence to show Bergdahl's disappearance effectively put other military members in harm's way. Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the latter of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. U.S. Air Force Maj. John Marx testified about a firefight that erupted as he and several others joined about 50 members of the Afghan National Army on a search for Bergdahl. They were attacked by enemy fighters near a town in Afghanistan on July 8, 2009. Marx testified about fighting alongside U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. First Class Mark Allen, who was shot in the head during the firefight. Prosecutors said Allen suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him in a wheel chair and unable to communicate. Another soldier had hand injuries and required surgery because of a rocket-propelled grenade. Marx described the mission's sole purpose as to search for Bergdahl. He testified he was beside Allen as bullets flew. "I looked at him, then I see a trickle of blood coming down his head," Marx testified. Asked where Allen was wounded, Marx pointed at his temples and said: "Right through his head." Marx testified that he later carried Allen to the medevac helicopter, describing it as "probably one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life."
http://images04.military.com/media/global/newscred/bergdahl-rosenblatt-1500-14-nov-2016-ts600.jpeg In a July 7, 2016 photo, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrives with his military lawyer, Lt. Col. Franklin Rosenblatt, for a hearing at the courtroom on Fort Bragg, N.C Bergdahl, dressed in a white shirt and blue pants, appeared stoic as he listened. Marx and two others involved in the firefight said they came from another part of Afghanistan to take part in a hastily planned search mission. Their group, patrolling on foot, had run out of water but couldn't get more supplies before they came under attack. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Walters testified that he ran toward Allen as rocket-propelled grenades exploded nearby with concussive force: "Everything went black, and I saw stars." He said he was later able to get on a radio and call for air support. Jonathan Morita, a former Army specialist, was nearby when an unexploded RPG slammed into the rifle he was holding. He said the injury was comparable to having his hand smashed by a hammer. "I looked at it, and I thought: 'That's going to hurt in the morning.' I didn't feel it. Too much adrenaline," he said. Walking out after his testimony, Morita glared at Bergdahl, but the defendant didn't appear to make eye contact. Prosecutors have said evidence of the injuries will help them show that Bergdahl endangered his comrades, one of the elements of the misbehavior before the enemy charge. MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/14/officer-testifies-that-soldier-was-shot-search-bergdahl.html) See also: Judge Questions Including Injury Evidence in Bergdahl Case Nov 15, 2016 — A military judge questioned whether jurors would reach unfair conclusions about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl if they're allowed to consider serious wounds to two soldiers who searched for him after his 2009 disappearance in Afghanistan.
The judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, heard arguments Tuesday about whether to allow the evidence, but ended a pretrial hearing without ruling. Trial is set to open in April 2017 for Bergdahl. He is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the latter of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Prosecutors argue that two wounded soldiers' injuries should be allowed to show Bergdahl put soldiers in harm's way when he walked off his post in July of 2009. The soldiers were wounded in a firefight — one shot in the head — as they searched for Bergdahl, according to testimony earlier this week. Prosecutors have said evidence of injuries will help them show that Bergdahl endangered his comrades, one of the elements of the misbehavior before the enemy charge. "Individuals were in fact harmed, and that's the best evidence of endangerment," said Capt. Eileen Whipple, a prosecutor. Leaving out evidence of the injuries "leaves us with a gap in how dangerous these missions were." The judge posed tough questions for the prosecutors about such evidence. "You're not entitled to use that evidence if it's unfairly prejudicial," Nance told them. "This trial becomes a trial about that operation, that mission, and not a trial about what's on the charge sheet."
http://images01.military.com/media/global/newscred/bergdahl-leaves-court-1500-15-nov-2016-ts600.jpeg Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is seen leaving a courtroom after a pretrial hearing in Fort Bragg, NC. Nance suggested the "horrific nature" of the one soldier's head wound might provoke jurors to decide based on emotion that "because Sgt. Allen was so horrifically injured, he's guilty." "That's an unfair conclusion," Nance added. Bergdahl hasn't yet chosen whether to have a jury of military members, or trial by judge alone. Prosecutors cited a search mission involving a half-dozen U.S. service members embedded with 50 members of the Afghan National Army. They were attacked near a town in Afghanistan on July 8, 2009. U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Mark Allen was shot in the head during the firefight. Prosecutors said Allen suffered a traumatic brain injury that has left him in a wheelchair and unable to communicate. Another soldier had hand injuries and required surgery because of a rocket-propelled grenade. "It's important to keep in mind that the proximate cause of these injuries is the Taliban. Members of the Taliban are the ones who fired the weapons, not Sgt. Bergdahl," said Maj. Oren Gleich, a defense attorney. Several soldiers involved in the firefight have testified they came from another part of Afghanistan to take part in a hastily planned search mission. They had been embedded with Afghan soldiers to help train them. Numerous soldiers from different units searched for Bergdahl. MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/15/judge-questions-injury-evidence-bergdahl-case.html)

waltky
12-22-2016, 01:54 AM
Granny says, "Dat's right - if he tries to escape - shoot him...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_grandma.gif
Bergdahl Not on Obama's December Pardon List
Dec 21, 2016 | WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has granted 78 people pre-Christmas pardons, more than doubling the amount allowed during his eight-year tenure. But accused Army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not among them.


