Taliban release video of captured U.S. soldier

[Praxius]

Taliban release video of captured U.S. soldier - CTV News

WASHINGTON — The Taliban released a video Wednesday of a man identified as an American soldier captured in Afghanistan last June, showing him pleading for his freedom and to be returned home.

In the video, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl says he wants to return to his family in Idaho and that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison. It is the first he has been seen since the Taliban released a video of him on Christmas.

The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few push-ups to demonstrate he's in good physical condition. There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman, said he could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the video.

"Our thoughts, prayers, and support remain with the Bergdahl family during this difficult time," Garver said.

Bergdahl disappeared June 30 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that showed the young soldier appearing downcast and frightened.

In the sometimes choppy video issued Wednesday, Bergdahl talks about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing.

"I'm a prisoner. I want to go home," he says in the video, which was made available by Washington-based Site Intelligence Group, which monitors militant Web sites. "This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners."

At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl -- clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues -- clasped his hands together and pleaded: "The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn't get any smaller. Release me. Please, I'm begging you, bring me home."

He added that he is strong and is "given the freedom to exercise" and to be a human being, even though he is a prisoner.

Lt. Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard said Wednesday that Bergdahl's family was not aware of the new video. But he said the community of Hailey has reminders all over town of Bergdahl's capture, including signs wishing for his safe return and yellow ribbons.

"The community has definitely not forgotten Bowe Bergdahl, and the family continues to appreciate the support," said Marsano. "It's been a difficult nine months. With the support of family, friends and community members, they are doing as well as anyone could expect in this kind of situation."

U.S. officials have said that there were indications as recently as late January that Bergdahl was still alive.

At the end of the video, a speaker, reportedly Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, demands the release of a limited number of prisoners in exchange for the American.

Military officials had notice prior to the first video of Bergdahl released by the Taliban last summer, giving them time to alert his family before its public release. It was unclear Wednesday whether military officials knew this new video was coming.

Bergdahl, who was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, was 23 when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan. He was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

Well besides the situation itself being a tad dire, it's good to hear that he's being treated well, seems healthy and they had the decency to give time for his family to prepare before releasing the video to the public.

Although still terrorist tactics, the fact that they're not continually beating, torturing, starving, etc. their prisoners is nice to hear.... and certainly is a level up from waterboarding, depriving people of sleep, hanging them from the ceiling, subjecting them to loud noises/music, etc.

 

[lone wolf]

They seem to have disabled the video....

 

[EagleSmack]

Taliban release video of captured U.S. soldier - CTV News



Well besides the situation itself being a tad dire, it's good to hear that he's being treated well, seems healthy and they had the decency to give time for his family to prepare before releasing the video to the public.

Although still terrorist tactics, the fact that they're not continually beating, torturing, starving, etc. their prisoners is nice to hear.... and certainly is a level up from waterboarding, depriving people of sleep, hanging them from the ceiling, subjecting them to loud noises/music, etc.

Prax...come on. Do you think releasing a video of them beating him would help. Of all the US soldiers caught he is the first they kept alive. All the others have been killed.

 

[Praxius]

Prax...come on. Do you think releasing a video of them beating him would help. Of all the US soldiers caught he is the first they kept alive. All the others have been killed.

I'm only speaking towards Public Relations.

Based on the level of propaganda thrown at them towards torture, starving people, beating the crap out of their prisoners, etc..... most hostages that have been in the media, including those released and returned back to their home countries, have all stated they were treated well, all things considered.... even when not surrounded by their captives and back home, they rarely change their story and say they were beaten 24/7, given little food, etc.

Sure, I'm not ignoring the fact that there are hostages that are eventually executed, and of course I don't approve of that, nor do I approve of hostage taking in the first place..... but I can at least respect the fact that those they capture, on average, are treated decently during their time of captivity.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And regards to all other US soldiers being killed that have been captured, I can't say much on that, since I have no information to confirm or deny what you claim..... but considering you guys tango'd with war with them (regardless of whoever started it) in the aspect of this mass scale war against them, so many reports have been released over the years of secret torture facilities around the world, Gitmo, waterboarding, racial profiling, the level of propaganda against Islam in general, "Holy Crusade" etc. etc.... I'm personally not sure which route I'd want to take as a soldier involved.

Be killed.... or be tortured for years on end with no known end in sight, thinking the rest of the world forgot about you or simply doesn't care.... and the only possible end in sight is ending up being killed years later on?

