Colo. man went on solo mission to kill bin Laden

[The Spartan]

AP through Yahoo

Colo. man went on solo mission to kill bin Laden
By DAN ELLIOTT and CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writers Dan Elliott And Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writers 21 mins ago

DENVER – An American man has been detained in the mountains of Pakistan after Pakistani authorities found him carrying a sword, pistol and night-vision goggles on a Rambo-style solo mission to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden.

Friends and family say construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner is a devout, good-humored Christian who has traveled widely in that part of the world.

The 51-year-old Faulkner, who has a lengthy arrest record and served time in a Colorado prison, arrived June 3 in the town of Bumburate and stayed in a hotel there. He was assigned a police guard, as is common for foreigners visiting remote parts of Pakistan.

When he checked out without informing police, officers began looking for him, according to the top police officer in the Chitral region, Mumtaz Ahmad Khan. 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 seized the weapons and night-vision equipment, "our suspicion grew." He said the American was trying to cross into the nearby Afghan region of Nuristan.

Chitral and Nuristan are among several rumored hiding places for bin Laden along the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment generally deny the possibility that bin Laden is hiding somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghan border, as Western intelligence agencies believe.

Faulkner's sister, Deanna M. Faulkner of Grand Junction, Colo., said her brother suffers from kidney disease that has left him with only 9 percent kidney function. But she told The Associated Press that she did not think his illness was his motivation to go to Pakistan.

"I don't believe this was, 'I'm dying, and I'm going to do a hurrah thing,'" she said. She said her brother was "very religious" but would not elaborate.

Family members have not heard from him since he left the country, his sister said.

On Tuesday, Faulkner was being questioned by intelligence officials in Peshawar, the main northwestern city. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Khan said Faulkner told investigators he was angry after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

"I think Osama is responsible for bloodshed in the world, and I want to kill him," Khan quoted him as saying.

When asked why he thought he had a chance of tracing bin Laden, Faulkner replied, "God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him," Khan said.

He said police confiscated a small amount of hashish, enough for a single joint, from Faulkner.

"I'm worried about him," his sister said. "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."

Bin laden, who is also reported to have kidney problems, has evaded a massive manhunt since the 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.

Faulkner's brother, Scott Faulkner, said his brother is "doing something that we would all wish to do."

"If we saw Osama walking down the sidewalk ... well, I know I would probably put a bullet in the guy's head. Yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm still an American," he told CNN.

Scott Faulkner said his brother had been to Afghanistan at least six times and had "picked up quite a bit" of the local language, grown a long beard and "looked like Taliban."

"He could blend in with the local population and go places that our military cannot go," he said, adding that his brother "has some assistance. He's made friends. I will not tell you who those friends are because that's up to Gary to reveal his sources."

At Faulkner's last known address, a modest apartment building in the northern Colorado town of Greeley, no residents answered their doors Tuesday. An apartment manager would not confirm whether Faulkner still lived there.

Hugo Corral, who owns a barber shop in Greeley, recalled cutting Faulkner's hair a few months ago. He said Faulkner was quiet and wouldn't answer his questions. After the haircut, Corral said, he saw Faulkner acting strangely outside his shop.

"He would walk, then stop, then do something like he was saluting something. It was kind of weird," Corral said. Through the glass of his shop, he said he could hear Faulkner cursing at no one in particular.

Gary Faulkner 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.

The Larimer County sheriff released a mug shot from a 2006 arrest on charges of failing to have car insurance. In the photo, Faulkner has shoulder-length gray hair parted in the middle with bangs that reach the sides of his wire-rim glasses.

He also has a shaggy, black beard with traces of gray hair in it, and he appears to be wearing a camouflage-patterned shirt.

Faulkner allegedly told Pakistani police he visited Pakistan seven times, and this was his third trip to Chitral, a mountainous region that attracts adventurous Western tourists and hikers. Unlike much of northwestern Pakistan, it is considered relatively safe for foreigners.

Deanna Faulkner said her brother had been "all over the world many times" but declined to give details of past trips.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said the embassy had received notification from Pakistani officials that an American citizen had been arrested. He said embassy officials were trying to meet the man and confirm his identity.

Deanna Faulkner said her brother usually gets dialysis every three days but can go up to two weeks without it.

"We contacted the State Department to let them know of his medical condition and that his family is here and we love him," she said.

What can you really say? It think it's safe to assume the guy isn't all there. Which is frustrating when one's instinct is to say, "What the hell was he thinking?"

[Sea Skimmer]

Lots of reports came out of mercenaries and individuals setting out to find and kill/capture him in 2002-03, and I bet it was all true. No one is going to ever kill him except dumb luck at this point, so the more fools looking the better.