The White House announced the pardons Monday afternoon alongside Obama’s decision to commute the sentences of 153 other individuals. White House Counsel Neil Eggleston left the door open for additional pardons in Obama’s remaining month in office, perhaps leaving hope for Bergdahl that the president will grant his pardon petition that would spare him a court-martial in April on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. “The president continues to review clemency applications on an individualized basis to determine whether a particular applicant has demonstrated a readiness to make use of his or her second chance, and I expect that the president will issue more grants of both commutations and pardons before he leaves office,” Eggleston wrote Monday in the statement. The vast majority of the pardons granted Monday were to drug offenders who had already completed their sentences. None of the pardons were granted to individuals, like Bergdahl, who had not already been convicted of a crime, which is possible for a president to do but extremely rare.

Several experts on military law and pardon history have told Stars and Stripes that a pardon for Bergdahl is unlikely. The soldier’s lawyer Eugene Fidell declined to comment Tuesday on the pardon request. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said recently that he did not expect Obama to grant pardons to any individuals whose applications had not yet undergone the normal vetting process, which can take several years. Bergdahl, 30, spent five years as a Taliban prisoner after he walked off his base in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. He was returned to the U.S. military in May 2014 in a controversial exchange approved by Obama for five senior Taliban leaders who had been held in the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.


http://images01.military.com/media/global/newscred/bergdahl-leaves-court-1500-15-nov-2016-ts600.jpeg
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is seen leaving a courtroom after a pretrial hearing in Fort Bragg, NC.

Last year, the Army charged Bergdahl with “misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place” and “desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty.” The more serious misbehavior charge carries a potential life sentence. Berghdal’s trial is scheduled to begin April 18. Last week, the judge overseeing the court-martial barred prosecutors from presenting evidence at that trial of specific injuries to servicemembers wounded while searching for Bergdahl in the days after he disappeared from Observation Post Mest. Prosecutors had hoped to include evidence that two Army National Guardsmen were injured – one permanently disabled by a gunshot to the head – during a mission to recover Bergdahl. Army Maj. Justin C. Oshana, the lead prosecutor, said the injuries best represented Bergdahl’s guilt of the misbehavior charge.

The judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, disagreed. In his ruling on the evidence, he wrote prosecutors had plenty of additional evidence that showed troops were endangered by Bergdahl’s actions. Including evidence of the soldiers’ injuries at trial was the prosecution’s attempt to “seal-the-deal,” he wrote. But it could unfairly bias the jurors to act on their emotions, Nance concluded. “The accused is not charged with causing anyone’s injury or death,” the judge wrote. “He is charged with endangering the command. While there are similarities in those consequences, they are distinct.” Fidell said he was pleased with the judge’s ruling. Bergdahl has yet to enter a plea to either of the charges against him nor has he decided whether he will face a jury trial or leave his fate to Nance. He remains on active duty in a desk job at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas and has not been subjected to any pre-trial confinement.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/12/21/bergdahl-not-on-obamas-december-pardon-list.html

waltky
02-13-2017, 04:49 PM
Granny says, "Dat's right - the judge liable to throw the whole case out...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_grandma.gif
Judge Questions Effect of Trump Comments on Bergdahl Case
Feb 13, 2017 — A military judge called President Donald Trump's scathing campaign-trail criticism of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "disturbing" on Monday and questioned whether it would make the public think the soldier can't get a fair trial for walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.


During a pretrial hearing, defense attorneys played part of a video exhibit in which Trump repeatedly says at campaign appearances that Bergdahl is a "traitor" who should be harshly punished. Bergdahl's lawyers argue the comments violate their client's due-process rights and that the case should be dismissed. The judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, didn't immediately rule on the defense request, but called the footage of Trump condemning Bergdahl "disturbing material." A written decision was expected later. Defense lawyers played about five minutes of the footage in which Trump repeatedly used phrases such as "no good traitor" to refer to the soldier who was held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years.


http://images03.military.com/media/global/newscred/bowe-bergdahl-13-aug-2016-ts600.jpeg
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, center, arrives at the Fort Bragg, N.C., courtroom facility for an arraignment hearing

Bergdahl sat mostly still during the video presentation, looking away at times. By the end of the footage, the muscles Bergdahl's jaw were visibly bulging as he apparently clenched his teeth. Prosecutors say Trump's comments amounted to campaign rhetoric against actions taken by the Obama administration to bring Bergdahl home. "These comments are clearly intended to try to attack a political opponent for political gain," said Army Maj. Justin Oshana, a prosecutor. The Obama administration's decision in May 2014 to exchange Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners prompted some Republicans to accuse Obama of jeopardizing the nation's safety. Oshana said potential jurors' exposure to Trump's comments could be addressed through questioning during jury selection. He added that it would be unprecedented to dismiss the case without first trying to seat a jury.

But Nance asked, "How does that relate to overcoming the black eye to the military justice system ... the view the public might have?" That question goes to the heart of the defense argument that Trump's comments constitute unlawful command influence by the new commander in chief. Even the appearance of such unfairness can theoretically derail a military case. The defense's motion, filed shortly after Trump was sworn in as president, cites more than 40 instances of Trump's criticism at public appearances and media interviews through August 2016.

MORE (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/13/judge-questions-effect-trump-comments-bergdahl-case.html)

Peter1469
02-13-2017, 04:58 PM
It won't come to anything. The judge is just protecting the record (for appellate reasons).

nathanbforrest45
02-13-2017, 05:13 PM
Shoot him, beat him with a large stick.