I was the last surviving hostage, held captive for over 2 years - (Reddit Ask Me Anything)

read it ask me anything I am Peter Moore the longest held hostage in Iraq kept captive for over 2.5 years ask me anything in April of 2007 I accepted a three-month posting in Iraq working for the American IT consulting firm BearingPoint I arrived in Baghdad on the 2nd of April 2007 where my main job was to develop spending reports from the computer system used within the Ministry of Finance on the 29th of May 2007 around 100 Iraqi police officers from the Ministry of Interior entered the building and took away myself and four British guards for six months I was moved around meeting up with the British guards in December of 2007 I was separated from the other Britons and was held with two Americans in June of 2007 I was transported back to Baghdad and this was the last time I had contact with any of the other hostages in May of 2009 the number-two commander of the militia Laith al khali was released from US custody in exchange for the bodies of two of the British guards in September over 100 million exchanged for the body of one of the guards on the 30th of December 2009 946 days or 2 years 7 months and one day after I was captured I was released in exchange for the militia leader case al khazneh the last of the hostages bodies were eventually handed over in early 2012 ask me anything what was the first 24 hours like when you returned while I was handed over to the British Embassy in Baghdad the very first thing I saw on TV was Lady gaga I did not know what this was about it was very strange seeing myself on all the news channels what was your happiest or at the very least most tolerable memory of your time and captivity when they took the chains off after two years and Toodee me I could walk around the room how has life changed few after this my work ethic has changed completely I used to be a workaholic now I only work a few months each year and holiday the rest did your employer's set you up for life surely you deserve to spend the rest of your days at peace no my company went bankrupt in 2009 but my division got purchased so I got my salary nothing additional how did you stay sane were you in constant fear for your life or did you kind of realize somehow that they were going to try and use you to bargain after a while in the final year I had a TV and Playstation so that helped once I was out of the blindfold I used to join dots on the wall pretending they were metro stations and I designed a new computer I would also try to solve mathematical problems with shapes on the curtain and conduct job interviews with my pillow will you abused or simply held I got beaten had broken ribs cracked skull from being hit on the head glass smashed on my leg was kept in Chains for two years handcuffed and blindfolded for a year mock executions all good stuff zero zero if it's not too difficult do you mind elaborating on what your living conditions were in what kinds of physical and mental stresses you were subject to I was moved around every couple of months one time they took me outside knelt me down put a gun to my head and caused the trigger at the same time they fired another gun off behind my back I thought I was dead that might the craziest [ __ ] I've read on reddit I can't even ducking imagine that you're saying everything that happened to you as if it's no big deal like yeah I got chained up and wasn't allowed to stand for like a year and there were fake executions and I thought I was dead truly I don't even know how to begin thinking about that it really puts things into perspective I just want to try and answer the questions as honestly as I can I'm not sure if this would freak me out or surprise me that there is life after death after the gun went off you were still thinking I wasn't really sure what had happened you stuff about seeing lights and corridors and all that so I was surprised when none of that happened I assume you never got to see a doctor during your two years and seven months of captivity so did all your wounds get healed up correctly or do you still experience physical problems at the places you were injured most of my wounds healed I have a scare on my leg a dent in my head and one off my back teeth was removed as it got broken when I was hit in the jaw with an ak-47 did the captors ever reveal why everyone was murdered but you did you offer something valuable to them as incentive to keep you around they told me that they were killed either because they tried to escape or because they were being held in a house that the militia thought was being raided one of my regrets is not pushing harder for the exact circumstances of each one but at the time I remember thinking that they are dead and there is nothing I can do to change that I just need to concentrate on myself now did you learn the language of your captors if so did you try to learn or did it just happen I did try to learn Arabic and I did learn some localized slang that way I was able to work out which area of Iraq the various captors came from was there anything positive you took from this I'm trying to imagine but I can't think of anything good being experienced I was in Tarawa no six and I was amazed at how horribly they treated each other I can't imagine what you must have gone through sure I live in an Iraq house during those war times so it was interesting to see how people lived without electricity or running water also learned some of the language and learnt about Islam I saw you said you had a Playstation and TV your last year what did you play what did you watch who gave you these what were your living conditions like how many people were around you what was your mindset going into your job initially how close were you to your guards I played some FIFA football game and couple of shooting games I used to watch TV with the Iraqis and we spent a lot of time watching NCIS CSI and Prison Break which annoyed