What should happen to Bo Bergdahl?

[JD Barleycorn]

I'll borrow a page from President Obama, we all agree that Bo Bergdahl is guilty of crimes against his unit and his country but what do we do with him. There are some that think he has suffered enough, five years in captivity with the terrorists and there are those that think he should be held responsible for the deaths of other military members who tried to recover him (though the real low lives do want to argue if the number is two or six). If even one soldier died in the search for Bergdahl I'll help put the rope around his neck. So let me ask you (another page from Obama), no one can say that Bergdahl is innocent so what it the appropriate punishment?

Of course, this whole incident highlights the poor judgement of the CIC.

[Mr MojoRisin]

I think we should give Bo Bergdahl a chance to redeem himself. I think he should be placed in the Houston Astrodome with a lion. Not a lion that has lived in captivity, but one taken out of the wild and is hungry as fuck. Bergdahl should be allowed to have one weapon of his choice other than a firearm. If Bergdahl defeats the Lion he'll be free from all charges and be allowed to live his life anyway he wishes. If he doesn't the Lion will be given a laxative and brought back to his home in the wild. Fair enough.

Jim

[JD Barleycorn]

I read about the female lion who has five cubs. Let Bergdahl go into the arena and bring one back out with him. He'll have to knock on the door to get someone's attention when he is ready to leave.



Aren't they cute?

[Seedy]

Just stake the coward bastard out on a fire ant mound. Then let the buzzards pick his bones.

[i'va biggen]

I'm going to let the Army decide.

[gnadfly]

Reliant Stadium. Bo Bergdahl vs Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Bo gets a knife. If he loses his parents are executed.

Time shit got real.

[Whirlaway]

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[Whirlaway]

+1

Originally Posted by i'va biggen

I'm going to let the Army decide.

Let the Army sort it out...

The story going forward should be about the fuck ups by Team Obama....from their negotiations with terrorists, to the Rose Garden event, to the Susan Rice statement, to the prisoner release conditions.

[i'va biggen]

Really ?

[Jackie S]

I voted for number one, but that is only predicated on if the Army does indeed find him guilty as charged.

[JD Barleycorn]

I have little doubt that the Army will find him guilty but I worry about the sentencing phase. The Army does follow orders and the White House wants this to disappear...quietly. They can do that with time served and a BCD (the least amount of flak).

[i'va biggen]

Catch 22 they can disappear you.

[cafriend]

The poll question is inaccurate, so I added the USMJ info (added some characters so not web searchable)

If found that he in fact deserted and that his actions caused the deaths of other soldiers then he should be given the maximum penalty under the law.

When I served, the death penalty the sentence for desertion in a combat zone.

Since the US Armed Forces is all volunteer he should have not joined and just stayed home.

The pussification of the Untied States must stop!

ARTICLE 8%5. DE$ERTION
a) Any member of the armed forces who–
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States; is guilty of desertion.
(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.

[RochBob]

I went with the third option even though it doesn't quite fit what I feel he should get. He was willing to sign up. Which is considerably more than some people are willing to do these days. Went through rigorous Training and accepted what would be considered a hazardous duty assignment. He made a stupid naïve mistake by leaving his Base unarmed. The only people that know exactly what the circumstances of his capture were are himself and the Taliban that performed the capture. He was held prisoner by them for 5 years and there is no indication he gave them any aid or assistance and he did try to escape several times. Yes, its unfortunate that other US solders were killed and injured looking for him. But you cannot forget that this was an active combat zone and some of those solders may have been hurt or killed in action anyway. My personal opinion is that the best course of action would be for the Military & Government to let this fade into the background again (which is where it was before the announcement of charges against him). Then quietly Court Martial him for Dereliction of Duty with a sentence of reduction in rank to E-1, forfeiture of all benefits & allowances and an Dishonorable Discharge. As far as any imprisonment goes, I'm pretty sure anything we would do to him would be a stay at a Luxury Resort compared to what he already received at the hands of the Taliban.

[Jackie S]

Originally Posted by cafriend

The poll question is inaccurate, so I added the USMJ info (added some characters so not web searchable)

If found that he in fact deserted and that his actions caused the deaths of other soldiers then he should be given the maximum penalty under the law.

When I served, the death penalty the sentence for desertion in a combat zone.

Since the US Armed Forces is all volunteer he should have not joined and just stayed home.

The pussification of the Untied States must stop!

ARTICLE 8%5. DE$ERTION
a) Any member of the armed forces who–
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;
(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or
(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States; is guilty of desertion.
(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.
(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.

The caveat to your post and the highlighted "in time of war".
The Constitution is very specific in that to be in a state of war, Congress has to actually "declare war".
We have not been in a Declared War since WW-2. So any good Defense Team could probably win an appeal on a death sentence.

In a sense, the Army would be in violation of someone's Constitutional Rights by handing down a death penalty when a Congress had not seen fit to issue a formal Declaration of War.