Gary Brooks Faulkner, the ex-construction worker turned rogue terrorist-hunter who was recently arrested in Pakistan, is not the first to take up a freelance role in the war on terror.
Matt Mihsen, a Syrian born, naturalized U.S. citizen, set out on the same mission to kill Osama bin Laden in 2005. Mishen was apprehended as he was ready to board a plane from Detroit to Syria after authorities found over $13,000 in cash, a Taser, ammunition, pepper spray, a bullet proof vest, and three Geiger counters in his luggage. Mihsen was hoping to claim the $25 million dollar bounty set by the U.S. government.
The man who truly set the precedent for counter-terror solo missions is Jonathan Keith “Jack” Idema. The New York native and ex-U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was sentenced to 10 years of prison after being convicted in September 2004 of running a private prison in Afghanistan and torturing Afghan citizens, though Idema claimed his operations were approved by U.S. officials.
