Carpenter Goes Commando In Pakistan

[Doc Loco]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American construction worker detained in Pakistan on what authorities said was an armed solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden has been examined by a doctor, Pakistani officials said Wednesday, after his relatives warned he had kidney problems and needed dialysis.

 

Gary Brooks Faulkner was also being questioned by a team of Pakistani investigators, two security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. They did not give additional details, including what the doctor had determined about the man's condition.

 

Catching the al-Qaida chief was 50-year-old Faulkner's passion, his brother Scott Faulkner said Tuesday. A devout Christian with a prison record, Faulkner has been to Pakistan at least six times, learned some of the local language, and even grew a long beard to blend in, relatives and acquaintances said.

 

"Our military has not been able to track Osama down yet. It's been 10 years," Scott Faulkner told reporters in Denver. "It's easier as a civilian, dressed in the local dress, to infiltrate the inside, the local people, gain their confidence and get information and intel that you couldn't get as an American soldier, Navy SEAL, whoever you might be."

 

Gary Faulkner, of Greeley, Colorado, arrived June 3 in the town of Bumburate. He was assigned a police guard, as is common for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan. When he checked out of a hotel without informing the guard, officers began looking for him, senior police official Mumtaz Ahmad Khan said.

 

Faulkner was found late Sunday in a forest.

 

"We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden," Khan said. But when officers found weapons, including a 40-inch sword and a pistol as well as night-vision equipment, "our suspicion grew."

 

He said Faulkner was trying to cross into the nearby Afghan region of Nuristan, one of several rumored hiding places for bin Laden along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.

 

Faulkner's sister, Deanna M. Faulkner of Grand Junction, Colorado, said her brother suffers from kidney disease that has left him with only 9 percent kidney function. "I'm worried about him. I'm worried that in Pakistan they won't give him his dialysis and if he doesn't get it, he's in serious trouble," she said.

 

 

 

U.S. Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said American officials were seeking consular access to a U.S. citizen in Pakistani custody and that once given, they could help arrange for medical care.

 

Gary Faulkner retained vivid memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was serious but rational about his search, his brother Scott said. When Scott Faulkner dropped his brother off at Denver's airport May 30, the two discussed the possibility Faulkner would not return alive.

 

"He's as normal as you and I," Scott Faulkner said. "He's just very passionate."

 

Scott Faulkner said his brother sold all his tools to finance his trip and was prepared to die in Pakistan. He said Faulkner had a travel visa, obtained his weapons inside Pakistan and only took with him a Bible and plastic handcuffs.

 

Gary Faulkner, who was being questioned in the main northwest city of Peshawar, has not yet been charged with any crime in Pakistan. Khan noted police confiscated a small amount of hashish, enough for a single joint, from Faulkner.

 

The American was in and out of Colorado state prisons between 1981 and 1993, serving a total of about seven years in five separate stints for burglary, larceny and parole violations, state officials said.

 

Bin Laden, who is also reported to have kidney problems, has evaded a massive manhunt since Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, which he is accused of masterminding along with other attacks. The federal government has offered a bounty of $25 million for information leading to his capture.

 

Khan said when Faulkner was asked why he thought he could trace bin Laden, he replied, "God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him."

I had thought that OBL was living in luxury in north east Iran all this time

[Micmac]

Reckon he's any kin to Clan Chief? That's what I call grass roots!

[BONMYI]

Reckon he's any kin to Clan Chief? That's what I call grass roots!

 

Was wonderin that very same thing !!

 

Gotta admire this guys initiative though..

 

Wonder where we can contribute to a $upport fund for him !!

 

 

Dave

[XV62]

Better him, or several dozen like him, than the life costing, money pit fiasco that's being perpetrated over there now.

[Micmac]

All it would take is a small contingent of Delta Force.

[whadayawant]

Would ya want somebody as dumb as this guy workin' on yer bike ?

[Airpirate]

I have friends in the Special Forces, the initial assualt in the Tora Bora Mountains in 01 consisted of a team of 14, they were well conceled and called in air strikes using laser guided bombs and a few Daisy Cutters out the back of a Herky Bird. Damage Esimate was roughly 4,000 Taliban dead. No Causalities on the US team.

 

My gut feeling is that OBL is dead, the only contact has been old video and audio that has been unverified. OBL is a 6'4" Muslim with a serious kidney disorder and requires dyalisis on a regular basis, difficult (not impossible) to keep a low profile, also that type of treament is difficult in the Hindu Kush Mountains, I suspect he was killed in an air strike. The Taliban is trying to keep him alive for propaganda purposes. A 25 million bounty is tough to side step even among the scum that operates in that area.

 

Hear tell the bounty is not payable to Americans either

[XV62]

I have friends in the Special Forces, the initial assualt in the Tora Bora Mountains in 01 consisted of a team of 14, they were well conceled and called in air strikes using laser guided bombs and a few Daisy Cutters out the back of a Herky Bird. Damage Esimate was roughly 4,000 Taliban dead. No Causalities on the US team.

