Perhaps it's a different AOR, or the green team treats things differently, but I've been told to treat sand as water out in Durkistan, and the only time you should put down out there is a land IMMEDIATELY. They put it down in the desert outside the wire overnight?
Otto, you're way, way, way overthinking this issue.
If you are flying, and have the option of safely landing and dealing with the issue vice dealing with it in flight, you do it. The potential for catastrophic error goes way down, e.g. pulling the wrong engine back now has ZERO consequence. Common freaking sense says you don't land it in the water, amidst a crowd of AK-47-wielding jihadis, etc.
As someone once said,"It's more of a guideline than a rule..."