Related News:
Taliban release Greek kidnapped in Pakistan
Taliban release Greek kidnapped in Pakistan - Yahoo! News

CHITRAL, Pakistan (AFP) – Afghan Taliban have released a Greek man safe and well seven months after he was kidnapped in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

"He is released," Greek ambassador to Islamabad, Petros Mavroidis, told AFP. "We talked with him and he is in the hands of competent agencies and they will bring him today or tomorrow to Islamabad to the Greek embassy," he added.

Pakistani officials said Athanassios Lerounis's seven-month abduction ordeal ended late Wednesday after he was released in Afghanistan and brought across the border into Pakistan's northwestern Chitral valley.

"He is with us. He is safe. It was a difficult task but our intelligence agencies did this job," Rahmatullah Wazir, the top administrative official in Chitral, told AFP by telephone.

Elders from Chitral had been negotiating with those holding Lerounis in the neighbouring Afghan province Nuristan, the official said.

He was kidnapped on September 7 while working for an aid group among the ethnic Kalash community in the mountains of Chitral.

"He was with Afghan Taliban in the Afghan province of Nuristan. The negotiations succeeded. He reached Chitral late last night," Wazir said. "He's in a good health."

The group had demanded a ransom and that Pakistan release three detained Afghan Taliban leaders, but Wazir said none of their demands had been met and that Lerounis had been released unconditionally........

 

[earth_as_one]

How does allied treatment of Taliban captives compare. In Canada, we are investigating claims the prisoners captured by Canadian forces and turned over to Afghan custody were tortured and summarily executed.

Evidence from Abu Ghraib and other US run detention centers indicate the US tortures, beats, humiliates and kills their captives. Why would Americans think their soldiers are entitled to be treated differently than how they treat their captives?

 

[lone wolf]

How does allied treatment of Taliban captives compare. In Canada, we are investigating claims the prisoners captured by Canadian forces and turned over to Afghan custody were tortured and summarily executed.

Evidence from Abu Ghraib and other US run detention centers indicate the US tortures, beats, humiliates and kills their captives. Why would Americans think their soldiers are entitled to be treated differently than how they treat their captives?

The haircut?

 

[EagleSmack]

How does allied treatment of Taliban captives compare. In Canada, we are investigating claims the prisoners captured by Canadian forces and turned over to Afghan custody were tortured and summarily executed.

Evidence from Abu Ghraib and other US run detention centers indicate the US tortures, beats, humiliates and kills their captives. Why would Americans think their soldiers are entitled to be treated differently than how they treat their captives?

Oh we don't expect to be treated fairly at all. In fact I am surprised this guy is alive. Up until this soldier all US military personel that were captured were executed.

But don't say that this guy is being treated well and kindly. This is a propoganda film. He is being told what to say and how to say it. Open your eyes.

 

[Praxius]

Oh we don't expect to be treated fairly at all. In fact I am surprised this guy is alive. Up until this soldier all US military personel that were captured were executed.

But don't say that this guy is being treated well and kindly. This is a propoganda film. He is being told what to say and how to say it. Open your eyes.

Tell me then, what's wrong with people's eyes when the same people released unharmed, go to the media about their experiences and reaffirm they were treated well?

Some Examples:

Released US Hostage Says Captors Treated Her Well
Released US Hostage Says Captors Treated Her Well

"A freed American hostage in Iraq says she was treated well by her captors.

Jill Carroll told an Iraqi television station on Thursday she was never threatened or hit during almost three months in captivity......"

Al-Qaeda releases Spanish hostage in Mali
DAWN.COM | World | Al-Qaeda releases Spanish hostage in Mali

“I want to say that both are well, we have been well treated, with respect and well looked after, within the very hard limits of the desert,” Gamez said.

'Dying is not an option': CBC journalist Fung describes Afghan captivity
CBC News - World - 'Dying is not an option': CBC journalist Fung describes Afghan captivity

"She said only the lead kidnapper spoke English well enough, but she soon developed a rapport with him.

"I interviewed him, because there’s not much else to do," she said.

She also had him swear several times on the Qur'an that he wouldn't kill her. Seeing that he appeared sincerely worried about her health, she said she faked feeling ill in the hope of speeding up her release.

At one point, and only once during a moment of anger, she cried, only to have the lead kidnapper hold her hand and plead with her to stop, insisting she would soon be freed.

"He said, 'Please don't cry, you're leaving. It will be soon. Don't cry. Don't cry.'"

If it was propaganda... how are they still capable of making all these people continue to spread the propaganda when they're safe and secure? :-?

 

[Colpy]

Praxius, you are way out in left field on this one.

