Rogue US Army Vet Declared Dead By Pro-Assad Group

[K9Grip]

Rogue U.S. Army veteran fighting for Syrian rebels is declared dead in graphic video posted online by pro-Assad group
By HAYLEY PETERSON
PUBLISHED: 11:15 EST, 15 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:55 EST, 15 March 2013
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A U.S. Army veteran who was fighting for Syrian rebel forces has been declared dead in a graphic YouTube video showing at least a half dozen dead bodies.
The bloodied face of someone resembling Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, was shown in the video, which was posted Wednesday under the title, 'Terrorists, including American Extremist "Eric Harroun" Have Been Terminated.'
The Pentagon said it is aware of the video but could not confirm whether Harroun is alive or dead.
'We are aware of the reports and we're watching them,' Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren told MailOnline.
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Eric Harroun (right), a 30-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Phoenix, has joined al Qaeda alias Jabhat al-Nusra after months of fighting with Syrian rebels

Video: A man carries a dead body wrapped in a white sheet into the back of a van

Graphic: The five-minute video shows charred, dead bodies burning in a street (bodies not shown here)
MailOnline has not been able to verify whether the image has been doctored or if the person pictured is in fact Harroun, or is even dead. MailOnline has reached out to Harroun directly and his family members regarding the video, which was first reported by AOL Defense writer Colin Clark.
Someone using Harroun's Facebook account messaged Clark on Friday saying he is alive and well and that the claims were false.
The graphic five-minute video shows charred, dead bodies burning in a street. A group of men can be seen throwing a blanket over one of the bodies and carrying it to a truck.
The person filming appears to be an American, at one point speaking English in an American accent, and someone in the comment section of the YouTube video remarked that it could be Harroun filming. At the end of the video, the image of the bloodied man - the one that resembles Harroun - is displayed for a couple seconds.

Harroun, who is known among Syrian rebels and loyalists as 'The American,' joined the U.S. Army in 2000 and he was dishcharged with full disability pay for an injury in 2003 without ever having seen battle

The video carries a graphic for 'Syria Tube,' a pro-Assad website

The video was posted following reports earlier this week that Harroun had left Syria for Turkey and that he had joined al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra after losing his Syrian friends in the heat of battle. MailOnline has decided not to link to the video due to its graphic content.
'Getting into al-Nusra is not rocket science,' he said in an interview with Fox. 'It just takes balls and brains.'
Harroun's family vehemently denies that he has joined the terrorist-backed group, claiming that he is only helping Syrian rebel forces.
Harroun, who is known among Syrian rebels and loyalists as 'The American,' joined the U.S. Army in 2000 and he was discharged with full disability pay for an injury in 2003 without ever having seen battle, according to his father.
He was injured while riding in a pickup truck that hit a tree and he now has a steel plate in his head, his father Darryl Harroun told Fox.

Rebel fighting: In his time working for the U.S. army, Harroun never actually served in battle but earned his disability check because he was hit in a car crash on a base

Harroun revels in his 'hero' status and brags on Facebook and in YouTube vidoes of his bloody exploits in the Middle East

Harroun right) describes himself as a Sunni Muslim on Facebook and writes about his hatred of Israel and Zionists
'Now he has mood swings and what-not,' he said. 'He was already suffering from depression before that, and the accident just kind of multiplied it,' the elder Mr Harroun said he frequently talks to his son by phone.
He said he doesn't agree with what Eric is doing but can't get him to stop.
'He just loves that part of the world,' his father said. 'We scratch our heads and wonder what the hell he's doing.
'I told him, "You're never going to change those people's minds over there." But he says they treat him like a hero.'
Eric's life has changed dramatically from the days when he worked at Artisan Mortgage company in Phoenix, Arizona from 2006 to 2008 where he described his job as finalizing 'applications for home loans or second mortgages,and a lot of other boring paperwork.'

