Seeking a pardon from President Barack Obama before leaving office Jan. 20, 2017, 30-year-old army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl joins the line of various drug offenders, petty criminals and whistleblowers praying for mercy. Bergdahl abandoned his Blackfoot Company, 1st Batallion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Airborne Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division June 30, 2009, feared, at the time, captured by the Taliban near the town of Yahya Kheyl, Afghanistan. No one at the time knew Bergdahl went AWOL, voluntarily deserting his Army post. Five years later, the Obama administration negotiated for his release, exchanging five high-value Guantanamo Bay prisoners to secure his release. Before disappearing, Bergdahl wrote his parents June 27 expressing his utter disgust with the U.S. Army but, more importantly, his contempt as a U.S. citizen.
After initiating a DUSTWUN [duty status, whereabouts uknown] search for Bergdahl in July 2009, an estimated six-to-10 Army personnel lost their lives, though it’s uncertain whether or not the deaths would have taken place regardless of the search. When Taliban videos surfaced of Bergdahl in July and December, the Taliban tried to extract $1 million ransom. When Bergdahl was released by the Taliban May 31, 2014 in exchange for five enemy combatants, the Pentagon paid a heavy price to get him back. By the time the Pentagon negotiated his release, they knew he was a deserter expected to face courts martial. Obama received heavy criticism paying ransom for an Army deserter. Now Bergdahl wants Obama to pardon him before he faces a military tribunal in April 2017. President-elect Donald Trump was especially critical of Obama’s ransom payment for Bergdahl.
Calling Bergdahl “a no-good traitor,” Trump won military votes taking a stand against Bergdahl’s desertion. “Thirty years ago he would have been shot,” Trump told an October rally in Las Vegas. Bergdahl’s lead defense attorney Eugene Fidell called Trump’s comments prejudicial. Compromising “my client’s right to a fair trial,” Fidell insisted it violated his clients rights. Fidell knows there’s plenty of extreme prejudice against Bergdahl nothing to do with Trump. “The system is wrong,” said Bergdahl, complaining to his parents in a June 27 letter, only three days before AWOL. “I am ashamed to be an American,” ranting about incompetent Army personnel, prompting him to abandon ship. Bergdahl’s desperate attempt to appeal to Obama shows that he has little chance of prevailing in any military court. Bergdahl claims he deserted to draw attention to problems with his Army unit.
Before the facts were known about Bergdahl’s disappearance, he was rumored to have been captured on patrol by the Taliban’s Haggani network. When Bergdahl’s Blackfoot Company concluded there was no patrol on June 30, 2009, the abduction theory was dismissed. Looking at the extensive letter to his parents June 27, 2009, it was clear Bowie had decided to go AWOL. Bergdahl seeks a pardon because he knows there’s overwhelming evidence of desertion. Bowe’s tell-all, detailed letter to his parents June 27, 2009 gives all the excuses for going AWOL. Obama’s in no position to grant Bowe a pardon any more than 33-tear0old fugitive “whistleblower” Edward Snowden. Snowden’s PR team describes him as a “whistleblower,” while his employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, calls him a traitor, violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Obama’s savvy enough to know the difference.
Unlike Snowden’s case raising First Amendment issues violated by the National Security Agency {NSA], Bergdahl’s case is more cut-and-dried. When you desert your Army post, there’s little room for excuses. Whatever torture Begdahl faced from the Taliban, he brought the problem on himself, especially concocting a scheme that he was abducted on night patrol. Confirming his pardon request, the White House and Justice Department can’t hide Bergdahl’s demand, prompting strong condemnations from Democrats and Republicans. Whatever Trump said about Bergdahl, it hasn’t prejudiced Bowe’s right to a fair trial only made clear how the Army sergeant must pay for desertion. Faced with a life sentence, Bergdahl can’t fathom the consequences of his behavior. Despite commuting sentences for high-profile drug dealers, Obama wouldn’t dare pardon Bergdahl.
Presidential pardon authority isn’t supposed to exonerate egregious military or civilian criminal acts. When former President Bill Clinton pardoned billionaire donor Marc Rich for $48 million tax fraud and income tax evasion Jan. 20, 2001, it showed abuse of presidential pardon authority. Pardoning Bergdahl would be far worse than pardoning or commuting non-violent drug-related crimes or economic crimes like tax evasion. Going AWOL betrays one’s citizenship, especially with Bergdahl’s flimsy excuses about not liking his Army unit. When you compare Bergdahl to Snowden, there’s a far better chance Obama would clear the 33-year-old year-old whistleblower over an Army deserter. Search efforts for Bowe caused the deaths of several members of his Army unit. Begging for a pardon from Obama, Bergdahl knows he’s getting closer to facing the music.
