Top military officer: Bergdahl case not closed

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s top military officer said
Tuesday the Army could still throw the book at Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the
young soldier who walked away from his unit in the mountains of eastern
Afghanistan and into five years of captivity by the Taliban.
Charges
are still a possibility, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press as criticism mounted in
Congress about releasing five high-level Taliban detainees in exchange
for Bergdahl. The Army might still pursue an investigation, Dempsey
said, and those results could conceivably lead to desertion or other
charges.
Congress began holding hearings and briefings into the
deal that swapped Bergdahl for Taliban officials who had been held at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and several lawmakers said that President Barack
Obama didn’t notify them as a law governing the release of Guantanamo
detainees requires. White House staff members called key members of
Congress to apologize, but that didn’t resolve the issue.
Since
Dempsey issued a statement Saturday welcoming Bergdahl home, troops who
served with the soldier have expressed anger and resentment that his
freedom — from a captivity that they say he brought upon himself — may
have cost comrades’ lives. Troops sat in stony silence at Bagram Air
Field when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Bergdahl’s release
over the weekend.
"Today we have back in our ranks the only
remaining captured soldier from our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Welcome home, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl," Dempsey said on Saturday.
However,
Dempsey called the AP on Tuesday to note that charges were still a
possibility, and he focused his thanks on the service members who
searched fruitlessly for Bergdahl after he walked away, unarmed, on June
30, 2009.
"This was the last, best opportunity to free a United
States soldier in captivity," Dempsey said. "My first instinct was
gratitude for those who had searched for so long, and at risk for
themselves. … Done their duty in order to bring back a missing
solider. For me, it was about living up to our ethos, which is to leave
no soldier behind. And on that basis I was relieved to get Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl back in the ranks, and very happy for the men and women who had
sacrificed to do so."
Dempsey said Bergdahl’s next promotion to
staff sergeant, which was to happen soon, is no longer automatic because
the soldier is no longer missing in action and job performance is now
taken into account.
Dempsey said he does not want to prejudge the
outcome of any investigation or influence other commanders’ decisions.
But he noted that U.S. military leaders "have been accused of looking
away from misconduct" and said no one should assume they would do so in
this case.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. John McHugh later said that
after Bergdahl recovers physically and is "reintegrated," the Army would
"review the circumstances" of his case.
Some former soldiers who served with him were already passing judgment.
Joshua Cornelison, who was a medic in Bergdahl’s platoon said he believes Bergdahl should be held
accountable for walking away.
"After
he actually left, the following morning we realized we have Bergdahl’s
weapon, we have Bergdahl’s body armor, we have Bergdahl’s sensitive
equipment (but) we don’t have Bowe Bergdahl," Cornelison said from
Sacramento, California. At that point, Cornelison said, it occurred to
him that Bergdahl was "that one guy that wanted to disappear, and now
he’s gotten his wish."
Evan Buetow, who was a sergeant in
Bergdahl’s platoon, said from Maple Valley, Washington, that Bergdahl
should face trial for desertion, but he also said it was less clear that
he should be blamed for the deaths of all soldiers killed during months
of trying to find him. Buetow said he knew of at least one death on an
intelligence-directed infantry patrol to a village in search of
Bergdahl.
"Those soldiers who died on those missions, they would
not have been where they were … if Bergdahl had never walked away," he
said. "At the same time I do believe it is somewhat unfair for people
to say, ‘It is Bergdahl’s fault that these people are dead.’ I think
that’s a little harsh."
The White House took a fourth straight day
of heat for not giving Congress the required 30 days notice of a
detainee release. Obama had issued a statement when he signed the law
containing that requirement giving himself a loophole for certain
circumstances under the executive powers clause of the Constitution.
Obama,
at a news conference in Poland, defended the decision to move quickly
on the exchange, saying without offering details that U.S. officials
were concerned about Bergdahl’s health. Bergdahl was reported to be in
stable condition at a military hospital in Germany
"We had the
cooperation of the Qataris to execute an exchange, and we seized that
opportunity," Obama said. He said the process of notifying Congress was
"truncated because we wanted to make sure that we did not miss that
window" of opportunity.
Obama also said the five Taliban
officials’ release was conditioned on assurances from officials in
Qatar, where they will have to stay for one year, that they will track
them and allow the U.S. to monitor them. Still, the president
acknowledged the risk.
"We will be keeping eyes on them. Is there
the possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are
detrimental to us?
Absolutely," Obama said. "That’s been true of all
the prisoners that were released from Guantanamo."
Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, expressed
reservations.
"I
am concerned about what was given in exchange and I am concerned about
what precedents we set here for exchanges," he said. "I don’t want the
message to be, ‘You can go ahead and capture Americans and use them to
barter for others.’"
Senate Republicans bristled, too, about the lack of notification.
The
Obama administration held two interagency briefings for House Speaker
John Boehner and key Republican chairmen on Nov. 30, 2011, and Jan. 31,
2012, in which the possibility was raised of exchanging Bergdahl for the
five Taliban detainees.
During those sessions, lawmakers raised
concerns about ensuring the detainees did not return to the battlefield,
the impact on the Afghan war and whether all efforts were being made to
rescue Bergdahl. Members of Congress sent letters to the
administration, but heard little in the subsequent months except
assurances that they would be contacted if the chances of a swap became
more credible.
Then word came on Saturday that the swap had occurred.
Boehner welcomed Bergdahl’s release, but warned of a dangerous precedent for the treatment of U.S.
troops.
"One
of their greatest protections — knowing that the United States does not
negotiate with terrorists — has been compromised," he said.

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