New Bergdahl letter outlines Taliban torture

WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl detailed his five-year captivity with the Taliban, saying he was chained to a bed "spread-eagle" during the first three months, beaten with a copper cable and kept in constant isolation.

In his first accounting of his captivity, Bergdahl said his muscles atrophied, and he developed what looked like staph infections.

"It was also in the beginning of this that my body started a steady decline in constant internal sickness that would last through the final year," he said.

Bergdahl left his post in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009 and was captured by the Taliban. He was released last year in a prisoner swap for five Taliban held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a move that was met by criticism. Wednesday, he was charged as a deserter.

Bergdahal said he was tortured during his time with the Taliban, starved and caged.

"I was kept in constant isolation during the entire 5 years, with little to no understanding of time, through periods of constant darkness, periods of constant light, and periods of completely random flickering of light, and absolutely no understanding of anything that was happening beyond the door I was held behind," he wrote.