Bowe Bergdahl exchange
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The Obama administration exchanged five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on May 31, 2014. In a Rose Garden ceremony announcing Bergdahl's return to the U.S., President Barack Obama (D) said, "As Commander-in-Chief, I am proud of the servicemembers who recovered Sergeant Bergdahl and brought him safely out of harm’s way. As usual, they performed with extraordinary courage and professionalism, and they have made their nation proud."[1]
Bergdahl was accused of deserting his unit before being captured by Taliban forces in Afghanistan in 2009. On March 25, 2015, Bergdahl was formally charged with desertion by the U.S. Army.[2] [3]
On December 14, 2015, Gen. Robert Abrams, commanding general of Forces Command, announced that Bergdahl was recommended for trial by general court-martial. Bergdahl was also accused of misbehavior before the enemy. Among other things, running away; abandoning military property which it was his duty to defend; endangering the safety of the command, unit, place, or military property; and displaying cowardly conduct in front of the enemy, which all constitute misbehavior before the enemy according to article 99 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.[4][5]
On October 16, 2017, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to the charges of desertion and misbehavior before an enemy. Bergdahl said, "I understand that leaving was against the law." By pleading guilty, Bergdahl avoided a trial, but he had a sentencing hearing where his fellow service members who were wounded while searching for him testified.[6]
On November 3, 2017, a military judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, said that Bergdahl would not serve time in prison for leaving his post in Afghanistan. He was given a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank to private, and had to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months.[7][8]
Political background
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized Obama's decision to trade five prisoners for Bergdahl. They said that it would set the precedent that the United States would make deals with terrorists. Former House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and other Republicans said that Obama violated the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act by not giving Congress at least 30 days notice before engaging in talks to get Bergdahl back.[9]
An investigation into the prisoner swap conducted by the House Armed Services Committee found that "the Administration clearly broke the law in not notifying Congress of the transfer," according to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the committee's chairman. The committee released the full report on December 9, 2015.[10][11]
Thornberry said, "Leading up to the transfer, DOD officials misled Congress as to the status of negotiations. Pentagon officials best positioned to assess the national security risks were left out of the process, which increases the chances of dangerous consequences from the transfer. It is irresponsible to put these terrorists that much closer to the battlefield to settle a campaign promise and unconscionable to mislead Congress in the process." Thornberry was referring to Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.[10]
A White House official explained why the administration chose not to give Congress the required 30 days notice ahead of the prisoner swap, saying it was because of an "unwavering commitment and patriotic duty to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield. ... We had a near-term opportunity to save Sgt. Bergdahl's life, and we were committed to using every tool at our disposal to secure his safe return. Our policy is clear: We will not transfer any detainee from Guantanamo unless the threat the detainee may pose to the United States or U.S. persons or interests will be substantially mitigated. We determined that this standard has been satisfied here."[12]
Timeline of events
Disappearance
According to reports from members of Bergdahl's platoon, he left the observation post they were stationed at on June 30, 2009.[13][14] One member of the platoon said of his departure, "He walked off. He left his guard post. Nobody knows if he defected or he's a traitor or he was kidnapped. What I do know is, he was there to protect us, and instead he decided to defer from America and go and do his own thing."[14] According to a Rolling Stone report, Bergdahl did not fit in with the platoon. In the last email he wrote to his parents, Bergdahl said, "The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting."[15]
Search attempts
Search attempts began hours after Bergdahl's disappearance, with Predator drones, dogs, soldiers, and fighter jets all searching for Bergdahl. Just over 24 hours later, Army intelligence intercepted a discussion between Taliban members involving an American soldier they had taken prisoner. The Taliban offered a trade deal through local elders, but the commanding officer was either unable or unwilling to make the trade of 15 prisoners and an undisclosed amount of money.[15]
