At 12:15 PM, while they ate lunch, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts. Families, former hostages and friends of hostages gathered solemnly in a Virginia courtroom. They held hands as the defendant rose and faced the jury which condemned him to life in federal prison
As each count was read aloud with the guilty verdict for the ISIS “Beatle” defendant El Shafee Elsheikh, James Foley’s mother Diane closed her eyes and pursed her lips as her son Jim’s name was spoken and the defendant was found guilty of offenses that led to his murder.
Apr 13, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A brutal finalé to the ISIS “Beatles” trial, now almost wrapped up. Closing arguments made and we await Govt rebuttal. The US case lacks direct evidence El Shafee Elsheikh was one of the quartet of British thugs who tortured and murdered many of the 26 western hostages. HOWEVER…
The US has played for the jury numerous media interviews Elsheikh gave during his detention by Syrian SDF, none more important than his admissions to my close friend British filmmaker Sean Langan, himself a former Taliban hostage. That’s their key evidence of his guilt. HOWEVER…
Aug 30, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
“Where there is hope there is life.” A kid named Anne Frank wrote that.
Sometimes hope fades. On my phone all weekend, the last bitter hours of America’s longest war were personified by a young mom in a dusty black abaya with her two young children sleeping in rubble.
A thread.
Moving along the Kabul airport perimeter to attempt entry on Saturday, this Afghan wife of a former US Army interpreter in the American South faced a hard fact. He is a US citizen but she is not. She and her kids are “USPERS” but to Taliban guards, they were just in the way.
Aug 27, 2021 • 17 tweets • 9 min read
BREAKING @ABC — US special operations vets carried out daring mission to save Afghan allies — 500 smuggled into Kabul Airport on Weds night in complex, heart-pounding op by Americans determined not to leave comrades behind abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-sp…
Thread: A very stressful June for a few US spec ops vets & me. Our dear brother, an Afghan special immigrant visa applicant—who hasn’t heard from the US emb despite 12 years fighting alongside US commandos—was trapped in a tiny base surrounded by Taliban texting him death threats
We heard from him around the clock for weeks as Taliban closed in, seizing Afghan govt checkpoints near his tiny outpost—many surrendering without a shot fired—surrounding his base where he was a contractor directing security for civil infrastructure
Jun 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
SCOOP @ABC — Hope dims for American hostage as US hastily exits Afghanistan. 3 options pursued include a swap for an Afghan drug lord, a commando rescue op, or encouraging Pakistan’s spy service to intervene. Only 3rd option viewed as viable now.
abcnews.go.com/US/hope-dims-a…
US intelligence is now assessing rumors that Pakistan’s ISI already has gotten involved in the Mark Frerichs matter, one source told me. Many assume he is held captive inside Pakistan, like most of the Haqqani network's Western hostages in the past.
My first story about US Capitol security was published for UPI 23 years ago. I interviewed lawmakers five months before gunman Russell Weston’s July 24, 1998 crazed attack which left 2 USCP officers dead. The issue was how to secure Congress and maintain public accessibility. 1/9
"The barricades give some amount of protection, but there's little protection against a determined terrorist," the late Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) told me in February 1998. (I’d known Ike since childhood.) "Americans should be able to visit their capital, and do it safely." 2/9
Oct 31, 2020 • 7 tweets • 5 min read
BREAKING @ABC — American citizen kidnapped last Monday in Niger has been rescued by a US special mission unit in neighboring Nigeria, US and Nigerien officials tell @ABC
By @meekwire@AichaEHC@cjf39
BREAKING @ABC — US citizen Philip Walton rescued by SEAL Team Six, who killed all but one captor in Nigeria, officials say. Walton, 27, was abducted by suspected criminals in Niger on Monday. Concern he’d end up in hands of terrorists drove urgency of op. abcnews.go.com/International/…
Oct 9, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
After the death in ISIS captivity of Kayla Mueller, her parents Carl and Marsha and Rev. @kmdday advised me to speak to two women in Turkey who were friends of Kayla’s and tried in vain to get the attention of US officials after she was kidnapped in 2013. abcn.ws/3jKW0RL
When I called young American journalist Halla Barakat and her Syrian activist mom Dr. Orouba in 2015, I was stunned to learn they made repeated calls to US diplomats in Turkey and no one gave them the time of day, even though they had the most knowledge about Kayla’s kidnapping.
Oct 7, 2020 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
BREAKING @ABC — Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are in the air at this hour on their way to Washington to be charged as ISIS guards of 4 murdered US hostages, US official tells me. The “Beatles” are expected to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Va. this afternoon.
It cannot be overstated what an emotional moment this is for families of ISIS hostages murdered in captivity that these two Londoners are finally coming to the US District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. They will have the last word. They also still want information.
Story by @joshmargolin & @meekwire
From that warning in November by DIA’s National Center for Medical Intelligence, sources described repeated briefings through December for policy-makers and decision-makers as well as the National Security Council at the White House.
