The American soldier who disappeared June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed to have been captured, appeared on a video posted Saturday to a Web site by the Taliban, two U.S. defense officials said.
The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier’s dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting on a bed.
Also I am sick to fucking death of these goddamned political apologists who insist our actions are the problem, it’s us. We stand up to these creatures, and still they have the goddamned gall to tell the rest of the planet we are somehow at fault. These sorry shitheels (Reid, Pelosi, Obama et.al.) have the goddamned audacity to cry that we are to blame, because we serve ice cream to murderers in Guantanamo.
Too many unanswered questions.
July 19, 2009 at 3:48 am
Oh no, this is horrible. I will pray for his safe return.
July 19, 2009 at 6:36 am
Done. Amen.
July 19, 2009 at 1:51 pm
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/v-print/story/778482.html
sorry, OT, this really belongs on earlier thread: a retired 2 star general and a reserve airforce lt col. have added their names to the BC lawsuit.
July 20, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Watch the video. It is coming. I don’t believe that these few are the only ones interested in that long form birth certificate.
July 20, 2009 at 1:25 am
So what’s barry gonna do about it.
Obama is a lying sack of crap.
July 20, 2009 at 1:33 am
Ditto.
July 20, 2009 at 11:19 am
Obama Is a Lying Sack Of Crap = oilsoc: Mary’s new name for the usurper and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. oilsoc
July 20, 2009 at 4:25 pm
MR & MRS OILSOC…I love it.
July 20, 2009 at 11:36 am
Probably apologize for being in Taliban Territory. What a bastard!
July 20, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Ca$h, something is not right about this.
July 20, 2009 at 12:00 pm
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/4896127BA8EA1FBB862575F800101002?OpenDocument
“He says he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.”
That’s very strange because he was not on a patrol. 2 US defense sources reported that he had finished his shift and voluntarily left the base in the company of 3 Afghan “counterparts” presumably workers/soldiers from the combat outpost where he is stationed. In their words, “He just walked off.” His body armor and weapon were found on the base. In fact, it took a couple of days for the base to decide he had been kidnapped.
It does not seem probable that he should have disappeared in the middle of operations without his body armor and weapon or without anyone’s notice.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31703681
July 20, 2009 at 4:22 pm
This is being cooked. I was driving home and the story that I heard was different. I thought how odd that the story would have changed so quickly unless the first report was completely inaccurate.
Fox News first reported that he had left the compound with some non military personnel. There was surveillance tape supposedly. It is strange because the tape supposedly showed him walking off without his usual garb. I was wondering if he was sleepwalking? That did not make sense because he was walking off with non military personnel in the CCTV tape. It was surmised that the others might have been translators? That CCTV tape has not been released.
July 20, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I would have thought the whole incident manufactured as propaganda to drum up support for the Afghanistan and Pakistan wars, except that he does look genuinely scared.
Still, the video stills do not set right with me, somehow: perhaps it is the apparent newness of his clothes, the whiteness of the sheet hung up behind him? Or the lack of interrogators in proximity to him? I can’t put my finger on it yet: it just looks wrong. I wish they would show the whole video: it’s difficult to form any analysis of so little.
My initial thoughts when I heard about this on the mil blogs was that he had been lured off base for a good time; but after he was identified, his age was given as 23: surely that is too old to be so naive?
I would like to see the CCTV tape as well.
July 20, 2009 at 9:37 pm
On another blog he spoke about a girlfriend and marriage. His family said he did not have a gf. Lot’s wrong with this picture. Certain details are now being edited out of the original ap post.
His family responds:
July 21, 2009 at 12:00 am
It’s very strange: the obvious inference would be that he is attempting to convey that he is under duress; but why would he feel compelled to do so? Would not the presumption be that he is under duress? I read somewhere that he had repeated the Taliban claim that they had also shot down a helicopter recently which claim is untrue. Repeating propaganda surely evinces duress already? Unless he has a reason to believe that the army thinks otherwise?
But especially, I am perplexed by the lagging behind on patrol comment. Jmo, I think it makes the Taliban either look somewhat incompetent or cowardly: why would they not take on the patrol if they are capable of downing helicopters? It seems like a very strange thing for the Taliban to want him to say.
July 21, 2009 at 2:08 am
Someday, we will have the real story. It may not come for a very long time, but as with everything that happens in war, it usually comes out at the most inopportune moment.
July 22, 2009 at 1:55 pm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5861163/Taliban-release-video-of-captured-US-soldier.html
Longer vid
July 22, 2009 at 2:08 pm
http://news.aol.com/article/missing-soldier-appears-in-video/577755
another one:
high fluency: conjunction and runs words together: this guy has lived in an english speaking country
July 22, 2009 at 2:10 pm
oops sorry, found site with 3 videos says it comprises whole thing
http://www.longwarjournal.org/videos/2009/07/haqqani_network_propaganda_vid.php