According to soldiers stationed in the area, their mission changed once Bergdahl went missing. One stated, "The fact of the matter is, when those soldiers were killed, they would not have been where they were at if Bergdahl had not have left. Bergdahl leaving changed the mission."[16] Six soldiers charged with the recovery of Bergdahl were killed between August 18 and September 6, 2009. Not every mission revolved around Bergdahl, but multiple soldiers said that personnel recovery became a common element during missions. A local election also took place August 20, 2009, which soldiers monitored and protected. Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that he was not aware of "circumstances or details of U.S. soldiers dying as a result of efforts to find and rescue Sgt. Bergdahl." A spokesperson for the department also commented on Bergdahl's responsibility for the six deaths, stating, "Right now there is no evidence to back that up."[16]
POW treatment
Five videos were released by the Taliban featuring Bergdahl reading pre-written lines criticizing American foreign policy. The first video was released on July 19, 2009, in which he claimed to have been captured when he fell behind his platoon. He appeared to be unharmed.[17] Another video was released on Christmas Day in 2009. Bergdahl was wearing his Army uniform and again appeared to be unharmed.[18] On April 7, 2010, a video featuring Bergdahl pleading for his release was posted online. Similar videos were released in May 2011 and January 2014 as proof of life.[19] His health in the January 2014 video appeared to be deteriorating, which led to the Obama administration's increased focus on getting him released.[13][20]
His parents received a letter they believed he had written in June 2013. The letter was delivered to them by the International Committee of the Red Cross.[21]
Bergdahl's health upon release was better than expected, based on the last video released, but he still suffered from skin and gum disorders common among those held in captivity. He was treated at a hospital in Germany for mental and physical wellness and held from his family and the media while doctors attempted to evaluate him. Bergdahl said the Taliban kept him in a solitary metal cage or box for weeks at a time after two failed escape attempts.[20]
Negotiations
Negotiations were first made public in May 2012, but the Associated Press learned about the negotiations in 2010 and agreed not to publish the terms in order to avoid the influence of public backlash. In May 2012, Bergdahl's parents announced that the Obama administration was negotiating with the Taliban to release Bowe in exchange for five prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay. After the January 2014 video release, Bergdahl's family said they were optimistic about the renewed chance of Bowe's release. He was exchanged by the Taliban on May 31, 2014, for the release of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners.[19]
Rose Garden ceremony
| "President Obama Speaks on the Recovery of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl," May 31, 2014. |
On May 31, 2014, President Obama invited Bob and Jani Bergdahl, Bowe's parents, to the White House Rose Garden to announce that Bowe would be reunited with his family. Obama said, "Sergeant Bergdahl has missed birthdays and holidays and the simple moments with family and friends, which all of us take for granted. But while Bowe was gone he was never forgotten. His parents thought about him and prayed for him every single day, as did his sister, Sky, who prayed for his safe return. He wasn’t forgotten by his community in Idaho, or the military, which rallied to support the Bergdahls through thick and thin. And he wasn’t forgotten by his country, because the United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind. As Commander-in-Chief, I am proud of the servicemembers who recovered Sergeant Bergdahl and brought him safely out of harm’s way. As usual, they performed with extraordinary courage and professionalism, and they have made their nation proud." Obama also thanked the governments of Qatar and Afghanistan and reaffirmed his commitment to "[wind] down the war in Afghanistan" and to close Gitmo.[1]
National Defense Authorization Act
Republican members of Congress said that Obama broke the law under the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act in making a deal to bring Bergdahl back to the U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said, "The law says they are to give us 30 days' notice. If the President thought that was unconstitutional or an invalid law, than he shouldn't have signed the bill." Obama responded to the claims, stating, "We have consulted with Congress for quite some time about the possibility we may have to execute a prisoner exchange. We saw an opportunity and we were concerned about his health and had cooperation from the Qataris and we seized that. It was truncated to make sure we didn't miss that opportunity." While the president was required to notify Congress of the exchange, members of Congress had no official way to put a stop the exchange. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) argued that since Obama notified Congress that he would act quickly if the opportunity to bring Bergdahl back to the U.S. emerged, "members of Congress should not be surprised that he acted as he did in the circumstances that existed."[22]
Post-exchange debate