All the examples you list of hostages that said after release that they were treated reasonably well by terrorists were non-combatants..........no combatants have ever lived long enough to be released........and most of the hostages taken by Islamist loonies have lost there heads...

Put it this way.....if the USA treated the enemy in their custody in the same fashion as Islamists treat their prisoners.....there would be MUCH less of a problem.....as the vast majority would have been beaten to death at the moment of capture.

And that is NOT to defend American misuse of prisoners by torture of any type, be it by the vicious method of using other gov'ts to do their dirty work, or by "water-boarding', which is torture in any sane person's estimation.

Torture is never to be excused.

But there certain is a relative measure here, and our side (and that includes the USA) still comes out on the good side of the median....by far.

 

[Praxius]

Exactly how many US Soldiers have been captured so far?

As I see it, just about every time I hear of a conflict in Afghanistan, be that of US troops, Canadian troops, etc.... is that there's usually 30 some-odd Taliban killed and every so often, maybe one of our troops killed.

Exactly how often does the Taliban have an opportunity to capture any of our troops?

I have yet to even hear of one Canadian soldier being captured, let alone being killed after capture..... and with the amount of media hype over this one US soldier being captured/detained.... both here in Canada and in the US, how come none of us were given the same amount of hype over all these other piles of US troops whom you and Eagle claim have been captured and later killed?

I'm just curious as to how often US troops are captured and killed.

 

[Praxius]

Actually, let me supply the information myself:

Afghan insurgents capture U.S. soldier
Afghan insurgents capture U.S. soldier - Afghanistan- msnbc.com

An American soldier is believed being held by the Taliban after he walked off his base in eastern Afghanistan without his body armor and weapon, officials said Thursday.......

..... The military was largely silent about details surrounding the kidnapping, believed to be the first such abduction of a U.S. service member in the nearly eight-year-old war.

Sounds like there's propaganda alright.... but it's not the Taliban giving it to us. ;-)

To both Eagle and Colpy.... I would seriously like to see what information you're basing your claims on.

Added:

Further into the above link:

"But the only other service member that officials could recall who had been captured was Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Roberts, a 32-year-old Navy SEAL who was captured during a battle.

Roberts fell from a Chinook and was captured and killed by al-Qaida just months after the start of the war, in March 2002."

 

[Colpy]

Actually, let me supply the information myself:

Afghan insurgents capture U.S. soldier
Afghan insurgents capture U.S. soldier - Afghanistan- msnbc.com



Sounds like there's propaganda alright.... but it's not the Taliban giving it to us. ;-)

To both Eagle and Colpy.... I would seriously like to see what information you're basing your claims on.

I will grant you the point over capture........the Taliban simply don't usually take prisoners......they are not a conventional force and have little structure capable of dealing with that.....I know of one Special Forces trooper that fell into their hands, and was beaten to death before his comrades could effect a rescue. That was back when Canadian snipers were the heroes of the day......

Which changes my point very little...........Taliban who put a bullet in the head of a helpless allied soldier don't go to trial for murder.

Perhaps we should just stop taking prisoners as well......

 

[EagleSmack]

That's pretty much it in a nut shell. They just don't take prisoners. In the case of the Taliban they have not really caught many US soldiers.

The insurgents in Iraq however have caught quite a few and none have returned. Granted these are two different conflicts.

But for you to think this is anything but a propaganda piece well I think you are being a little naive. The Taliban are not and have never been known for their kindness. Why don't you do a search on Taliban atrocities and you will see. There is a reason he is being kept alive. So far it is working. He's on tape saying he's being treated well, he's begging with clasped hands to come home, he's begging for a POW swap, he's saying the mission is wrong. He's doing just what they are telling him to do. I feel bad for him.

 

[EagleSmack]

S. Korean Hostage killed by Taliban

Taliban kills another South Korean hostage

German Hostages killed by Taliban

Taliban Kills 2 Germans in Afghanistan; Korean Christians Await Fate

Nice guys huh?

 

[gerryh]

hypocrites one and all.

May I point to the recent video of the american apache's mowing down "insurgents" so that the Bradley's comeing up the street would not encounter any resistance. Including, I might add, the wounded from the initial attack and their would be rescuers.

 

[EagleSmack]

Added:

Quote: "But the only other service member that officials could recall who had been captured was Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Roberts, a 32-year-old Navy SEAL who was captured during a battle.

Roberts fell from a Chinook and was captured and killed by al-Qaida just months after the start of the war, in March 2002."
​

Further into the above link:

Well heck 1 killed and 1 left alive ain't so bad.

 

[EagleSmack]

hypocrites one and all.

