It is being reported today that an unnamed US soldier and three Afghan soldiers were ambushed and captured Tuesday by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s restive Paktika Province. The military confirmed that the soldier was missing and believed captured.
One US official later said that the soldier has since been sold to the Haqqani clan, who is now holding him. The US is pressuring tribal chiefs and village elders along the Afghan/Pakistan border to “do the right thing and solve this.”
A Taliban commander, speaking over a satellite phone so as not to reveal his location, claimed that the soldier was captured in the Yusuf Khil district and was drunk at the time. US officials denied the reports, claiming the Taliban were known liars.
Reports now have the soldier in the custody of Pashtun warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani, a militant active in both Paktika Province and Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, and son of Julaluddin Haqqani, a hugely influential militant leader in Waziristan. The Haqqanis have been a popular target of US drone strikes in North Waziristan, which borders the province where the soldier was captured.
"US officials denied the reports, claiming the Taliban were known liars." This must be an attempt at comedy. Yeah, the Taliban. Didn't they invade some other country looking for Weapons Of Mass Destruction, or something?
Well I hope they are as upstanding as the U.S. military and don't torture this soldier. But I guess they can just turn to the U.S. Army Field Manual chapter on this subject if they are confused with what is and what is not torture. Certainly they can legally waterboard this person and not feel guilty. Stress positions, sleep depravation, insects, beatings, forced feeding, slamming his head against a wall, I believe all of these are o.k. by U.S. standards because he is an enemy combatant.
Funny, I bet the Taliban will probably treat this person with more respect than any Afgan "suspect" in U.S. custody. Or will they rendition this person to a far away land; does the CIA work as a consultancy in these cases for a fee? I wish him well regardless of his complicity in helping to spread democracy to Afghanistan.
Markdavid, you can be certain that what that Marine will face will be far worse than anything that happened at Gitmo. As bad as some of the treatment of detainees has been, it has not included rape, which is SOP for those unfortunate enough to be captured by the Afghans. Ask any Russian unlucky enough to have been captured by the Mujehaddin, if you can find one who survived the experience.