Re: [sixties-l] Treason chic

From: Frank Smith (fsmith@kanokla.net)
Date: Wed Dec 12 2001 - 00:19:48 EST

  • Next message: Ron Jacobs: "Re: [sixties-l] Re: sixties-l-digest V1 #739"

    >From the Truthout website. I don't know if this is legal interpretation.
    An interrogator can ask a prisoner anything. But a prisoner of war, if the
    U.S. government wants to maintain the fiction that this is a declared war,
    doesn't have to give anything but name, rank and serial number. The CIA
    agent implied that the prisoner would die if he didn't talk. So many
    prisoners have died in Northern Alliance custody that's a very believable
    statement. I don't know if we're kicking people out of helicopters yet,
    like in Vietnam, but hopefully this will expand the "You're either with us
    or with the terrorists," and "We don't want you disagreeing with us,"
    "debate." E-1
    'He's Got To Decide if He Wants to Live or Die Here'

    EXCLUSIVE: Just hours before his death, CIA agent Mike Spann interviewed
    John Walker, the American Taliban. Here is an excerpt from that videotaped
    interview

    By Colin Soloway
    NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

    Dec. 6 - Last week, just hours before Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners began
    their uprising at the Northern Afghan fortress of Kala Jangi, CIA agents
    interviewed John Walker, the 20-year-old American from northern California,
    NEWSWEEK has learned. The interrogation, which took place shortly before one
    of the agents was killed, was videotaped by an Afghan cameraman.

    THE TAPE, reviewed by NEWSWEEK, represents the first evidence that the CIA
    knew that there was an American, or at least a Westerner among the hundreds
    of prisoners. It also demonstrates that Walker actually spoke to the U.S.
    agents; last week, he told NEWSWEEK that he had only "seen" the two agents.

    Dec. 7 - Newsweek's Mark Miller talks about the discovery that CIA agent
    Mike Spann had interviewed American Taliban fighter John Walker shortly
    before Spann's death and Walker's capture. Ann Curry reports.

    On the tape, it is a bright Sunday morning in Kala Jangi. Dozens of
    prisoners have been taken out of the prison and placed outside, near the
    center of the compound. Waiting for them are the Americans, Johnny "Mike"
    Spann, and another CIA agent known only as Dave. Spann is wearing blue jeans
    and a black jumper. A Kalashnikov rifle is strapped across his back. Dave is
    dressed in a black tunic that reaches below his knees, with tan trousers
    beneath. Walker had apparently been pointed out to Spann as a Westerner, or
    someone who spoke English.

    Spann walks over to Walker, who is sitting in a row of prisoners.

    Spann [to Walker]: Hey you. Right here with your head down. Look at me. I
    know you speak English. Look at me. Where did you get the British military
    sweater?

    Spann walks away. Shortly thereafter, Walker is approached by Northern
    Alliance soldiers, who seem to be tightening the ropes tying his elbows
    behind his back. A Northern Alliance officer gives him a light kick in the
    stomach. His hair his pulled back.

    Later, Walker, known inside the prison by his Muslim name, Abdul Hamid, is
    brought over to a blanket covering bare earth. His elbows are still tied
    behind his back. He is pushed down and sits cross-legged on the blanket, his
    head bowed, his long hair obscuring his face. He is wearing loose black
    trousers and a black tunic that reaches to his calves.

    Spann squats down on the edge of the blanket, facing Walker.

    Spann: Where are you from? Where are you from? You believe in what you're
    doing here that much, you're willing to be killed here? How were you
    recruited to come here? Who brought you here? Hey! [He snaps his fingers in
    front of Walker's face. Walker is unresponsive]

    German television image of the CIA agent identified as "Dave"

    Spann: Who brought you here? Wake up! Who brought you here to Afghanistan
    How did you get here?

    Long pause.

    Spann: What, are you puzzled?

    Spann kneels on the blanket and takes aim with a digital camera.

    Spann: Put your head up. Don't make me have to get them to hold your head
    up. Push your hair back. Push your hair back so I can see your face.

    An Afghan soldier pulls Walker's hair back, and holds his head up for the
    picture.

    Spann: You got to talk to me. All I want to do is talk to you and find out
    what your story is. I know you speak English.

    Dave walks up. Spann and Dave speak to one another.

    Dave: Mike!

    Spann [to Dave]: Yeah, he won't talk to me.

    Dave: OK, all right. We explained what the deal is to him.

    Spann: I was explaining to the guy we just want to talk to him, find out
    what his story is.

    Spann and Dave talk, inaudible.

    Dave [to Spann]: The problem is, he's got to decide if he wants to live or
    die and die here. We're just going to leave him, and he's going to f-cking
    sit in prison the rest of his f-cking short life. It's his decision, man. We
    can only help the guys who want to talk to us. We can only get the Red Cross
    to help so many guys.

    Spann [to Walker]: Do you know the people here you're working with are
    terrorists and killed other Muslims? There were several hundred Muslims
    killed in the bombing in New York City. Is that what the Koran teaches? I
    don't think so. Are you going to talk to us?

    Walker does not respond

    Dave [to Spann]: That's all right man. Gotta give him a chance, he got his
    chance.

    Spann and Dave stand and talk to each other. Both look frustrated. Spann
    stands with his hands on his hips, and Dave kicks up some dust with his
    boot.

    Spann [to Dave]: Did you get a chance to look at any of the passports?

    Dave: There's a couple of Saudis and I didn't see the others.

    Spann: I wonder what this guy's got?

    Walker is then pulled to his feet by an Afghan guard, and taken back to the
    group of prisoners sitting on the earth in the compound. Shortly after this
    footage was shot, prisoners emerging from the fortress rushed the guards,
    throwing grenades and grabbing their captors' rifles. It was the beginning
    of the battle of Kala Jangi. Spann was killed in the early stages of the
    uprising, and Dave reportedly was extracted from the compound by U.S. and
    British special forces.


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