As I pored through the pages of criminal complaint against a Mississippi couple accused of trying to join the Islamic State terrorist group, I felt confusion and sorrow.

Why would any American want to leave this country, get married and on their honeymoon pledge their life to such an organization? I cannot understand.  The situation is bizarre to say the least.

Americans tend to think people from bad homes or extremist families are the ones falling for ISIS propaganda.

Yet, Jaelyn Young is the daughter of a Vicksburg police officer and longtime U.S. Navy Reserve veteran who has served 14 tours of duty. Well before her Twitter page began spouting extremist propaganda, it linked to photos of him preparing for duty.

“[S]oon we will taste the freedom of Khalifah,” Young is accused of writing to an undercover FBI agent.

Khalifah is a reference to the caliphate, the form of religiously controlled government ISIS claims to practice.

Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, her boyfriend and accused co-conspirator, wrote that Young “will be relieved and that when we reach Dawlah [the terrorists group’s prefered name for itself] she may nearly pass out from happiness,” according to the criminal complaint.

I cannot understand how anyone sees freedom and happiness in being forced to live under a brutal regime that has frequently executes its enemies on video.

Dakhlalla is the son of, from best I can uncover, a moderate Muslim imam from Starkville. His family says they are shocked at his radical leanings.

In the complaint, Young is quoted as telling FBI agents masquerading as ISIS recruiters that Dakhalalla’s family did not support the terrorist organization.

In another strange detail, neither Young nor Dakhalalla speak fluent Arabic, according to the complaint. In the released messages both seemed worried about communicating with fellow ISIS members once they arrived in Syria. On June 10, Dakhalalla is accused of telling an undercover FBI agent that he is “not familiar with Shariah,” the law used to govern ISIS controlled areas.

He also expressed concern about whether the couple could pass a test proving they are Sunni Muslims. I can’t begin to express my bewilderment at wanting to travel halfway around the world to join a group but not knowing its rules or if its members would be welcoming.

At several points in the e-mail exchange, the couple also worries about getting caught. Most notably in early August, Young is accused of saying they were worried about Turkish police getting wind of their plan.

“I don’t think that would put so much effort to arrest us in Turkey when they could just given intel to the US to arrest us before leaving,” she is accused of writing.

We should be thankful it didn’t get that far.