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the exchange was rushed due to Bergdahl's deteriorating health. Hagel also defended the exchange and hoped it would create a new opening in future talks with the Taliban.[9] When asked about the reasoning behind the negotiations on June 3, 2014, Obama said, "Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity. Period. Full stop. We don’t condition that." He also stated that the administration had been consulting with Congress prior to the swap, a statement House Intelligence committee chair Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) disputed. Rogers said, "In 2011, they did come up and present a plan that included a prisoner transfer that was, in a bipartisan way, pushed back. We hadn't heard anything since on any details of any prisoner exchange." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reported that he was told of the exchange but only "the day before or the day of."[23]
Disappearance investigation
The U.S. Army announced on June 16, 2014, that an investigation was underway dealing with the disappearance of Bergdahl from his post in Afghanistan. Major General Kenneth R. Dahl was chosen to head the investigation with a completion date of August 16, 2014.[24][25] Bergdahl hired Eugene R. Fidell to represent him during the Army's investigation. Fidell had been involved in high-profile cases dealing with Guantanamo Bay, sexual assault in the military and Private Chelsea Manning's release of classified documents. Prior to being hired as Bergdahl's legal representation, Fidell stated on NBC News that Bergdahl was looking at up to five years in prison.[26]
Return to duty
After completing the reintegration process following his release from captivity, Bergdahl returned to active duty status on July 14, 2014, at the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, where he was hired to work a desk job.[25]
Formal charges
On March 25, 2015, Bergdahl was formally charged with desertion by the U.S. Army. "Bergdahl also faces an Army charge of misbehavior before an enemy, a far more serious accusation," according to Foreign Policy.[3]
On December 14, 2015, Gen. Robert Abrams, commanding general of Forces Command, announced that Bergdahl was recommended for trial by general court-martial. According to The Army Times, he faced the following charges and penalties:
- "The desertion charge, which falls under Article 85 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, carries a maximum punishment of five years confinement, a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances."[4]
- "The misbehavior before the enemy charge, which falls under Article 99 of the UCMJ, carries a maximum punishment of confinement for life as well as a dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to E-1, and forfeiture of pay and allowances."[4]
Bergdahl's arraignment occurred on December 22, 2015, at Fort Bragg. Bergdahl delayed entering a plea against his charges at the arraignment.[27][28]
On October 16, 2017, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to the charges of desertion and misbehavior before an enemy. Bergdahl said, "I understand that leaving was against the law."[6]
Bergdahl's story
In a December 2015 "Serial" podcast, Bergdahl said he chose to leave his platoon’s base in Afghanistan in 2009 "to prompt a 'DUSTWUN,' an acronym short for 'duty status-whereabouts unknown,'" according to the Washington Post. Bergdahl said, "Doing what I did is me saying that I am like, I don’t know, Jason Bourne…. I had this fantastic idea that I was going to prove to the world that I was the real thing. You know, that I could be what it is that all those guys out there that go to the movies and watch those movies, they all want to be that, but I wanted to prove that I was that."[29]
Bergdahl said that his plan was to leave Observation Post Mest, his platoon’s base, and go to Forward Operating Base Sharana, a larger base 20 miles away, so that he could "draw attention to problems he saw in his unit" and "prove his own worth as a soldier." He said, "What I was seeing from my first unit all the way up into Afghanistan, all’s I was seeing was basically leadership failure, to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally from what I could see in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed."[29]
The next two subsequent Serial podcasts in December 2015 detailed Bergdahl's capture and attempts to escape. According to the series, the Taliban regarded Bergdahl as a "golden chicken." Taliban members told Serial that Bergdahl seemed important because of the number of people searching for him after his capture. Shortly after his capture, Bergdahl said he escaped, but only for 15 minutes. He was recaptured, beaten, and placed in a cell. Bergdahl described his experience after that attempt in these words, "Picture someone taking a bag, throwing it into the closet, shutting the door and just forgetting about it. That was basically how they treated me." According to Serial, about a year later, Bergdahl attempted another escape, climbing out of a window by tying bedsheets together. He eluded capture for nine days, but was finally apprehended and taken back to remain a prisoner until his release four years later.[30][31]
Sentencing hearing and decision
On October 25, 2017, several soldiers and a Navy SEAL testified about their efforts to recover Bergdahl after he abandoned his post in Afghanistan. Several service members were wounded and injured while searcing for Bergdahl.[32]
