Some Insider Information...

If you read the tabloids or entertainment news at all, you should be aware that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (who always has terribly chapped lips by the way, which I find difficult to look at even if the rest of him is pretty darn attractive) are coming out with a new movie about Daniel Pearl and his wife.

Personally, I have no plans whatsoever to see it because it smacks of that schmaltzy, post-9/11 patriotism that annoys me. (Laura, is that witchy enough for you?)

But regardless... I saw an article on Yahoo news two days ago, entitled "Pearl Film Could Help State Bureau," and I did a double take.

Now, if you're too lazy to click the link and read the whole article, it basically says this:

"The State Department's little-known law enforcement and protection arm, eager to raise its profile, is trying to take advantage of the global buzz around Angelina Jolie's film about journalist Daniel Pearl's murder in Pakistan.

The State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security is trumpeting its role in the Pearl case ahead of the opening of "A Mighty Heart" on Friday.

DS, as it is known, focuses on the film's portrayal of Randall Bennett, a Diplomatic Security agent who was posted to Karachi, Pakistan, when the Wall Street Journal reporter was abducted there in 2002. Bennett played a key part in the hunt for Pearl's kidnappers and killers."

I couldn't believe what I was reading!

I worked for this mysterious bureau for almost four years as an analyst before I came back to grad school, and I (yes, me, your blogger) debriefed Randall Bennett when he came back to the US from Pakistan about three years ago (after the Daniel Pearl incident).

Here's Randall...

... well-known for always, and only, wearing all black. And he's very nice & polite.

Anyway, the last paragraph of the article reads:

"With Bennett's help, several men were arrested and convicted for Pearl's murder."

But here's something I (and soon to be you) know that the article didn't say...

Randall explained to me how they tracked these guys down (sorry, can't tell you that part), and how the Pakistani security services drove into a few of Karachi's worst neighborhoods in the middle of the night to find some of the guys who were involved in the kidnapping plot.

He told me that after they arrested about eight guys (each of whom ratted out the other, thus becoming successively more important in the hierarchy), they got to a real bad ass guy who had fought in Afghanistan and was scarred up and tough as nails.

Randall said the guy just refused to crack under interrogation. He said, "I just couldn't believe how long that guy lasted under interrogation."

And I said, "Ohhh, what did the Pakistanis do to him?"

And Randall said, "You don't want to know. Really. But this guy lasted an eternity in there before he finally told them anything. No one could believe how long he could take it."

And then I said, "Oh, did it last several days?"

And Randall looked at me incredulously and said, "No... he was in there about 20 minutes."

Oh.