It seems like there are two narratives in the Bowe Berghahl story, he’s either a hero or a deserter. But why does he have to be either?

I don’t know what went on in Afghanistan, but what seems most likely to me is that we are missing some facts that will clarify the story. For those saying he’s a hero or a deserter, what if it came out that he suffered from some mental illness? Whether the military knew and overlooked it, or it was undiagnosed, wouldn’t that affect the view that he was either? Or what if he was high on drugs? While people would like to ignore an unpleasant possibility like that, it’s happened quite a bit throughout military history.

I wouldn’t call him a hero or a deserter in either of those scenarios. But there are any number of other factors that I can’t even imagine that would help explain this story with a narrative other than hero or deserter. I mean if he was deserting, what was his end game? Where was he going? I’m not going to label him yet, because I don’t know the man or any of the circumstances surrounding the incident. Neither do most people, but they won’t hesitate to label him.