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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBREAKING (NBC): Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion for abandoning post in 2009
Jonathan Capehart retweeted
NBC Nightly News ?@NBCNightlyNews 57m57 minutes ago
BREAKING: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion for abandoning his post in 2009, senior defense officials tell NBC News
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)fairly and with consideration of all the relevant factors and circumstances. What is a little troubling is that Pentagon sources are leaking to Fox News that Little Benny Rhodes, Fiction Writer Extraordinaire, was exerting WH influence on the case. I would hope the WH wouldn't be that stupid as to interfere with the Army's handling of the situation.
bigtree
(86,005 posts). . . in the first place.
This is almost certainly an entirely military-driven decision to prosecute, imo. I could stand some WH 'interference' asking for leniency based on Sgt. Berghdal's ordeal of imprisonment.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)soldier as a captive in the hands of the enemy, period--especially since Bergdahl was pretty clearly mentally or emotionally troubled. But no, the White House should not interfere with the investigation or judicial process once he's back in the Army's hands. If the WH wants to, it can eventually pardon Bergdahl if he's convicted of anything, that's their right.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Honestly, based on what is commonly accepted to be true about Bergdahl's disappearance, they'd almost have to charge him with desertion, especially if he's admitted to leaving--but charges aren't a conviction, it's important to note. Also, there apparently are some legal avenues available to him, as the process moves forward.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Wasn't in the news much. Or on DU.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Because it was all over the news and DU when it happened.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)And, as your Journal is empty, do you have link to an OP you started on DU when it happened, tammywammy?
cwydro
(51,308 posts)But it was all over the news and on DU.
All the talk shows...Fox went insane over it. But I heard it on pretty much every channel.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)It's not a requirement to use this site, it's an additional feature I choose not to utilize.
I doubt I personally started a thread on Bergdahl, but feel free to use the advanced searb function as conveniently provided by admins. Put tammywammy in author, search main forums, all replies, key word Bergdahl and set the time from 1 May 2014 to today.
You can also just use the search box up top and put in Bergdahl and come up with oodles of threads here about him.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Da, Da, DA DA DA ...
Bandit
(21,475 posts)People that were held for a decade, and tortured, without any charges ever being filed..
bigtree
(86,005 posts)...prisoners of war.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)That is the exact word used by NAZIs, fascists and many others who think certain lives have more value than others. For some reason, that idea, like the refrain of an earworm, keeps popping up in our history.
And for the BFEE angle, a PDF of "The Bush Family Ties to Race and Hygeine" a tract by COAT, the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade.
bigtree
(86,005 posts)...call them vermin or whatever, but German prisoners of war, for example, no matter how despicable their conduct may have been in conflict, were released and returned home when the war ended. We don't need a Geneva Convention to tell us right from wrong. Holding prisoners indefinitely without charges or trial is wrong and a reflection of many of the abuses we, here in the U.S., claim to abhor. As another poster remarked, most of these prisoners were subject to repeated tortures, some of them later determined to be without culpability in any threat against America. We either strive to be better than 'vermin,' or we resign ourselves, through our actions, to be no better than them.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)And I agree absolutely.
The US Government destroyed Jose Padilla's mind.
Juan Gonzalez: And have you dealt with someone who had been in isolation for such a long period of time before?
Dr. Angela Hegarty: No. This was the first time I ever met anybody who had been isolated for such an extraordinarily long period of time. I mean, the sensory deprivation studies, for example, tell us that without sleep, especially, people will develop psychotic symptoms, hallucinations, panic attacks, depression, suicidality within days. And here we had a man who had been in this situation, utterly dependent on his interrogators, who didnt treat him all that nicely, for years. And apart from - the only people I ever met who had such a protracted experience were people who were in detention camps overseas, that would come close, but even then they werent subjected to the sensory deprivation. So, yes, he was somewhat of a unique case in that regard. -
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/16/exclusive_an_inside_look_at_how
Codeine
(25,586 posts)It was all over the news at the time. Another imaginary octaspiracy crumbles to dust.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)This was all over the news. I don't watch cable news, but I remember my local channel covering it for days and days. And there was a huge uproar from republicans for trading "terrorists" for a "deserter".
cwydro
(51,308 posts)radio stations...people calling in all pissed off about it.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)just not very well.
Sid
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Which bothers me when you denigrate me over the years for posting about the BFEE, SidDithers of DU.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)BTW: When I GOOGLED Codeine + Bowe-Bergdahl on the DU site search engine, nothing came back.
bigtree
(86,005 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)of the BFEE? !!
I never knew there were so many connections!
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Other than that, though, it's unusual to read about the BFEE anywhere, online, now that Bartcop's gone, or in the mainstream media, thanks to its Corporate Ownership.
An example from another person who has connected a few dots:
The Bush Family: A Continuing Criminal Enterprise?
Gary W. Potter, PhD.