[Flagg]

Lots of reports came out of mercenaries and individuals setting out to find and kill/capture him in 2002-03, and I bet it was all true. No one is going to ever kill him except dumb luck at this point, so the more fools looking the better.

Meh, I'd rather the mentally ill be prevented from committing suicide.

[spaceviking]

There is also the possibility of him shooting some tall skinny goat farmer who looks Bin Laden esche.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Lots of reports came out of mercenaries and individuals setting out to find and kill/capture him in 2002-03, and I bet it was all true. No one is going to ever kill him except dumb luck at this point, so the more fools looking the better.

By this logic, vigilantism against known criminals should be perfectly legal. After all, the more fools looking, the better.

[Jeremy]

There is also the possibility of him shooting some tall skinny goat farmer who looks Bin Laden esche.

Spot on.

MSNBC did a special on the mentally unstable and insane in America's prison system. One man was completely functional and seemed a genuinely decent man when he was taking his medicine, he would eventually stop taking his medicine a few months after being released and began hunting Bin Laden throughout the streets, harassing strangers even in their homes.

[Sea Skimmer]

By this logic, vigilantism against known criminals should be perfectly legal. After all, the more fools looking, the better.

you know this might be really hard for you to understand, but north western Pakistan is a fucking war zone and in a mass open rebellion against the Pakistani government. The law does not fucking exist in that region, and in reality it never existed before that either. At best the Taliban randomly killing people is the only order imposed. Meanwhile the US openly has a 25 million dollar bounty on Bin Laden dead or alive. What do you think that is meant to encourage? Bounty hunting, ideally by locals but outsiders might fucking well work and solve a lot of trouble and other deaths that have gone on for years now. Bounty hunting also happens to be legal against known criminals who don't show up for court in the US too, you just can't kill them.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

By this logic, vigilantism against known criminals should be perfectly legal. After all, the more fools looking, the better.

you know this might be really hard for you to understand, but north western Pakistan is a fucking war zone and in a mass open rebellion against the Pakistani government. The law does not fucking exist in that region, and in reality it never existed before that either. At best the Taliban randomly killing people is the only order imposed. Meanwhile the US openly has a 25 million dollar bounty on Bin Laden dead or alive. What do you think that is meant to encourage? Bounty hunting, ideally by locals but outsiders might fucking well work and solve a lot of trouble and other deaths that have gone on for years now. Bounty hunting also happens to be legal against known criminals who don't show up for court in the US too, you just can't kill them.

...and who gives a shit? After all your whining, does that change the fact that a mentally damaged man going into a situation he's vastly unqualified for with the possibility... no, probability that he and other innocents will get hurt or kill, is a really bad idea? I don't care if something's legal, or if there's no governing structure to make it illegal, it's at best immoral to encourage this sort of situation.

[Sea Skimmer]

...and who gives a shit? After all your whining, does that change the fact that a mentally damaged man going into a situation he's vastly unqualified for with the possibility... no, probability that he and other innocents will get hurt or kill, is a really bad idea? I don't care if something's legal, or if there's no governing structure to make it illegal, it's at best immoral to encourage this sort of situation.

Wow you accuse me of whining? That's rich. its not my fucking job to evaluate the metal health of people who are clearly able to function in society anyway. The US is a free country and you can't lock someone up for having bad ideas. In fact you can barely lock someone up for being dangerously violent.

[Simon_Jester]

...and who gives a shit? After all your whining, does that change the fact that a mentally damaged man going into a situation he's vastly unqualified for with the possibility... no, probability that he and other innocents will get hurt or kill, is a really bad idea? I don't care if something's legal, or if there's no governing structure to make it illegal, it's at best immoral to encourage this sort of situation.

Put this way. The bounty is on bin Laden's head anyway, whether this guy goes to collect it or not. I assume it's public knowledge in northwest Pakistan that there's a huge bounty on this guy's head. Do you really think there aren't native-grown lunatics wandering around killing random tall skinny goatherds as it is?

Do you recommend that we remove the bounty on bin Laden's head because of the risk that other people will be killed by bin Laden hunters?

[Darth Yan]

I applaud the guy. Bin Laden's a douche who's evaded justice for far too long. Even if the guy's walking to a probable death I salute

[Invictus ChiKen]

I applaud the guy. Bin Laden's a douche who's evaded justice for far too long. Even if the guy's walking to a probable death I salute

As do I we need more heroes like this.

[Sarevok]

He is a fool and a textbook example of how not to collect a bounty.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Wow you accuse me of whining? That's rich. its not my fucking job to evaluate the metal health of people who are clearly able to function in society anyway. The US is a free country and you can't lock someone up for having bad ideas. In fact you can barely lock someone up for being dangerously violent.

