Taliban Releases Video of US Soldier

The Taliban released a video today of a captured American soldier who went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30. The Pentagon has not publicly identified him yet. The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Asked in English how he's doing, he responds, "Well I'm scared, scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."

He begins to answer questions in a matter-of-fact voice but later chokes up talking about his girlfriend, "who is hoping to marry," and his family. "I miss them and I'm afraid that I might not ever see them again." Prompted to give a message to Americans, he says, "Please, please bring us home so that we can be back where we belong and not over here, wasting our time and our lives. ... Please bring us home. It is America and American people who have that power." (More Taliban stories.)