Domestic life: Before going overseas, Harroun lived in this Phoenix, Arizona apartment building

Previous life: He worked at Artisan Mortgage Company from 2006 to 2008 finalizing second mortgages 'and alot of other boring paperwork'


Proud: Now he posts pictures as he holds machine guns and dressed in army fatigues while in Syria
Eric Harroun revels in his 'hero' status and brags on Facebook and in YouTube videos of his bloody exploits in the Middle East.
His Facebook page is littered with photos of himself brandishing handguns, rifles, mortars and other weaponry.
'He says they treat him like a hero.'

-Eric's father Darryl Harroun says
In a photo of himself holding a mortar in one hand and a rifle in the other that he posted on Facebook, he writes, 'Lol Army of Darkness, This is my BOOM STICK. Lol.'
A lit cigarette hangs out of his mouth in the image and in a similar photo featuring a sniper rifle, where he writes, 'Ready to tear Bashar Al-Assads [sic] Army and the Shabehah apart!!'
He describes himself as a Sunni Muslim on Facebook and writes about his hatred of Israel and Zionists. Under his 'Favorite Quotations' section of his profile he writes, 'The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.'

The Syrian rebel group Amr ibn al-'Aas Brigade told Fox that 'The American' was working with them until last month - about the time he reportedly joined Al-Nusra

Harroun's father said he fears for his son's safety and has little doubt that he will lose him battles abroad

Early on: Harroun appears to have been in Cairo's Tehir Square at the time of the Arab Spring in 2011
In a YouTube video uploaded in mid-January, Harroun warns Assad that his days are 'numbered.'
'Bashar Assad, your days are numbered,' he says in the video, where he is surrounded by several rebel fighters.
'You are going down in flames. You should just quit now, while you can, and leave. You are going to die, no matter what. Where you go we will find you and kill you. Do you understand?'
At another point, he changed his Facebook status to read that he was 'LMAO at Bashar Al-Assads Speech today!!!!!'
The Syrian rebel group Amr ibn al-’Aas Brigade told Fox that 'The American' was working with them until last month - about the time he reportedly joined al-Nusra.
Harroun's father said he fears for his son's safety and has little doubt that he will lose him battles abroad.
'I know one day I'm going to get a message from over there, telling me my son is dead,' he said.

[Smackeddie]

someone added a video in the watercooler,, it should be put on here

[K9Grip]

Meng posted it in his thread.

[Bletch]

An Al-Qaeda recruit with other words.

[Smackeddie]

hang on,, if he goes to fight for america in a war he doesnt believe in he would be classed as a hero.
but if he stands up to fight for another cause that he passionately believes in he is a rogue?
WTF. fucking media. not that i agree with him, its the principles of it.

any way its common knowledge that UK france and USA have been giving support to the rebels, a 5 second search of the main news sites tells you that. they have been providing intelligence and "support" regarding high hurt targets.

you seriously dont think the west isnt going to try and take some kind of advantage out of this situation lol

[ices]

It will be interesting to see where his head ends up once the regime is gone and they all turn on each other.

There is one constant in war and conflict, tribal and religious rivalries never go away.

I look forward to his beheading video.

[Bletch]

Originally Posted by ices

It will be interesting to see where his head ends up once the regime is gone and they all turn on each other.

There is one constant in war and conflict, tribal and religious rivalries never go away.

I look forward to his beheading video.

He will become another Gadahn-type American in Al-Qaeda.

[ices]

Originally Posted by Bletch

He will become another Gadahn-type American in Al-Qaeda.

The CIA will kill him themselves before he could do that.

In fact, I would bet they already have a plan in place for that.

[Tiffany32]

Eric is a deluded guy. He is helping our enemy. We have no friend in this fight. If Syria's government falls there will be more chaos and killings then there is now. The so called "freedom fighters" are religious fanatics with little to no oganization . What a mess they have over there !

[Bletch]

When Assad is gone Syria will be at peace? no they will continue to fight each other, clan vs clan, Sunni vs Shia....it will be an eternal conflict. We should be happy that that disgruntled rabble is unorganized that terrorist playground is contained to the Middle East. There can be no peace, everyone hates everyone. How will it end?! It will
Implode and when the oil runs out a wasteland... And even more so if there will be a limited nuclear war between Iran and Israel.
Sadly The war against terror will last until the Middle East is gone...