When you decide to come back to reality, let me know, because you're addressing nothing I claimed. Where did I say he should be locked up? Where did I say people shouldn't be free to do that if they wanted? All I said was that outright encouraging unqualified people to put themselves and others at risk is fucking stupid. Your continued, delusional defense against things I'm not saying is rather good evidence of this.

[Jadeite]

I applaud the guy. Bin Laden's a douche who's evaded justice for far too long. Even if the guy's walking to a probable death I salute.

The mentally ill should not be encouraged in their delusions. I would bet that if this man hadn't been stopped, he'd have gotten into trouble and captured or killed, which could then escalate into usage of US military assets that would be put to better use elsewhere. The last thing needed in a war zone is a clueless American complicating the situation and probably getting himself or others killed (either friendly NATO soldiers/Pakistani security forces or civilians). This is just a stupid endangerment of not only his life but others.

[Simon_Jester]

When you decide to come back to reality, let me know, because you're addressing nothing I claimed. Where did I say he should be locked up? Where did I say people shouldn't be free to do that if they wanted? All I said was that outright encouraging unqualified people to put themselves and others at risk is fucking stupid. Your continued, delusional defense against things I'm not saying is rather good evidence of this.

Does that mean we should remove the bounty on bin Laden's head?

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Does that mean we should remove the bounty on bin Laden's head?

What? No, seriously, what? What does that have to do with *anything* I said? How do you go from "We shouldn't cheer incompetents who put themselves and others at risk" to "We should remove all incentive to apprehend mass-murderers"? Please, do explain how you jump from my statement to that assumption because otherwise I'm completely lost as to what you're trying to address.

[Simon_Jester]

What? No, seriously, what? What does that have to do with *anything* I said? How do you go from "We shouldn't cheer incompetents who put themselves and others at risk" to "We should remove all incentive to apprehend mass-murderers"? Please, do explain how you jump from my statement to that assumption because otherwise I'm completely lost as to what you're trying to address.

I'm not assuming what you think. I'm asking what you think.

As long as there is a bounty on bin Laden's head, one big enough to set someone up for life as a comfortably wealthy person, there will be loons who want to find him. Some of them will just be disturbed individuals who wander around their own neighborhood looking for bin Laden. Others will be disturbed individuals in Pakistan who go looking for him- it's not as if the US has a monopoly on crazy people. And yes, once in a while you get an idiot who goes flying out to Pakistan to hunt for him.

The only way to avoid this would be to pretty much call off the hunt for him- certainly to remove the bounty, which encourages loons to try and go after him. So how important is it to you that we not do anything to encourage the kind of lunacy this man shows? Should we keep the price on his head, and accept that once in a while a Pakistani goatherd probably gets killed by a disturbed Pakistani aiming for the reward who thinks he's bin Laden? Or should we remove the bounty?

It would appear that you prefer not to remove the bounty. If so, is there really anything we can do to keep this sort of random idiot from trying to hunt down bin Laden? Can we stop random idiot Americans, much less Pakistanis, from trying?

[Oni Koneko Damien]

What? No, seriously, what? What does that have to do with *anything* I said? How do you go from "We shouldn't cheer incompetents who put themselves and others at risk" to "We should remove all incentive to apprehend mass-murderers"? Please, do explain how you jump from my statement to that assumption because otherwise I'm completely lost as to what you're trying to address.

I'm not assuming what you think. I'm asking what you think.

<snip>

Okay, I understand now. My first statement on the matter was a little unclear.

I don't really care about the bounty at all. What I was addressing was the people on this board going "Way to go man! Fight the good fight!" in regards to someone who has a ridiculously greater chance of A) getting himself killed, B) getting himself captured and forcing the US to divert needed men and materials to bail his dumb ass out, C) getting innocent, unrelated people hurt and/or killed, or D) some combination of the above... than even catching a glimpse of Osama, let alone capturing/killing him.

Putting a bounty on anything will naturally draw incompetents looking for a quick profit, that's unavoidable. The only thing that can really be done is to make a societal impetus against stupid people rushing off to their guns, and it's a lot harder to do that when people hold the view of "Fight the good fight man! It doesn't matter if the risks you incur, to yourself an anyone nearby, vastly outweigh the benefits, the more meat we put into the grinder ('the more fools looking') the better!"

[Twigler]

Apparently 4chan claims that Gary visited their forum and that they were the ones to give him the advice to bring a big sword:
http://imgur.com/kMimE
I'm torn between feeling sorry for the obviously delusional guy or to chuckle at the image of him running around Afghanistan with a big honking sword like a modern day Conan looking for a modern day Tulsa Doom.