So the thing I am wondering is if Gary Faulkner was at all motivated by the 25 million dollar bounty on Bin Laden’s head? The other thing to point out is that Gary had gone to Pakistan 7 times! He had been to Chitral 3 times, and this guy was definitely on a mission.
The other angle on this is that he could have been religiously motivated, and I would be interested to hear who was whispering in his ear. Is there a Christian version of al-Awlaki out there? Gary did have some religious literature on him. And what is with the sword? lol
Then of course there could be the patriot or vengeance angle. 9/11 hurt many, and this could have been a motivating factor for the guy. 9/11 motivates many to do what they are doing in the military or contracting, so it would not be odd to me for a guy to want to go it alone out of vengeance. That, and the fact that Bin Laden is still free, despite all the wars and all the resources expended.
Gary was in poor health as well and maybe he felt like he had nothing to lose. Lots of motives here.
My guess is that it is a little bit of everything. What really kills me, is why did Pakistan arrest him? Oh thats right, Gary is a threat to the ‘monopoly of force’ and is a ‘nut job’ for attempting to kill Bin Laden–the most wanted man in the world. Arrested for doing the job that Pakistan or the US, with all of it’s wealth and resources, has not been able to accomplish since September of 2001. –Matt
Edit: 06/16/2010 – Gary’s brother, Dr. Scott Faulkner said Gary was trained in Hapkido, hence why he was carrying the sword. Gary had also been going back and forth for the last 7 years and was after OBL with a passion. Scott said he was ‘like a bulldog’. Dr. Faulkner said that Gary was not crazy or psychotic, and that his driving forces was vengeance and a frustration with the government’s inability to get Bin Laden. Here is the video.
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Pakistan holds American reportedly hunting bin Laden
By Gul Hameed Farooqui
June 15, 2010
CHITRAL, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan detained an American armed with a dagger, a pistol and night vision goggles for allegedly trying to sneak into Afghanistan to hunt and kill al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden, police said on Tuesday.
Californian Gary Faulkner was caught in the Brumboret Valley near the border of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province and was being questioned in Peshawar, Chitral police Chief Jaffer Khan said.
“He was roaming in the security zone in a suspicious manner. He had a dagger and night vision goggles with him. He is being investigated,” Khan said.
Khan said Faulkner was born in 1959.
Mumtaz Ahmed, a senior police investigator, said Faulkner was also carrying a pistol and was hunting bin Laden because he suffered personal losses in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
An intelligence official in Chitral, who asked not to be identified, said Faulkner shouted “Don’t come closer to me or I’ll open fire!” when approached.
Faulkner arrived in Chitral on June 3 and was staying in a local hotel, Ahmed said. Khan said he had visited Chitral seven times previously.
“He says that he is a kidney patient. He was also carrying medicines for kidney and blood pressure treatment,” Ahmed said.
