U.S. accuses former POW Bowe Bergdahl of desertion

The U.S. government has accused Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured and held by the Taliban as a prisoner of war for five years and then exchanged for five prisoners from Guantanamo, of desertion for abandoning his post in Afghanistan and with misbehavior before the enemy.

Army Col. Daniel King on Wednesday read a brief communique saying that the Pentagon has decided to file two charges against Bergdahl: desertion and misbehavior by placing the lives of his fellow soldiers at risk.

The desertion charge could result in a maximum prison term of five years and the misbehavior charge could carry a life sentence, in addition to resulting in a dishonorable discharge from the army and forfeiting the salary that accrued during the time he was in captivity.

Bergdahl was promoted to sergeant while he was being held by the Taliban and its allies.

Now, he will have to appear before a preliminary hearing with a military representative at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, who will determine if he will be court martialed for allegedly violating the Military Code of Conduct.

Bergdahl was freed in late May 2014 after five years in the hands of the Haqqani network, possibly in Pakistan, in a prisoner exchange that resulted in the release of five Taliban leaders who had been imprisoned at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo, in southeastern Cuba.

The soldier, who has gone through a process of readaptation to U.S. society and an internal investigation of his unusual situation, disappeared from his frontline post in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, a few months after arriving in the country during the worst part of the war.

The young man, now 28, lacked motivation, according to his fellow soldiers, and decided to voluntarily abandon his post and enter an area controlled by the Taliban, who allegedly captured him shortly thereafter.

Since that time, members of his unit have said that Bergdahl voluntarily left his post and placed at risk the lives of the soldiers who participated in searching for him.

Some troops even said that there were soldiers who died during the sweeps made to try and find him in the dangerous province of Paktia, a stronghold of the Taliban and its Haqqani network allies on the border with Pakistan, something however that has not been proven.