Professor, Criminal Justice
Eastern Kentucky University
The S&Ls, the Mob and the Bushs
During the 1980's hundred of Savings and Loan Banks failed. Those bank failures cost U.S. taxpayers over $500 billion to cover federally insured losses, and much more to investigate the bank failures (Pizzo, Fricker, and Muolo, 1989; Brewton, 1992; Johnston, 1990). More than 75% of the Savings and Loan insolvencies where directly linked to serious and often criminal misconduct by senior financial insiders (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305). In fact, less than 10 percent of bank failures are related to economic conditions, the rest are caused by mismanagement or criminal conduct (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305).
A good example of the Savings and Loan failures can be found in the activities of Mario Renda, a Savings and Loan insider who often worked in close collaboration with organized crime (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 123-126;302). Renda served as a middle man in arranging about $5 billion a year in deposits into 130 Savings and Loans, all of which failed (Kwitny, 1992: 27). Many of these deposits were made contingent on an agreement that the Savings and Loan involved would lend money to borrowers recommended by Renda, many of whom were organized crime figures or people entirely unknown to the banking institution involved (Kwitny, 1992: 27).
SNIP...
Prescott Bush: The Yakuzas Frontman
Finally, and perhaps most seriously, the Bush family pioneered the practice which has now become commonplace of collaboration between corporate and organized criminals. Prescott Bush, uncle of the current President and brother of the former President, played a key role in helping the Japanese Yakuza extend their financial and real estate holdings to the United States. In 1989, Prescott Bush made arrangements for a front company for Japanese organized crime groups to buy into two U.S. corporations and to make a sizeable real investment in the U.S. (Helm, 1991a: 1; Isikoff, 1992: A1). West Tsusho, a Japanese corporation, was identified by Japanese police officials as a front company for one of that countrys largest organized crime syndicates. Prescott Bush was paid a fee of $500,000 for his help in negotiating West Tsushos purchase of controlling interest in Assets Management, a U.S. corporation (Helm, 1991a: 1; Isikoff, 1992: A1). Bush also assisted the Japanese mob in investing in Quantam Access, a U.S. software company, which was ultimately taken over by the Japanese (Helm, 1991b: 10; Isikoff, 1992: A1). Both companies ultimately went into bankruptcy (Isikoff, 1992: A1; Moses, 1992).
George Bush Sr.: Shutting Down the Organize Crime Strike Forces
Despite assessments from senior law enforcement officers and experts on organized crime that efforts to control organized crime would be crippled, in December 1989, the administration of George Bush, Sr. abolished all 14 regional organized crime strike forces (McAlister, 1989: A 21; Struck out, 1990). The organized crime strike had been created as independent entities so they would not be subject to political influences or bureaucratic wrangling within federal law enforcement. In the two decades of their operation the strike forces had secured convictions of major organized crime figures in several U.S. cities (Struck out, 1990). It is at the very least curious to note that the federal strike force in Miami had been responsible for indicting Miguel Recarey, the man for whom Jeb Bush had intervened with regulators. Organized crime strike forces had similarly indicted Mario Renda, the organized crime liaison to the S& Ls, as well as several other key figures in the Savings and Loan Fiasco (Pizzo, Fricker, and Mulolo, 1989: 112, 120-123, 303, 337).
CONTINUED...
http://critcrim.org/critpapers/potter.htm
That's the way a professor of criminal justice puts it. Me, to get a better handle on War Inc's first family, I call them the "BFEE" for short.
BTW: What have you ever posted about the BFEE or crimes of the national security state, snooper2?
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)What happens when you put an idealistic young dreamer into a hot war zone? Well, for one thing, Bergdahl wanted materials on Pashtun and Arabic culture and languages.
Now, if someone in my barracks is not drinking beer or smoking weed with me, and he's studying these materials, I might think that he is being prepared for a misson. People are quirky though and there is a small chance that Bergdahl was just genuinely interested in these cultures and liked the scorn it brought from his fellow soldiers, but I doubt that.
I've seen videotapes of the terrain and layout of his post. It was in a dangerous area surrounded by Taliban. Something really stinks bad about all this. IMO either Bergdahl had a mission and screwed it up royally or he was committing suicide.
This prosecution is outrageous. Why this attempt to punish him further?
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." - Smedley Butler
On edit - I do know why but it is a little surprising to see so much of it on this board.
reddread
(6,896 posts)others are simply guilty.
Octafish makes DU worth the trouble.
why the trouble is an interesting question.
Im pretty sure "money" is the answer.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)and I know snark because I deliver a lot of it myself. Back off. You are out of your league and I say this as a friend to you and Octafish. Oh, and you can call me a bitch because all the DU word culti-feminists hate me and won't alert on you.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)But I've never had a harsh word for you and I never shall. I value your input and you help make DU a great place.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)That may be why so few people know about the crimes, conspiracies and treasons. The subjects can be grotesque, if not maddening and "too complicated" to prosecute.
So, I try to source what I post: DUers can check the facts for themselves. When I am in error, I says "Thanks," and admit it.
I'd ask what you know, but that is obvious, Codeine. I'm not talking about the pretty mouth, either.
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)tried and convicted.
Tell me again, when will Petraeus be indicted?