May I point to the recent video of the american apache's mowing down "insurgents" so that the Bradley's comeing up the street would not encounter any resistance. Including, I might add, the wounded from the initial attack and their would be rescuers.

Oh you kill me! :toothy10:

We already have a thread going on about that.

 

[mabudon]

The idea that "executing prisoners on the battlefield" is somehow more barbaric than simply killing people from a distance without even identifying them is frankly laughable. Things like this are what makes the staunchly pro-war cheerleaders look so rock-stupid.

 

[earth_as_one]

Oh we don't expect to be treated fairly at all. In fact I am surprised this guy is alive. Up until this soldier all US military personel that were captured were executed.

But don't say that this guy is being treated well and kindly. This is a propoganda film. He is being told what to say and how to say it. Open your eyes.

I never said that. I wouldn't be surprised to find out this American detainee has been abused and tortured. But if this American being held by the Taliban was subjected to the same treatment as Afghans captured the US, I doubt he'd be able to do push ups:

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.

Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.

"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"

At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.

"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.

You can read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html

My point is that the US set a very low standard for treatment of prisoners back in 2001. If the US started out respecting international laws, treaties and conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners, Americans might have a reason to complain about the way American soldiers are treated when captured. Instead your government invented new classifications of prisoners (which are only recognized by the US) and institutionalized torture. Americans tortured Taliban detainees to death while US Military doctors routinely listed their torture deaths as due to natural causes or accidents.

...According to documents obtained by The New York Times, many other people, including medics, dog handlers and military intelligence soldiers -- and even the warden of the site where the abuses occurred -- saw or heard of similar pictures of abuse, witnessed it or heard abuse discussed openly at Abu Ghraib months before the investigation started in January.

Mistreatment was not only widely known but also apparently tolerated, so much so that a picture of naked detainees forced into a human pyramid was used as a screen saver on a computer in the interrogations room. Other soldiers easily stumbled onto photographs of naked detainees left on computers in the Internet cafe at the prison. Some soldiers saw detainees being left naked for days, screamed at, threatened with dogs and beaten with furniture. A few tried to report abuse or stop it, but nothing came of their efforts....

THE REACH OF WAR - THE WITNESSES - THE REACH OF WAR - THE WITNESSES - Only a Few Spoke Up on Abuse As Many Soldiers Stayed Silent - NYTimes.com

Documents Obtained By ACLU Describe Charges Of Murder And Torture Of Prisoners In U.S. Custody

April 16, 2008

Newly Released Government Documents Show Special Forces Used Illegal Interrogation Techniques In Afghanistan

Today’s documents reveal charges that Special Forces beat, burned, and doused eight prisoners with cold water before sending them into freezing weather conditions. One of the eight prisoners, Jamal Naseer, died in U.S. custody in March 2003. In late 2004, the military opened a criminal investigation into charges of torture at Gardez. Despite numerous witness statements describing the evidence of torture, the military’s investigation concluded that the charges of torture were unsupported. It also concluded that Naseer’s death was the result of a “stomach ailment,” even though no autopsy had been conducted in his case. Documents uncovered today also refer to sodomy committed by prison guards; the victims’ identities are redacted.

Documents Obtained By ACLU Describe Charges Of Murder And Torture Of Prisoners In U.S. Custody | American Civil Liberties Union

Judging from your past posts, I suspect you support prisoner abuse like a majority of Americans.

...WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new national poll indicates that most Americans don't want to see an investigation of Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, even though most people think such procedures were forms of torture.

Six in ten people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday believe that some of the procedures, such as water boarding, were a form of torture, with 36 percent disagreeing.

But half the public approves of the Bush administration's decision to use of those techniques during the questioning of suspected terrorists, with 50 percent in approval and 46 percent opposed.

"Roughly one in five Americans believe those techniques were torture but nonetheless approve of the decision to use those procedures against suspected terrorists," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That goes a long way toward explaining why a majority don't want to see former Bush officials investigated."...

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Poll: Don’t investigate torture techniques - Blogs from CNN.com

 

[ironsides]

Diplomat was to meet jailed terrorist.
WASHINGTON – A Qatari diplomat was on his way to an official visit with an imprisoned al-Qaida sleeper agent when he touched off a bomb scare by slipping into an airline bathroom for a smoke, officials said Thursday as the diplomat prepared to leave the U.S.
The diplomat, Mohammed Al-Madadi was going to meet Ali Al-Marri in prison, according to a State Department official and another person close to the matter. Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to support terrorism.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100408/ap_on_go_ot/us_plane_disturbance