David Rohde wrote a 5 part series on being held captive by the Taliban which is on the New York Times website. It’s an interesting read. I found this pretty funny:
My Taliban guards slept beneath bedspreads manufactured by a Pakistani textile company and emblazoned with characters from the American television show “Hannah Montana” and the movie “Spider-Man.” My blanket was a pink Barbie comforter.
I wonder if the FBI will investigate Disney now. I mean they have Fahad Hashmi on 23 hour lock down in an NYC maximum security prison for sleeping over at a person’s house who was trying to send socks and rain coats to the Taliban. So will they contact Disney for supplying the Taliban with Hannah Montana blankets.
I also found this pretty cool and interesting. Kind of shows a different side of some of the Taliban:
On other nights, at my guards’ urging, I switched to American tunes. In a halting, off-key voice, I sang Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York” and described it as the story of a villager who tries to succeed in the city and support his family. I sang Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” and described it as a portrayal of the struggles of average Americans.
I realized that my guards, too, might have needed a break from our grim existence. But I felt like a performing monkey when they told me to sing for visiting commanders. I knew they were simply laughing at me.
I intentionally avoided American love songs, trying to dispel their belief that all Americans were hedonists. Despite my efforts, romantic songs — whatever their language — were the guards’ favorites.
The Beatles song “She Loves You,” which popped into my head soon after I received my wife’s letter from the Red Cross, was the most popular.
For reasons that baffled me, the guards relished singing it with me. I began by singing its first verse. My three Taliban guards, along with Tahir and Asad, then joined me in the chorus.
“She loves you — yeah, yeah, yeah,” we sang, with Kalashnikovs lying on the floor around us.
I actually think this is good, because it humanizes them in a way that Americans never see them. Most Americans think they are monsters savaging for blood killing anyone who doesn’t agree with them. This shows them enjoying themselves and having fun.
Just to clarify, technically it was all halal, since there was no musical instruments involved. Just a Capella (voice only). For those who are interested in the song they sung together, here is the YouTube link.
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