Now there’s another problem Julie. On that video, he is collaborating with the enemy. Under duress or not--that’s really not relevant--he’s making accusations about the behavior of the military in Afghanistan that are unfounded, saying that there are no rules, he’s lying about how he was captured, saying he lagged behind the patrol. Julie, I’ll tell you, any 11th bravo infantrymen will tell you, that’s not how it works. In a war zone, any soldier is aware of where all his buddies are. If it’s a night patrol, you’re sure aware of where the guy in front of you and behind you is. So we know that this private is a liar.
This is the part i find indefensible, yet amazing a lot of posters here are defending it.
Look. You don't walk off a base by yourself. Leaving your weapon behind. That just isn't done, would not happen; no way, no how. It isn't something that could accidentally happen. IF that's what he did, most soldiers would agree it looks like desertion. If he was already off the base and somehow straggled from his unit that's a different thing. That is not what it sounds like to me.
I don't really know the facts of what the soldier did, and that would determined, in my mind, whether Peters was on the right side of the issue.
My son, a soldier, also made mention of the fact that in the video the soldier looks just a bit too comfortable in that environment. That seems right to me, as well.
So, I think there is probably more to this story. The Colonel, even though not active personnel, probably has more facts than you or me, and may have allowed something to come out that the military isn't quite ready to say. For that, I'd say he would be wrong. But I believe most military people would agree that a deserter who walks off a base in Afghanistan, Iraq, or wherever, is on his own. |