 

My gut feeling is that OBL is dead, the only contact has been old video and audio that has been unverified. OBL is a 6'4" Muslim with a serious kidney disorder and requires dyalisis on a regular basis, difficult (not impossible) to keep a low profile, also that type of treament is difficult in the Hindu Kush Mountains, I suspect he was killed in an air strike. The Taliban is trying to keep him alive for propaganda purposes. A 25 million bounty is tough to side step even among the scum that operates in that area.

 

Hear tell the bounty is not payable to Americans either

 

 

There's from one to four C-130s doin' touch-n-gos at the local airport and flying training runs at the range at Chaffee 'bout any day here. They're not stationed here, but fly in here from Jacksonville AFB, probably 125 crow miles. The ANG unit here, the Flying Razorbacks, just swapped out from F-16s to the A-10 Warthogs. They're fun to watch too.

 

The annual air show here has featured the JATO equipped C-130 at times. To see that particular aircraft going straight up is impressive to say the least.

[uplander]

Hmmmmmmmm Greely,Colordao? Maybe he's a friend of Grizz's ? Or maybe a disciple of the preacher isn't he from Colorado too ?

[zit]

i'll bet...he teaches t-shirts lead to salvation, right?

[Micmac]

He did Zit, till he gained about 400lbs of Canuck bacon. Then Mick did the Newfi Stomp, Al give him a Manitoba lasso. NEXT!

[uplander]

Pete I was the one that Lassoed him!

He did Zit, till he gained about 400lbs of Canuck bacon. Then Mick did the Newfi Stomp, Al give him a Manitoba lasso. NEXT!

[Blue Diesel]

He did Zit, till he gained about 400lbs of Canuck bacon. Then Mick did the Newfi Stomp, Al give him a Manitoba lasso. NEXT!

 

Yup. Al was just about to do the Yeti Tattoo on his head while Kevin had him in the headlock.

[Doc Loco]

Yup. Al was just about to do the Yeti Tattoo on his head while Kevin had him in the headlock.

 

Reliving Wednesday nite akshun, are we???

[uplander]

was that Wednesday .........they all just kind of blend together

[Doc Loco]

UPDATE...HOMECOMING

 

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who traveled to Pakistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden said he'll "absolutely" try again, despite his arrest in the woods of northern Pakistan.

 

Gary Faulkner returned home to Greeley, Colo., late Wednesday after being detained June 13 when authorities found him armed with a pistol, a sword and night-vision equipment. He was eventually moved to Islamabad before being released without charges Wednesday morning, according to his brother.

 

The tired yet buoyant construction worker reached Denver around midnight and spoke briefly with reporters, saying he was feeling good. "All I want to do is get some rest," he said.

 

But during a stopover in Los Angeles, Faulkner was asked by reporters if he planned to return. "Absolutely," he said. He added cryptically, "You'll find out at the end of August."

 

Faulkner said he was well cared for during his confinement and that Pakistani medical workers administered dialysis to treat his kidney disease.

 

Scott Faulkner, a physician in the northeastern Colorado town of Fort Morgan, said he intended to check his brother's health on Thursday. He traveled from Los Angeles with other family members to bring his brother home.

 

He had dropped him off at the airport in Colorado on May 30 and wasn't sure he'd see him again. But he and other relatives have insisted that Gary Faulkner left the U.S. unarmed, had a valid visa for Pakistan and was guilty of no crime while there.

 

In Pakistan, Gary Faulkner told officials he was out to kill the al-Qaida leader. He sold his construction tools to finance six trips on what relatives have called a Rambo-type mission to kill or capture bin Laden. He grew out his hair and beard to fit in better.

 

He said organizing his trip "took a lot of money and a lot of time."

 

"This is not about me. What this is about is the American people and the world," he said in comments aired on KTLA-TV. "We can't let people like this scare us. We don't get scared by people like this, we scare them and that's what this is about. We're going to take care of business."

 

Scott Faulkner said last week that his brother wasn't crazy, just determined to find the man America's military has failed to capture nearly a decade after the 9/11 attacks.

 

"Is it out of the norm? Yes, it is. But is it crazy? No," Scott Faulkner said. "If he wore a uniform and called himself special ops, would he be crazy?"

 

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington that the family would have the best information on Faulkner's case. Faulkner, two department officials have said, refused to sign a waiver allowing the government to discuss his case publicly.

 

"In this particular case, as in all cases where we have an American citizen in custody of another country, we are in touch with that individual, we are in touch with his family," Crowley said. "We stayed in close contact with him and with his family throughout this, and we are gratified it was resolved rapidly."

 

Relatives have said they hope the trip encourages more people to look for bin Laden.

 

"Now there's going to be hopefully a renewed effort to get this guy — he's still wanted, and he's still out there," Scott Faulkner said last week.

 

[Clan Chief]

Good for Scott. He is a credit to the name.

The kidney disease is familiar-- and it sucks.

 

Bob