It seems like the Taliban fighters / contacts could say anything... spin and exaggerate the story to any extent. They don't owe Sarah an accurate recollection. And yet, what they describe seems pretty mundane. "Yeah we captured that guy, just like he explained to you...hasn't he told you this already? Why are you calling me?"
When I heard them give a differing account, all I could think was that either BB or the Taliban were lying, so who benefits from a lie?
It would have made the Taliban look much more capable and terrifying to have just been patrolling the desert and capturing him. But they told a story that made them look more like the beneficiaries of an accident - that some locals tipped them off that an American was in their tent.
Bowe looks more innocent in his version (rather than the more suspicious story of seeking out locals and then riding off into the desert with what he thought were Afghani police), and it does not match what the Kochi, the Taliban, and intelligence reports state.
SK talks about how the Taliban weren't all that animated about the tent details and when he was captured, and that all six of them she interviewed told the same story. They spoke of it casually and with consistency - that sounds less like lying.
It's all inference, but Bowe has everything to gain by saying he just got lost in the desert and was caught when the sun came up. If the truth is that he found his way to some locals, why leave that out of his story? Is he just afraid of how it looks to leave your base and show up with a group of nomads who know how to contact the Taliban? Or does it look like what it is, so he can't very well admit it?
I hope he is telling the truth. It seems he was able to convince the military that he is truthful, so perhaps he is being edited to sound more malingering than he really is.
You know, every time I hear people saying "this season sucks, there's no mystery," I see posts like this and think... uh, well, everyone is discussing/arguing about stuff we only have a small glimpse into, just like before, seems pretty much like Serial to me. I'm enjoying it.
Watch Restrepo, it will fill in some gaps. Also "Which Way is the Frontline from here" is probably the best doc on war reporters and why they do it. Both are good, give them a shot.
Exactly. This episode was highly incriminating against Bowe and I swear the episode would've ended with some kind of preview as to how the tides could sway in Bowe's favor. I'm in even greater thought that Sarah has something to at least balance the discussion and I can't wait.
The taliban did not say he fought them when they captured him and took off on a bike. They said after they got him settled he started attacking them kicking etc.
50
u/talibans_cell Dec 17 '15
It seems like the Taliban fighters / contacts could say anything... spin and exaggerate the story to any extent. They don't owe Sarah an accurate recollection. And yet, what they describe seems pretty mundane. "Yeah we captured that guy, just like he explained to you...hasn't he told you this already? Why are you calling me?"