Retired Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch was wounded and his military dog, who located the enemy fighters shooting at them, was killed when his team’s helicopters came under fire while looking for Bergdahl near the Pakistan border. Hatch was hit in the leg by a bullet from an AK-47. He said, “I screamed a lot. It hurt really bad ... I thought I was dead.” According to the Associated Press, "Hatch said he believes he would have died if a comrade hadn’t quickly applied a tourniquet. Hatch has subsequently had 18 surgeries. He was largely stoic and spoke in measured tones except for several times when he talked about the slain military dog, Remco. Hatch said the dog helped protect his team by locating enemy fighters after the SEALs lost sight of them."[32]
After the court adjourned for the day, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, the judge presiding over Bergdahl's case, said "that he would be fair and hasn’t been influenced by Trump, but that he does have concerns that the president’s comments are affecting public perceptions," according to the Associated Press. During the 2016 presidential campaign President Donald Trump called Bergdahl a traitor.[32]
On November 3, 2017, Nance said that Bergdahl would not serve time in prison for leaving his post in Afghanistan. He was given a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank to private, and had to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months.[7][8]
Congressional response
House resolution condemning the president
A resolution condemning the president's lack of congressional notification in the Bergdahl exchange passed the House on September 9, 2014, by a vote of 249-163. Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.), the sponsor of the resolution, said it was to ensure the checks and balances of the Constitution. The wording of the resolution stated, "These actions have burdened unnecessarily the trust and confidence in the commitment and ability of the Obama administration to constructively engage and work with Congress."[33]
Of the votes in favor of its passage, the following 22 Democratic representatives cast passing votes, while all other Democrats voted in opposition.[33]
John Barrow (D-Ga.)- Ami Bera (D-Calif.)
- Bruce Braley (D-Iowa)
- Julia Brownley (D-Calif.)
- Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.)
- Jim Costa (D-Calif.)
- Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)
- Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii)
- Pete Gallego (D-Texas)
- Joe Garcia (D-Fla.)
- Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.)
- Jim Matheson (D-Utah)
- Mike Michaud (D-Maine)
- Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.)
- Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas)
- Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
- Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
- Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.)
- Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.)
- Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)
- Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)
- Tim Walz (D-Minn.)
The Taliban Five
On September 9, 2014, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) defended the exchange by saying that the five released Taliban prisoners were too old to return to fighting, with each being in their mid-40s. He said, "Yes, indeed, they were former members of organizations that would do us harm, but they're not likely to return to the battlefield at their age. If so, then old people like me need to be in the war and we probably wouldn't have so many in the first place." He acknowledged that they could still be of use in formulating strategy, saying, "Are their minds going to be utilized? That may very well be the case. But I don't think all five of them put together were worth as much as one American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl."[34]
Rep. and Iraq War veteran Doug Collins (R-Ga.) disagreed that the five would not pose a threat to the United States. He said, "If changing or breaking that law isn't enough, the president released five of the most dangerous detainees at Guantánamo Bay. These Taliban leaders orchestrated plans to engage in hostilities against Americans and in association with al Qaeda. By his own admission, there is absolutely the possibility that these detainees would return to the fight."[34]
House Armed Services Committee investigation
An investigation into the prisoner swap conducted by the House Armed Services Committee found that "the Administration clearly broke the law in not notifying Congress of the transfer," according to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the committee's chairman.[10]
On December 9, 2015, the House Armed Services Committee released "The Department of Defense's May 2014 Transfer to Qatar of five law-of-war detainees in connection with the recovery of a captive U.S. soldier" report. The report examined the Obama administration's process for exchanging five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdal and included the following findings:[11]
