Travis Timmerman’s journey, a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts, ultimately led him to Damascus.
From what can be gathered through various interviews this morning with western journalists, the reasons for his trip are likely too complicated to explain, too simple for many people to accept, and possibly not even fully known to Timmerman himself.
So I won’t spend a lot of time chasing down those lines of questions.
What we do know is that American Travis Timmerman, originally from Missouri, has been found alive in Damascus after surviving months of imprisonment in a Syrian jail.
Initially it was thought that the American discovered by a Turkish news crew might be missing American journalist Austin Tice — missing since 2012 and last known to be in Damascus.
Elizabeth Palmer on the ground in Syria for CBS was one of the first western journalists to track him down and talk to Timmerman about his ordeal.
Check out this amazing video of their discussion in a house south of Damascus this morning.
Describing his time in the Syrian prison, Timmerman said he was never beaten.
He indicated the worst part of his 7 months in the prison was that opportunities to go to the bathroom only came three times a day, according to a report by CBS News:
Timmerman said two men armed with AK-47s broke his prison door down Monday with a hammer.
“My door was busted down, it woke me up,” Timmerman said. “I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being… Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.”
“I was never beaten. The only really bad part was that I couldn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to. I was only let out three times a day to go to the bathroom,” he said.
Timmerman said he left the prison with a large group and started walking away. He said he had been trying to head toward Jordan.
He said he “had a few moments of fear,” when he left the prison, and hadn’t really processed that he was free.
“I still haven’t really thought about that. I’ve been more worried about finding a place to sleep each night since then,” he told CBS News. “So I’ve been working, really.”
Timmerman said he hadn’t been afraid to approach people to ask for help or a place to sleep at night on his journey.
“They were coming to me, mostly,” Timmerman said, adding that he’d spoken with his family three weeks ago, through a phone that he had while in prison. He said he had been allowed to use it.
Matt Bradley with MSNBC also caught up to Timmerman in the same house where CBS reporter Elizabeth Palmer found him.
The atmosphere in the house seems tense, with everyone vying for a chance to ask Timmerman questions. But it also becomes apparent that there is a representative of the “new” government standing off camera, and his intentions are not quite clear in any of the videos.
As Matt is listening to Timmerman answer his questions, you can hear in several of the clips a U.S. special liaison with the State Department attempting to coordinate security for the newly discovered American with nearby “Special Forces” and the State Department.
The liaison seems to be attempting to cajole Timmerman into accepting U.S. help in the next clip, cautioning him about the potential that the security situation could deteriorate rapidly.
The man the liaison is talking to on the phone, his boss, is Roger Carstens of the U.S. State Department.
Carstens is the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and is likely tasked with getting any and all Americans found in Syria out of harms way in order to mitigate any political leverage the new “government” of Syria may decide to exert in the form of — you guessed it — hostages.
Having travelled in sketchy places, under sketchy conditions, for reasons not comprehensible to many people… I must confess that I understand Timmerman’s hesitancy to put himself under the protection of the U.S. government if he feels that he has not accomplished all he was intended to accomplish on his trip.
The U.S. officials have one primary concern in this instance, and that is preventing harm to Americans and avoiding an international flap by doing so.
In other words, accepting help from the State Department means a quick ride home, which Timmerman may not see as a good thing; surprising as that might be to many.
I can also appreciate the complete frustration of the State Department liaison who simply cannot fathom why this American — newly broken out of a Syrian prison, and with questionable characters around every corner — will not simply accept a ride out of there, back to the comforts of “home”.
Here is the third and final clip of Matt Bradley’s conversation with Timmerman.
I also can’t help but recognize the complete panic on the liaison’s face as Timmerman openly and honestly states that he crossed the border into Syria illegally, and was spotted by a border guard, leading to his imprisonment.
Timmerman told CBS that he had been able to speak with his family by phone a few weeks prior, according to a report in the New York Post:
A scruffy, bearded man who identified himself as missing Missouri resident Travis Timmerman was found in Syria Thursday — and said he was imprisoned after traveling to the country “for spiritual purposes.”
Timmerman said he was detained seven months ago after entering Syria without permission when he crossed the border from Lebanon.
He had traveled from Europe to Lebanon for “spiritual purposes” — and described himself to NBC News as a religious “pilgrim.”
He was found by journalists walking barefoot in the town of Dhiyabia outside the capital on Thursday as he headed toward Jordan.
Timmerman told CBS he had the chance to speak with his family on the phone three weeks ago while in prison.
Matt Bradley related the following on X after talking to Timmerman.
Again, I can’t help but smile at how Timmerman’s calm contented demeanor so powerfully jars those around him.
While Timmerman is no doubt lucky (you might say, ‘blessed’) to be alive, having endured such a long stay in a Syrian prison, the danger on the ground in Damascus is only likely to increase over the coming days as the dust settles and new realities take shape.
The New York Post article confirmed what CBS also reported, that U.S. officials were aware Timmerman had been found and were working to provide support.
At the time of writing it is unknown whether Timmerman accepted the help being offered by the State Department, or opted to continue his pilgrimage on his own.
This story will be updated if new information becomes available.
No comments:
Post a Comment