Taliban releases video of captured American soldier
As a veteran myself and the mom of soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, this story brought forth a rush of emotions upon reading it.
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 cross-legged.
The soldier is interrogated on the tape...
He's 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."
He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.
"I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I'm gone," he said.
He is also prompted by 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."
I'm sure that the chickenhawks will be talking tough about how Obama needs to "do something." Military spokesmen have already gone on the record complaining that this is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Given the actions of the political leadership of this country in war over the past eight years, any complaints about violations of the Law of War are likely to fall on deaf ears around the world. This is precisely the type of situation that veterans and lawyers have been pointing to as the likely impact of our country's disregard of the rule of law. Even more ridiculous have been the pamphlets dropped on Afghan villages threatening to target them if the soldier is not released - is that really going to win hearts and minds? Hell, no.
I pray for this soldier and his family during this difficult time, as well as for the safe return of hundreds of thousands of other soldiers and their families...and an end to the abrogation of international law on all sides of this conflict.