Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Taliban

[Razor]

Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Taliban

Despite saving wounded Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan and helping 'Lone Survivor' make tens of millions in profits at the box office, Mohammad Gulab is struggling to protect his family from an endless stream of Taliban attacks.

In 2005, the rural village dweller lived in a small town in the mountainous Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, along the contentious border with Pakistan. While in the wilderness near his home, Gulab discovered the severely wounded Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.Shot in the leg and suffering from fractures in three vertebrae, Luttrell desperately needed water and medical care after his unit was involved in a firefight with the Taliban. He was the sole survivor from his unit of four.

An ethnic Pashtun, Gulab felt obliged to help the stranger, and carried him to his home where he was given shelter, food, water, and medical attention. Also given was protection from the Taliban, who knew Luttrell was being sheltered in the village, but could not find out where, thanks to the tight-lipped attitude of residents.

A villager eventually snuck past fighters guarding the area to deliver a hand-written note to a US military base. When commanders had possession of the message with the location of Luttrell, they dispatched helicopters and soldiers to retrieve the wounded solider.

The selfless act of kindness, based on the Pashtun culture's three-millennium old principle of Melmastia – showing hospitality to any who need it – earned Gulab and his village praise and recognition across the world.

Five years after the unselfish act, Gulab traveled to the US to visit Luttrell, who assisted his rescuer in obtaining a visa and paying for a plane ticket. The "brothers," as they referred to themselves, were featured in a 60 Minutes piece that told the tale of compassion and love for all peoples.

The story of a single soldier surviving a Taliban attack and being given shelter in the remote wilderness of Afghanistan was irresistible to Hollywood, which produced the 2014 movie 'Lone Surivior.' Mark Wahlberg starred as Luttrell.

As part of a promotional blitz, Universal Studios, the distributor for the movie, brought Gulab back to America for interviews and other publicity events.

Depending on whose view is taken, either a series of misunderstandings or the abandoning of Gulab then occurred, forcing his return to Afghanistan.

During his time promoting 'Lone Surivor,' he became homesick and felt abandoned, often left alone in the bedroom of his interpreter's home. "I felt like a prisoner," Gulab told Sami Yousafzai and Mike Spies of Vocativ.

Once his role in the promotional events was over, nearly all contact between Luttrell and himself stopped. In the same Vocativ article, Gulab says "Marcus [had] absolutely disconnected himself."

A month before his visa was set to expire, Luttrell's family unexpectedly drove Gulab to the airport in Houston and told him goodbye. He was then on his way back to Afghanistan.

Complicating the plot, when the Luttrells learned Galub was speaking to Vocativ, he claims he received a $10,000 offer from the family to stop cooperating with the reporters.

Threats and multiple assassination attempts followed his return to Afghanistan and still continue. Often, his family is caught in the crosshairs of indiscriminate targeting by the Taliban. Bombings, shootings and near constant harassment continue, despite the family fleeing their small town to the larger city of Asadabad.

While in the US, Gulab had the opportunity to apply for asylum, but not understanding the process and implications, he chose not to apply. Certain he would be granted a green card due to his celebrity status and the praise he was receiving, his hopes were eventually dashed. He returned as an ordinary Afghani citizen to his home country, where he still fears for the safety of his family.

Source: Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Taliban — RT USA

Melmastia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pashtunwali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Voldemort]

Re: Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Talib

Saw the movie a few days ago.

He should be given protection or allowed to move to the U.S. What a brave man!

 

[Razor]

Re: Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Talib

But Gulab did more than provide shelter. Taliban fighters visited the village repeatedly offering to pay Gulab to hand the SEAL over. Gulab refused. Irate Afghans from a nearby village that had been hit by US bombers also showed up demanding that the American be handed over. They wanted to kill him. Gulab refused. Bound by a sense of honor, Gulab put himself and his family at risk for an American sailor; a wounded one at that.

So, how have we paid him back? He was detained and interrogated recently at Bagram Air Force Bace in Afghanistan.

Late on Friday, April 14—the week NEWSWEEK's
story appeared—Gulab's phone rang. The caller told him to come to the
U.S. base at 11 the next morning, and Gulab barely slept that night,
thinking the Americans were going to relocate him and his family out of
danger. When he reported to the main gate on Saturday, he found a pair
of U.S. soldiers waiting for him. They checked his name—and then
handcuffed and blindfolded him, hauling him off to an unlit room in a
remote corner of the base. There, he says, he was placed in a cage so
cramped that he could neither stand up nor lie down. (*American hospitality towards a pathan in return for saving a Navy Seal's life )

Hours
later, two Americans and an interpreter entered the room and began
interrogating him. Most of the questions were about his life and his
family, although Gulab couldn't imagine why. He was sure his captors
knew exactly who he was, he says. They inquired about ties to al Qaeda,
a question he considered insulting. Hadn't he saved an American
commando's life? And the interrogators kept returning to the subject of
his contacts with NEWSWEEK. They had searched him and found a NEWSWEEK
reporter's business card with an Islamabad address. The interrogators
kept asking when he had been to Pakistan and where had gone, although
he told them he had not traveled to the Pakistani capital.

Navy SEALs I know are not happy about this. Here are a couple of reactions to this news:

"----! The assholes in Bagram will not approve REAL targets that we have, yet they screw with an actual person who helped a brother in need. Muther----ers!"

Too bad our military and political leaders overseeing the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan do not have the sense of honor and decency of Mohammad Gulab.

Source: article form 2006 : Meet Mohammad Gulab, Hero : NO QUARTER USA NET

 

[maomao]

Re: Afghan hero behind 'Lone Survivor' film being hunted down by Talib

Rather than giving citizenship to shameless treacherous paki into US, they should give citizenship to good people like Mohammad Gulab and his family. They will die for the US to save it than what beggarass jihadi pakis do!