“Bowe’s own fellow service members on the ground said he deserted.”
Some did; not all.
I am not trying to do intellectual contortion. The fact is that there are many conflicting reports about what happened. They can’t all be true. So I don’t understand why everyone seems to be eager to believe the worst of them.
I am not close to these people. I am close to someone who is close to them.
His father spoke some Pashto to a son who is reported to be speaking nothing but Pashto right now. I don’t think that should condemn him. If he praised Allah, I don’t support it. If it was just a use of “allah” as the generic word for God, which is a true use of the word, then I don’t find it particularly objectionable.
All I am trying to say is, why the rush to believe the worst, here? I don’t find that to be intellectual contortion.
I give up. Carry on.