WHAT? – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:   The Bowe Bergdahl case has apparently come to a stunning end.  Instead of paying a severe penalty for desertion, Bergdahl will simply receive a dishonorable discharge.  From Fox:

More than eight years after Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base in Afghanistan -- and unwittingly into the clutches of the Taliban -- Bergdahl walked out of a North Carolina courtroom a free man on Friday.

Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades, was fined, reduced in rank to E1 and dishonorably discharged -- but he received no prison time.

As part of the sentence, Bergdahl will forfeit his pay of $1000 per month for ten months.
Bergdahl was shaking and appeared emotional as the verdict was quickly read.

Prosecutors had requested a 14-year prison term following a week of emotional testimony from the survivors who were wounded during missions to find Bergdahl after he left the base in June 2009. Bergdahl's defense team has asked for no prison time.

Bergdahl faced up to life in prison for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Wearing a blue dress uniform, Bergdahl appeared tense during the short morning session. He clenched his jaw as if grinding his teeth, then grimaced and looked at the floor when he walked out of the courtroom.

In closing arguments, defense attorneys argued that Bergdahl already had suffered enough confinement during five years of brutal captivity by Taliban allies. They asked the judge for a dishonorable discharge and no prison time. Their argument for leniency also cited harsh campaign-trail criticism by Donald Trump and Bergdahl's mental disorders.

Capt. Nina Banks, a defense attorney, said it wouldn't be justice to rescue Bergdahl from the Taliban "only to place him in a cell" now.

COMMENT:  It seems to me that fairness toward other soldiers, and those wounded or even killed in the search for Bergdahl after his desertion, required him to serve at least some prison time.  Berdahl's crimes were profound, among the worst a soldier can commit.

As for Bergdahl's mental disorders, I can offer no informed opinion.  But the end of the case leaves me with an empty feeling. 

November 3,  2017