Taliban video shows captured U.S. soldier

Sunday 19th July, 05:00 AM JST

WASHINGTON —

The American soldier who went missing June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed captured, appeared on a video posted Saturday to a web site by the Taliban, two U.S. defense officials confirmed.

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 Social Security number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting on a bed.

The soldier, whose identity has not yet been released by the Pentagon pending notification of members of Congress and the soldier’s family, says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released Saturday on a website pointed out by the Taliban. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video is the captured soldier.

The soldier said the date is July 14. He says he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.

He is interviewed in English by his captors, and he is asked his views on the war, which he calls extremely hard, his desire to learn more about Islam and the morale of American soldiers, which he said was low.

Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:

“Well I’m scared, scared I won’t be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner.”

Later, he chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.

“I have my girlfriend, who is hoping to marry,” he said. “I have a very very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I’m gone. I miss them and I’m afraid that I might not ever see them again and that I’ll never be able to tell them that I love them again and I’ll never be able to hug them.”

He is also prompted his interrogators to give a message to the American people.

“To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it’s like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home,” he said. “Please, please bring us home so that we can be back where we belong and not over here, wasting our time and our lives and our precious life that we could be using back in our own country. Please bring us home. It is America and American people who have that power.”

It is unclear from the video whether the July 14 date is authentic. The soldier says that he heard that a Chinook helicopter carrying 37 NATO troops had been shot down over Helmand. A helicopter was shot down in southern Afghanistan on July 14, but it was carrying civilians on a reported humanitarian mission for NATO forces. All six Ukrainian passengers died in the crash, and a child on the ground was killed.

On July 2, the U.S. military said an American soldier had disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts and was believed to have been taken prisoner.

A U.S. defense official said the soldier was noticed missing during a routine check of the unit on June 30 and was first listed as “duty status whereabouts unknown.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Details of such incidents are routinely held very tightly by the military as it works to retrieve a missing or captured soldier without giving away any information to captors.

But Afghan Police Gen Nabi Mullakheil said the soldier went missing in eastern Paktika province near the border with Pakistan from an American base. The region is known to be Taliban-infested.

The most important insurgent group operating in that area is known as Haqqani network and is led by warlord Siraj Haqqani, whom the U.S. has accused of masterminding beheadings and suicide bombings including the July 2008 attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed some 60 people. The Haqqani group also was linked to an assassination attempt on Afghan president Hamid Karzai early last year.

On Saturday, a U.S. military official in Kabul, Col Greg Julian, said the U.S. was “still doing everything we can to return him safely.”

Julian said U.S. troops had distributed two flyers in the area where the soldier disappeared. One of them asked for information on the missing soldier and offered a $25,000 reward for his return. The other said “please return our soldier safely” or “we will hunt you,” according to Julian.

A number of civilians have been abducted in Afghanistan including aid workers and journalists, both foreigners and Afghans.

But the only other service member that officials could recall who had been captured was a Navy SEAL in March 2002, who fell out of a helicopter and was killed by al-Qaida.

___

Associated Press writers Robert H. Reid in Kabul and Christine Simmons in Washington contributed to this report.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

smithinjapan at 04:22 PM JST - 19th July

That is to say, as you, I hope for a hostage swap/deal.
USNinJapan2 at 04:29 PM JST - 19th July

timorborder

No way in hell we should 'take it easy' on this soldier. This "Army of One" has been a captive for a little over two weeks and he's already reached his breaking point at which he'll abandon the Code of Conduct and betray his country and his fellow servicemembers? If so the Army should re-evaluate its recruiting standards and whatever CofC training they provide.

As for your argument that this soldier is at the proverbial 'tip of the spear' so to speak so should be excused in someway is complete BS. The Code of Conduct should be applied to all service members regardless of their rank, rate, etc. but if anything more should be expected of this professional front-line soldier in upholding the CofC. Being an Army solider actually engaging the enemy directly in a combat zone you would expect the CofC to be a critical and very real aspect of his everyday life. But evidently not for this young man. BTW, a Marine colleage of mine just read this story and is shaking his head in disbelief...
smithinjapan at 04:52 PM JST - 19th July

USNinJapan2: The US military is stretched to the proverbial breaking point in terms of soldiers, and are taking just about anyone they can, from the sounds of it. There's no way their going to start screening people MORE rigorously to see if they might break under torture/interrogation; they're far more likely to be LESS rigorous in terms of requirements for accepting recruits.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just saying that your outrage is unlikely to be assuaged in the near future.

Regardless, I still feel sorry for the guy. C of C or no C of C, the guy's probably not going to come out of this alive, and it's yet another wasted life after so much has been wasted already.
Madverts at 08:37 PM JST - 19th July

Cowardly scumbag terrorists.

Nato servicemen should have cyanide for this kind of contingency.
USNinJapan2 at 08:58 PM JST - 19th July

smithinjapan

Of course I don't expect to improve Army (or DOD) recruiting standards but it still does make my blood boil when I see a uniformed service member (regardless of branch) who has sworn the same oath as I have do something like this. IF he ever gets out alive he should be tried by the UCMJ for making these statements. He's an embarassment to his fellow soldiers and the Army. Also, if his chances of survival are that dire and death at the hands of his captors is that certain, then wouldn't you accept your fate, do everything but cooperate with the enemy, and ensure that you go out an honorable patriot? I would, wouldn't you?
goodDonkey at 11:01 PM JST - 19th July

Sen. McCain said he signed a statement saying, "I am a war criminal; I bombed innocent women and children." McCain admitted this in a 60 Minutes interview.