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)Overview
Update: On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing this video (after allegedly speaking to an unfaithful journalist). The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr. Manning a 'hero'. He is currently imprisoned in Kuwait. The Apache crew and those behind the cover up depicted in the video have yet to be charged. To assist Private Manning, please see bradleymanning.org.
5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.
<edit>
After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".
more...
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)In an April 12, 2010, interview on The Colbert Report, one of the WikiLeaks founders was pressed to explain why "Collateral Murder" was an accurate title for a leaked military video of a 3-year-old deadly encounter between a U.S. Apache helicopter gun crew and a cluster of men on a Baghdad street corner, two of whom were journalists for Reuters.
Host Stephen Colbert called the title "emotional manipulation." He noted that while soldiers in the Apache did mistake cameras with long telephoto lenses slung over the shoulders of the two journalists for weapons, there were, in fact, two other men in the group with weapons.
"How can you call it 'Collateral Murder?' " Colbert asked guest Julian Assange of Wikileaks, referring to the controversial and widely-viewed video.
"So it appears there are possibly two men, one carrying an AK-47 and one carrying a rocket-propelled grenade -- although we're not 100 percent sure of that -- in the crowd," Assange answered.
.
.
.
More at link above but I have to say, now that we have Assange admitting that in this crowd of 11 men, there are folks with automatic weapons and with RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) is this an instance of US military "firing on civilians".
I think we can say with certainty that it isn't. And since this video was used by Manning to justify his leaking of all of his videos and documents to Wikileaks, what does that say for this justification?
Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)Bradley Manning's Legal Duty to Expose War Crimes
Monday, 03 June 2013 09:29
By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout | News Analysis
<edit>
The "Collateral Murder" video depicts a US Apache attack helicopter killing 12 civilians and wounding two children on the ground in Baghdad in 2007. The helicopter then fired on and killed the people trying to rescue the wounded. Finally, a US tank drove over one of the bodies, cutting the man in half. These acts constitute three separate war crimes.
Manning fulfilled his legal duty to report war crimes. He complied with his legal duty to obey lawful orders but also his legal duty to disobey unlawful orders.
Section 499 of the Army Field Manual states, "Every violation of the law of war is a war crime." The law of war is contained in the Geneva Conventions.
Article 85 of the First Protocol to the Geneva Conventions describes making the civilian population or individual civilians the object of attack as a grave breach. The firing on and killing of civilians shown in the "Collateral Murder" video violated this provision of Geneva.
Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions requires that the wounded be collected and cared for. Article 17 of the First Protocol states that the civilian population "shall be permitted, even on their own initiative, to collect and care for the wounded." That article also says, "No one shall be harmed . . . for such humanitarian acts." The firing on rescuers portrayed in the "Collateral Murder" video violates these provisions of Geneva.
Finally, Section 27-10 of the Army Field Manual states that "maltreatment of dead bodies" is a war crime. When the Army jeep drove over the dead body, it violated this provision.
more...
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Karmadillo
(9,253 posts)the Truthdig article.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)They were not unarmed civilians.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Just wow.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)You can 'wow' all you want. You are wrong about this one.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)You of all people should know what this is about -- the ability of the People to know what the Government does in its name.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Merely stating otherwise doesn't make it so. Nor does repeating what the government says make anything so.
I was hoping to help you understand what journalism is about.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Assange admits the group fired on had RPGs and other heavy weapons which means they were not unarmed civilians which means firing on them is not a war crime.
Simple. The only question is, can you face the facts here and acknowledge that what Assange and Manning led you to believe was wrong?
bluedigger
(17,087 posts)He will finally have a fair chance to clear his name, after recovering physically and mentally from his ordeal. I expect he will lose, based on what little I know of the case, and I hope the court will take account of his experiences during captivity in determining his punishment. He's suffered enough already.
DinahMoeHum
(21,809 posts). . .trying this case, especially if it's a matter of officers judging an enlisted man.
He's gonna get railroaded.
bluedigger
(17,087 posts)There are still honorable officers in the US military. Railroading him won't do anything to promote order and discipline in the ranks. We'll just have to see what happens.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bowe-bergdahl-face-desertion-charges
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)That would mean a discharge that is not technically punitive, so it wouldn't necessarily mess up his future employment prospects. It would still mean a lot of pay and benefits down the drain, though.
gladium et scutum
(808 posts)can request a military judge as opposed to a General Court Martial board. If he accepts a Court Martial board, he can request that an enlisted man be assigned to that board.
herding cats
(19,567 posts)Army says no actions, decision in Bergdahl investigation
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - No actions or decisions have been made in the investigation of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was released last year in a prisoner swap with the Taliban after disappearing from his base in Afghanistan in 2009, a U.S. Army spokesman said on Tuesday.
Major General Ronald Lewis, head of public affairs for the U.S. Army, also said in the statement that media reports published earlier on Tuesday about the case "patently false."
NBC News earlier reported that Bergdahl would be charged with desertion, citing senior defense officials.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014999237
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)charged with desertion an e-5? Why is this news?
Angleae
(4,493 posts)The media loves scandals.