| “ | FINDING I: The transfer of the Taliban Five violated several laws, including the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The constitutional arguments offered to justify the Department of Defense’s failure to provide the legally-required notification to the Committee 30 days in advance are incomplete and unconvincing. The violation of law also threatens constitutional separation of powers. FINDING II: The Committee was misled about the extent and scope of efforts to arrange the Taliban Five transfer before it took place. The Department of Defense’s failure to communicate complete and accurate information severely harmed its relationship with the Committee, and threatens to upend a longstanding history and tradition of cooperation and comity. FINDING III: Senior officials within the Department of Defense best equipped to assess national security risks associated with the detainee transfer were largely excluded from the Taliban Five efforts. This greatly increased the chance that the transfer would have dangerous consequences. FINDING IV: The Department of Defense has failed to take sufficient precautions to ensure the ongoing national security risks posed by the Taliban 5 are mitigated, consistent with the Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar.[35] |
” |
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WhiteHouse.gov, "Statement by the President on the Release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl," accessed March 26, 2015
- ↑ CBS News, "Bowe Bergdahl, a Taliban captive since 2009, has been freed," May 31, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Foreign Policy, "Army Is Charging Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl With Desertion," accessed March 26, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Army Times, "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face court-martial for desertion, misbehavior charges," accessed December 15, 2015
- ↑ Uniform Code of Military Justice, "Article 99 Misbehavior Before the Enemy," accessed October 20, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 NBC News, "Bowe Bergdahl Pleads Guilty After Walking off Military Post in Afghanistan," October 16, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Politico, "Bergdahl gets no prison time for leaving post," November 3, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN, "Bowe Bergdahl gets dishonorable discharge, avoids prison time," November 3, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Politico, "Criticism of Bergdahl deal mounts," June 6, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Hill, "House report: Obama officials misled public on Bergdahl swap," accessed December 10, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 House Armed Services Committee, "The Department of Defense's May 2014 Transfer to Qatar of five law-of-war detainees in connection with the recovery of a captive U.S. soldier," accessed December 15, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "House report accuses Obama of violating law in Bergdahl exchange," accessed December 10, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Washington Post, "Bowe Bergdahl timeline in Afghanistan: From capture to release," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 CNN, "Fellow soldiers call Bowe Bergdahl a deserter, not a hero," June 4, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rolling Stone, "America's Last Prisoner of War," June 7, 2012
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 CNN, "How did 6 die after Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance?" June 9, 2014
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Bowe Bergdahl: Soldier Captured In Afghanistan Identified As 23-Year-Old Idahoan," July 20, 2009
- ↑ BBC, "Taliban video shows captive US soldier Bowe Bergdahl," December 25, 2009
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Fox News, "A timeline of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's 2009 capture in Afghanistan to 2014 release," June 6, 2014
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 New York Times, "As Bowe Bergdahl Heals, Details Emerge of His Captivity," June 7, 2014
- ↑ CBS News, "POW Bowe Bergdahl's parents receive letter from captive son," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ CNN, "Was Bergdahl swap legal? Depends on who you ask," June 3, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "President Obama defends Bowe Bergdahl deal," June 3, 2014
- ↑ NBC News, "Army Opens Investigation Into Bowe Bergdahl's Departure From Base," June 16, 2014
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Wall Street Journal, "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Returns to Regular Duty," July 14, 2014
- ↑ NBC News, "Defending Bergdahl: Can Eugene Fidell Clear Freed Soldier's Name?" July 17, 2014
- ↑ WNCN, "Bowe Bergdahl to be arraigned at Ft. Bragg Dec. 22," December 17, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "Bowe Bergdahl Enters No Plea at Arraignment," December 22, 2015
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Washington Post, "In new 'Serial' podcast, Bowe Bergdahl says he likened himself to Jason Bourne before capture," accessed December 15, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post, "Taliban saw Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl as a ‘golden chicken,’ according to the latest ‘Serial’ podcast," December 17, 2015
- ↑ Stars and Stripes, "Bergdahl recalls escape and capture in third 'Serial' episode," December 24, 2015
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Associated Press, "Troops describe hardships, wounds during Bergdahl searches," October 25, 2017
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 The Hill, "House votes to condemn administration over Taliban prisoner swap," September 9, 2014
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 The Hill, "House Democrat: 'Taliban 5' won't return to the battlefield," September 9, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
