On Halloween eight pedestrians in lower Manhattan were mowed down and 11 injured by a Uzbekistan immigrant/jidhadist driving a rental truck.
On November 5 a former Air Force member facing military criminal charges killed 26 churchgoers and wounded 20 others in the largest mass shooting in Texas history.
Between the dates of those two tragedies military justice went AWOL Nov 3 when Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl escaped any jail time for desertion in Afghanistan. Bergdahl voluntarily deserted his unit in 2009. After being held as a Taliban captive for five years, Bergdahl was later charged with “desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.”
Bergdahl could have received a life prison sentence but instead Military Judge Jeffrey Nance sentenced him to no prison time, a reduction in rank, a $10,000 fine to be paid over 10 months and a dishonorable discharge.
And then there’s the matter of the five terrorists and reported cash President Obama provided the Taliban for Bergdahl’s release in May, 2014. Did Obama ever make a deal in America’s best interest?
At the time Bergdahl disappeared on June 30, 2009 Army officials weren’t sure of his status other than that he was missing. Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers were deployed multiple times to search for their missing comrade.
“There is a possibility that one way or another, Bergdahl, betrayer of the military’s sacred trust, will walk away a free man.” – Colonel Ralph Peters
According to CNN, on August 18, 2009, Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen and Pfc. Morris Walker were killed by an IED while searching for Bergdahl. Eight days later Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss lost his life doing the same.
On September 4th 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews and Pfc. Matthew Michael Martinek were killed after being attacked by insurgents while searching for Bergdahl, and the next day Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey was killed September 5 by an IED while searching.
At least three other soldiers were seriously wounded and a military dog killed during the hunt for Bergdahl, including Army Sgt. Mark Allen who suffered a sniper’s bullet to his brain that has left him paralyzed and unable to speak; Navy Seal James “Jimmy” Hatch who had 18 surgeries to repair a severe leg injury, and Johnny Morita who had to relearn how to brush his teeth and write because his right hand was mangled by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Colonel Ralph Peters anticipated this miscarriage of justice in an October 27th column on Fox News. In short, he was saying that Bergdahl’s sentence shouldn’t be viewed as a legal case about a self-absorbed deserter, but more importantly, if there are no consequences to desertion, it sets the dangerous precedent of American soldiers deserting on a whim.
Considering his 5 years as a Taliban prisoner, the prosecution was asking for 14 years rather than the lifetime max. “It’s not only an appropriate sentence in this case, it’s what justice requires,” prosecutor Major Justin Oshana told NBC News. But as Colonel Peters said in his column, many on the left (and apparently Judge Nance) thought that Bergdahl had suffered enough in captivity, but that’s missing this crucial point: deserting your post in a combat zone is the second worst offense a solider can commit.
Allowing a soldier to willfully abandon his post and desert his comrades because he’s unhappy is a dangerous precedent that could adversely affect military readiness for decades. Allowing political correctness to infect our military is bad enough, but turning a blind eye to desertion and criminal misdeeds with a mere slap on the wrist is a green light for future deserters to do the same.
So the progressives get their way and Bergdahl is released on humanitarian grounds – despite pleading guilty to both charges. He is free to return to Idaho and write his memoirs. Hollywood will probably make a movie on his life’s story. As I write this an Army board is deciding whether or not to pay him $300,000 for his POW status and back pay while he was in captivity.
Unfortunately six good men in his unit won’t ever be returning home, nor will they be around to see their children grow up. Two others will never be the same physically, and Sgt. Mark Allen’s wife will be pulling double duty as a devoted wife and caretaker.
Meanwhile, another dent is added to the armor of martial readiness and military honor on the altar of political correctness.
Thanks for reading Dean Riffs. For those who love American liberty, free enterprise, and who believe God has blessed our country, welcome. For those who believe in open borders, safe spaces, and who tolerate everything but free speech and conservative ideals, move on – there’s nothing here for you to see.
Sources: foxnews.com, cnn.com, businessinsider.com, nypost.com, nbcnews.com, youtube.com, Ben Shapiro
Photo source: wwaytv3.com, thestar.com
Copyright 2017, Dean A. George©