Bowe Bergdahl's defense will argue that he was AWOL, not a deserter

Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl was charged with desertion by the Army this week, nearly a year after he was returned to the United States in a controversial prisoner swap. Now, Bergdahl's lawyer is claiming that his client was not deserting his post so much as he was "absent without official leave," temporarily leaving the base to "bring what he thought were disturbing circumstances to the attention of the nearest general officer."

Bergdahl's lawyer Eugene Fidell told Bloomberg View that Bergdahl "had concerns about certain conditions in the unit" and that the soldier left the base to find an officer in charge to whom he could report these concerns. Bergdahl did not simply tell one of his supervising officers, Fidell says, because some of them were party to the "disturbing" behavior in question. Fidell also says Bergdahl fully intended to return to the base, but was instead captured by the Taliban shortly after leaving.

The Army charged Bergdahl with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy this week, the latter of which carries a potential life imprisonment sentence. If Fidell is successful in proving Bergdahl was simply AWOL, his client could instead only face one month of confinement.

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