Bigfella:
The propaganda value of men in David Hick's situation - AND origin - to the Talibunnies was tremendous in the pre-9/11 days; in certain circles the value may endure. As a fighter such a man may have only been a low-rung "dickhead", but in propaganda videos a foreign volunteer from a Western country was worth a hundred veterans from Chechnya or Kashmir.
Such videos play a dual role: To motivate, by shaming and cajoling, local Moslem youth to join their fight which even foreigners are shown joining; and to sow dissension and confusion in their opponents' ranks by creating an image of Western backing. For an uneducated Pathan boy such a man would have been Rambo incarnate; conversely for a Tajik boy it would be a disheartening sight to see "CIA" backing up the 'bunnies. The 'bunnies may be crude in their approach, but their target audience is cruder. You cannot dismiss the effort as "childish" by the effect it had on
you - you are not the primary audience.
PS: It seems that such men's propaganda value has not diminished that much even now - Certainly each such case has caused a lot more confusion in their opponents ranks than the hundred of Uzbek, Chechen or Pakistani veterans who were picked up by the lynch-mobs or Dostum's cargo containers.
