According to a CNN report, one of the Arabic-speaking fighters for the Taliban was a 20 year old American man, one John Walker of Washington, D.C. According to his parents, he had moved to Yemen to study Arabic, then travelled to Pakistan to study the Koran. When the war broke out, he went to Afghanistan, telling his parents he was going as an aid worker.

In his interview, aired on CNN he said that he studied the writings of Taliban scholars he had been introduced to and 'fell in love with the movement'. He is currently being held as a prisoner of war, awaiting eventual trial.

Any thoughts on this matter?

1000+ of our boys are in country now. they all have a chance of dieing. a cia oprative was executed. gas prices are dropping. im stuck between thinking that this is one giant conspiricy and becoming a hippy.

I think you missed the point here, Pyrric. This guy was fighting on their side...

Let me get this straight . . . An American boy thought the Taliban was the greatest thing since aglets on shoelaces . . . joined them . . . and is now being held as a prisoner of war?? I'm not sure I understand . . .

it always stikes me as odd whenever anyone say "now that i know that you're on our side." why is it so black and white? yes they are killing us, we're killing them. collateral damage isnt ok because "them towlheads killed 6000 of our people." its not ok if we take out their entire country. innocent people dieing is not cool.

That's exactly the case. He went over there to study the Koran. His parents thought he would eventually become a Muslim cleric. Instead he's become a fighter for the Taliban.

P.S. It's good to have you back, darlin'.

Damned straight. While we're on the topic, your point of view has changed dramatically since last I checked.

Hooray for neo-goth-hippies!!!

Agreed. There are many Afghani citizens that aren't fighting us. They would probably help us if given the chance. Hell, right now they estimate there are over 6 million Afghanis whose lives are completely dependent upon the humanitarian aid the country is receiving, and most of that aid comes from the U.S. Probably a majority of those 6 million are women and children.

However, I still haven't seen what your opinion is of this American man who decided that the Taliban and Bin Laden were worth fighting his own country for. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

I devoted my 3000th post to you, beotch. Don't you feel loved?

No-- what I don't understand is which side is holding him as a prisoner?

He was apparently captured by the Northern Alliance forces, then turned over to U.S. Special Forces for treatment after they found out he was an American citizen. He was pretty badly fucked up, but not nearly as bad as some of the other guys that were in the prison camp. Apparently they were guards at a prison that suffered a revolt...with or without the help of the NA and our troops, I don't know...they weren't very clear on the matter.

Many thanks . . . even though I really should be working on that 5 paragraph German essay about a book IN GERMAN that I haven't really read all that thoroughly . . .

I hate being sick . . .

That's pretty damned bizarre . . . so is he getting treated better or worse than the native born Afghani's?

[Awww . . . widdle Shadow-wadow weached his twee tousinth post today . . . how schweet! Too bad I reached my 4,000th post today. :p]

Probably better...after all, he's now in the hands of American doctors. They're still trying to corraborate the story thus far. I saw the footage of him being interviewed. He looks like he could be American (If you take away the deep-baked tan and the scruffy hair and beard...his hair is black and thick, so he blends well with the others, but his features look caucasian.), but although his English is excellent, his accent seems rather heavy for someone that's only been there for a couple of years.

Yeah, yeah...3000th post. Don't taunt me, or I'll have to moderate your ass.