BOWE BERGDAHL AND THE "TALIBAN fIVE."

                                    BY BILL JUNEAU

                                   Americans might be surprised to learn that five of the terrorists now running Afghanistan have army deserter Bowe Bergdahl to thank for their being set free from the Guantanamo Bay Prison. 

                                  In a negotiated deal with the Taliban in 2014, army Sgt. Bergdahl was returned to the USA, and five chosen terrorists were released from their cells at Guantanamo and returned to the battlefields.  After America's embarrassing and catastrophic withdrawal last year from Afghanistan,  the bloodthirsty Taliban regime  reemerged as the controlling Afghan government, and the "Taliban Five" as they have become known, were installed in key senior positions. 

                                  Sgt. Bergdahl had deserted his unit in Afghanistan in 2009 and wound up a captor of the Taliban for five years.  As has been reported, a disgruntled Bergdahl abandoned his post in the still of the night, knocked on the gate of America's enemy and was let in-and became a cooperating pet of the bloodthirsty regime.  He interacted with the terrorists to the extent that he became fluent in Pashto, the  national language of the country.                  I                       The five terrorists released in exchange for the young soldier from Hailey Idaho, had a reputation as the "worst of the worst," in the maximum security prison in Cuba.  They have been identified as  Abdul Haq Wasiq, Director of Intelligence;  Norulla Noori, Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs; Mohammad Fazl, Deputy Defense Minister, and Khairullah Khairkahah, Minister of Information and Culture.  The fifth prisoner, Mohammad Nabi Omarim, was appointed  Governor of the eastern Khost province. 

                                   Their existence in the Taliban government of Afghanistan became known following America's inept withdrawal  which resulted in the deaths of 11 marines, a soldier and a sailor, and the stranding of thousands of Americans and Afghans who had aided America in ousting the Taliban and in bringing civility and freedom to residents. 

                                     In February of last year, Bergdahl, 35, who was convicted in 2017 of deserting the army in a time of war, filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to have his conviction and dishonorable discharge status expunged because of "improper command influence" exerted on the military judge by President Trump and by the late Arizona senator, John McCain.  The issue is being litigated and the government has filed a motion to dismiss the case, which is now pending in district court in Washington, D.C.  

                                        Bergdahl is contending that he was called a "dirty, rotten traitor" by President Trump, and was targeted by McCain, a former POW (prisoner of war) in Viet Nam, as a soldier who deserved strong punishment, and lacking it, would become the subject of a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Bergdahl and his attorneys charge their public demeaning of him prior to his trial influenced the military judge who was answerable to Trump as Commander-in-Chief.                                

                                         Bergdahl also is arguing that the military Judge, Col. Jeffrey Nance, was planning to retire from military service around the time of his trial in November, 2017,  and his severe sentence following his guilty plea to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, curried the favor of President Trump.

                                        The case triggered severe controversy after Bergdahl's disappearance  and a search-party soldier was killed in the effort to find him.  To some critics, Obama's  discussions with the Taliban constituted negotiations with terrorists which they saw as grounds for impeachment of the President.  Also, there were allegations that Obama had ignored a law requiring him  to give Congress at least 30 days notice of any prisoner exchange  with the enemy.   

                                           After the exchange, in May, 2014, following the soldier's five years in Taliban custody,  Bergdahl was welcomed back to the United States in a Rose Garden ceremony hosted by President Obama.  Bergdahl's parents were also present at the gathering and his father, who had grown a Taliban style full beard, thanked Allah, the Muslim God, for bringing his son home.  Susan Rice, Obama's National Security Advisor,  praised Bergdahl for having served his country with "honor and distinction." 

                                           After his repatriation, he pleaded guilty to  charges of desertion in time of war and of cooperating with the enemy. He faced a possible sentence of life in prison, and prosecutors were calling for a minimum of 14 years behind bars.

                                          After entering his guilty plea, Bergdahl told the court with emotion that he deeply regretted what he had done and the sadness and hurt he had caused the family of a soldier who had been shot in the head while searching for him. He made mistakes and wrong decisions, he said, with which he must now live with forever.   

                                          Judge Nance saw sadness and regret in the young soldier who had made mistakes, and declined to send him to prison.  He ordered a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of $10,000 from accumulated pay, and stripped him of all benefits due a veteran who had served his country. An Appellate court subsequently affirmed the conviction and Judge Nance's sentence. 

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