What are your thoughts on this?
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On one hand I'm grateful to see this family freed, especially the children. On the other its just so odd - the husband was married to the sister of a Gitmo detainee, they willingly traveled to Afghanistan, while she was pregnant, and then while in captive, had two more children? I understand we don't know all of the details yet, or if the children are his, but ?? And then he refuses to get on an American plane home...
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Really really strange story. I missed the part that she was the sister of a known terrorist? But yeah. This is very bizarre. I’m glad they are home safe and while I’m curious to know more, I hope they can have some privacy.
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@Foodnerd81: Boyle's first wife, Zaynab Khadr, was the sister of Gitmo detainee, Omar Khadr. She had ties to Osama Bin Laden.
I feel like the wife/children are the real victims here, and there is more to Boyle's involvement. -
I didn’t read into that @josina: at all. Boyle’s former BIL was 15 yrs old when he committed a terrorist act and was sent to Gitmo. Gitmo! Damn right I’d be a little paranoid after being exposed to fear mongering terrorists for five years straight and having that family connection.
However, knowing that Boyle was familiar with their culture through his first marriage makes more sense to me why they even went to Afghanistan in the first place. Some people like to travel even to dangerous places.
Serial podcast on Bergdoff, the soldier that abandoned his post, featured a journalist who was held by the Haqqanis. Prior to an exscape attempt he said he was treated very well and had a lot of freedom to move around the home/property he was confined to. This family may have been treated the same way, which is why they could have easily or even wanted to expand their family. All speculation, but I would love to know more.
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@josina: Not to threadjack, but calling Omar Khadr a "known terrorist" greatly simplifies a complicated situation. He was a child soldier.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I can understand his interest in the area, especially since he was interested in terrorism / counter-terrorism, what better place to learn I guess.
I really struggle with the idea that they went there knowing she was pregnant; And (IF) they willingly had more children while being held captive, I can't even.
ETA: I know thats a big IF, and probably not even fair to say at this point. I'm definitely interested to learn more. -
@erinbaderin: Fair statement, I edited my first post to remove that since I haven't actually read any further on who the BIL was.
Apparently the US FBI concluded that the kidnapping was a horrible coincidence and had nothing to do with Boyle's first marriage. -
@josina I agree, I think the part of the story that I don't quite understand is why they were roaming around in an unsafe part of Afghanistan when she was 7 months pregnant?!?! That sounds like more than poor judgment. I don't know.
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There are definitely a lot of unknown red flags to this story that I'd be curious to know more about. I find it strange that they were knowingly traveling around a "dangerous area" (from one article I read) of Afghanistan while she was pregnant. I also wouldn't have 2 more kids while in captivity with no prenatal care.
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Wow, the husband told reporters their captors raped his wife and killed their infant daughter. Honestly, I was not expecting that.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Wow, I just read that. So sad, but it makes me so ANGRY that they risked that situation to begin with. And brought FOUR children into that dangerous environment.
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@josina: With regards to having more children - they may not have had any access to any sort of birth control, so preventing pregnancies may not have really been within their control.
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@Adira: I thought that too. Or maybe being pregnant was a deterrent to rapists. I'd love to know more about the story because some stuff doesn't add up but I don't think we should judge them too harshly or blame the victims.
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@josina: I hardly think victim blaming is productive. You have zero insight into their experiences and what happened while they were being held.
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"Former hostage Joshua Boyle says he and his wife decided to have children in captivity because they always planned to have a big family and decided, "Hey, let's make the best of this and at least go home with a larger start on our dream family.""
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/caitlan-coleman-joshua-boyle-hostage-kids-captivity/
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@josina: ok that seems unadvisable. There are definitely unanswered questions
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@josina: I’m sorry, but what?!? I feel for those kids.
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Thank goodness they are free now, and I hope the children won't remember any of it. I'd love to hear the wife's side of the story someday.
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@josina: This case is so weird. Nothing adds up and that statement from the father above is straight up crazypants.
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@josina: that statement is rage worthy. Bringing 4 children into the world and raise them in what he has described as a hole so you can “make the best” of your time as a hostage is insane. There are a lot of missing pieces here....
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@gotkimchi: I thought that too at first that pregnancy would mean she was treated better and that was a survival method. Seems not.
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This whole thing is bizarre.
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