I have absolutely no condemnation for McCain and have always had high regard for his behavior during his captivity. I have to laugh at anyone who can convince themselves of exactly what they would do in a similar situation. I guess if this kind of fantasy makes one feel like a hero they should join with any close Marine or anyone else who can share the fantasy. No one knows what they would do. We have people who comment on JT with actual combat experience. I would defer to them. I believe timorborder has extensive combat experience but I could be mistaken.

TALK IS CHEAP! Get a P.O.W. to condemn then I will listen. Unfortunately this is not the first time this issue has come up and I am getting to be an old man. I have seen P.O.W.'s comment on this but I have never seen one condemn others for a trivial unpatriotic statement like this.
smithinjapan at 11:07 PM JST - 19th July

USNinJapan2: "IF he ever gets out alive he should be tried by the UCMJ for making these statements."

First things first; let's see if the guy gets out alive.

"He's an embarassment to his fellow soldiers and the Army. Also, if his chances of survival are that dire and death at the hands of his captors is that certain, then wouldn't you accept your fate, do everything but cooperate with the enemy, and ensure that you go out an honorable patriot? I would, wouldn't you?"

I don't think I could say objectively and with any certainty what I'd do in that situation (I would never PUT myself in that situation, but if it DID somehow happen and I had sworn the oath you did), what they did to and/or held over me, etc. He sure doesn't look too roughed up, but who knows? Anyway, one more thing to keep in mind is that it's never been clarified as to how he was 'captured'. Remember that at first he was rumoured to have just walked off base unarmed and without appropriate support. Maybe you're right about the guy and he's a bit of a cook who doesn't believe in what he's doing (and hence broke quickly).

Again, though, let's worry about if the guy gets out with his head on or not, first.
Proximaking at 11:22 PM JST - 19th July

He's the only sensible soldier in Afghanistan. If they all did what he did the war really would be over by Christmas. There is a higher authority than some silly rules devised by man and I am constantly amazed that so many Americans stand by these rules until exactly the time they are actually called upon to observe them and one of them is "Thou shalt not kill." Of all the soldiers I've seen on TV he, the coward as some say here, seems to me to be the most honest. Whether he will get out of it alive I can't say but I doubt if he'll be found wanting by his ultimate judge, something that can't be said of many of those commenting here.
Sarge at 11:26 PM JST - 19th July

USNinJapan2: "He's an embarrassment to his fellow soldiers and the Army."

I'm sure USNinJapan2 would give only his name, rank and serial number, no matter how much he was tortured. The man's under extreme duress, for cryin' out loud! I hope he returns home alive, in one piece, and is decorated for volunteering to risk his life on the behalf of the rest of us.
USNinJapan2 at 11:28 PM JST - 19th July

goodDonkey

How about you serve a day in uniform first. Then maybe you can talk about the standards to which we in the services expect to hold ourselves.

And McCain? Jesus, how about getting past the election already...
USNinJapan2 at 11:38 PM JST - 19th July

Sarge

I guess I was wrong in assuming that your moniker had anything to do with a prior military rank you may have held...
goodDonkey at 01:40 AM JST - 20th July

USNinJapan2 said:

How about you serve a day in uniform first.

You don't have to be in the service to understand many things related to the military. But since you bothered to bring it up, I was in the service. I was a Sgt.

USNinJapan2 said:

And McCain? Jesus, how about getting past the election already...

It had nothing to do with the election. I said I had respect for him concerning his behavior; logic might have suggested to you that I used hem as a perfect example of an honorable P.OW.. I guess it puts you into too precarious position to actually comment on him. McCain acted perfectly honorable. Look I have respect for you also. I have noticed that you are very knowledgeable on many subjects. I wrote about 5 different comments since I first noticed your initial comment and did not send them because I did not think I had found a way to be respectful to you. I could debate you on this for days but to what avail? Suffice it to say that I think I am being honest and realistic and I think you are being idealistic. I refuse to believe you or your marine friend do not have a breaking point that would render the same results. It is simply a matter of degree; a matter of how high is any given person's threshold. Why in the world would our very best, the best of the best, trained agents have needed to carry cyanide?

Sarge said:

The man's under extreme duress, for cryin' out loud! I hope he returns home alive, in one piece, and is decorated for volunteering to risk his life on the behalf of the rest of us.

Hear hear Sarge! By the way real men don't cry either and bears in the woods are infallible.

By the way USNinJapan2 I am not going to lose any respect for you on this issue. I have no doubt that your intentions are honorable and that it is actually true patriotism that motivates you.
goodDonkey at 04:48 AM JST - 20th July

Wait a minute. I hope I did not send a mixed message concerning Sarge's comment. The sarcasm was not meant against Sarge in any way. Let me try that again.

Sarge said:

The man's under extreme duress, for cryin' out loud! I hope he returns home alive, in one piece, and is decorated for volunteering to risk his life on the behalf of the rest of us.

I could not agree more.
Sarge at 01:02 PM JST - 20th July

Well, well, here's something that the goodDonkey and I agree on and that USNinJapan and I disagree on.

gD - I understood your first post perfectly. Could be because we held the same rank?

And, USNinJapan, really, there's nothing he said that is offensive. I mean, what soldier doesn't miss his family, and what American wishes for us to be in Afghanistan forever?
timorborder at 09:34 AM JST - 21st July

Despite only being held for 2 weeks, there is no indication of what sort of "enhanced interrogation techniques" this guy has been subject to. I know some really hard men (including one who ended up in the hands of Uncle Saddam during the Gulf War). To quote him, "you tend to have a different perspective on life when somebody has your xxxxs in a vice." I also know another guy who flunked out on a training course I was on. He was a real high flyer until they put him in a room for 4 days with nothing but white noise, sleep deprivation and stress positions. He threw in the towel and that was it. Anyway, it is pretty easy to make statements about your own toughness and ability to succeed in very stressful circumstances. Of course, all that goes out the window when you actually face the reality of such situations.