Breaking news. Here’s the President of the United States making the announcement:
Whoops! How did that get in there?
No, POTUS is now staying as far as possible from this one. Luis Martinez, ABC News:
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s case has been referred to a general court martial, where he could face a life sentence if convicted of misbehavior before the enemy and he could face five years of prison time if convicted of desertion…
“The U.S. Army Forces Command’s Commanding General referred two charges today, Dec. 14, in the case of United States vs. Sgt. Robert B. Bergdahl to a General Court-Martial,” the Army said in a statement.
“The two specific charges referred under the U.S. Armed Forces’ Uniform Code of Military Justice are: (1) Article 85: ‘Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty;’ and (2) Article 99: ‘Misbehavior before the Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place,'” the statement added.
There’s no question that Bergdahl is a deserter and he endangered the safety of his brothers-in-arms. There’s also no question that this whole thing is dreadfully embarrassing for the Obama administration. So I predict Bergdahl will get some sort of punishment, the five-year sentence or less, so they can say they did something.
But he won’t get a life sentence, even though he more than deserves it, because that would be further proof that another one of Obama’s cynical, lamebrained political ploys has blown up in his face. Preventing the Greatest President in American History from such humiliation is far more important than some outdated notion of “treason,” scribbled out by a bunch of long-dead white guys.
We used to hang traitors. Now we devote hipster podcasts to them.