me going into my job I really believed I would make some difference I have worked in IT for years and I specialize in developing countries the guards fell later three groups downright evil would hit us ones adjust did their job didn't talk but just gave the food et Cie ones that actively wanted to improve their English will know more about us besides being released and seeing your family what did you desire crave wish for the most her symbolism garlic bread was what I wanted most I was in Baghdad when you were taken the rumor was that there were one or more other BearingPoint employees there that day that were hidden and saved by the Iraqi is working at morph is this true also the story was that VIPs got you all out of the vehicle by pouring gasoline over it and threatening to light it yes there was another British BearingPoint employee there and apparently he was hidden by his Araki coworkers I don't know about the carpet as I was inside the ministry along with two of the guards what was something or someone significant other family children etc that kept you going every day when I was first taken I told them I had a wife so I spent my time building on this imaginary wife I based the person on an ex-girlfriend have you told her about this yes she is actually in Guyana South America which is where I was working before Iraq did you meditate while being held hostage yes very much fortunately my mum taught me yoga as a kid so I was able to use some of that how much would you say yoga helps you cope it helped me relax and I think that stopped me from trying to fight the Iraqis I guess it gave me some sort of focus do you suffer from any form of post-traumatic stress disorder after the whole ordeal I was checked out by a military psych when I got out and I was given the all-clear but I have my moments I usually only get flashbacks a couple of times a day now where as it used to two or three times a minute were there any moments when you thought you wouldn't make it out alive I thought that it would all be over within six months dead or alive in 2009 when I was told everyone else was dead I thought they would kill me also how close did you ever come to committing suicide both in terms of the opportunity and the decision to do it opportunity was there in mid 2009 I was going to use the chain I thought it was very fitting to hang myself using the chain that they had kept me in for two years the only reason I did not go through with it is because I would not be able to see the reaction of the Iraqis as they walked in and saw me hanging there did they ever try to make you say negative things about England or the US I know some people are forced to do that yes I had to say it on video and number off time I had to say that the coalition was bad banned that the militia was good et Cie did they ever torture you into saying something they just pointed a gun at me and told me to speak into the camera felt it wasn't worth arguing too much what was the worst moment of captivity and besides being free again what was the best in 2009 after I knew the others were dead I was taken out of the chains that I had been kept in for two years I thought it would be fitting to hang myself using the chain the best bit was after the first year than they took the handcuffs off and allowed me to stand up you weren't allowed to stand up what was that like for nearly a year I was handcuffed chained and blindfolded so I couldn't move much I got very sick and lost all of my muscles when they took the handcuffs off my back and shoulders hurt for months I forget what it's called but did you ever have that thing where you sympathized with your captures Stockholm Syndrome this was something I did not suffer from how do you feel about your captors I do t have strong feelings about them they were against the military occupation which annoyed me as I wasn't military you sound very calm considering what you went through are you at all angry at them if you happen to find them on your turf would you kill them torture them once they were arrested and thrown in jail what's done is done I can turn the clock back I knew that I was going to Iraq I knew the risks I never thought I would be held so long off a bullet purposes if I ever met them again I would just talk to them but the beating would have to take place on neutral ground glad you're back Thanks me too you know reddit respects you when they let that to slide do you have any advice for someone if they were to get into this type of situation try to get your captors to treat you as a human and try to show them you have some boundaries try to get things from them to see how far they will go out of their way I asked for certain foods and certain types of toothpaste do you want to go back and avenge yourself and others against your hostage takers does it make you feel like your government didn't care about you but cared more about the already dead soldiers being that they were being released for the militia before you edit grammar spelling I would be interesting and meeting the group which is now a political party within the Iraqi government not sure I would go to Iraq to meet them though I feel more likely I would meet them at a UN meeting in New York or somewhere similar for some reason it was policy of the British government to get the elders out first they never explained to me why this was policy does oldies refer to the bodies sorry if that is a stupid question had her unusual policy regardless oops sorry typo yes I meant bodies I pad is not a good device for typing on will you compensate it in any way did they roll out the red carpet when you were released also who from your personal life did you see first and what was the conversation like no compensation I just got my salary bearing points the company I worked for actually went bankrupt in 2009 but my division was bought out so that company carried on paying my salary the first people I met were my step parents in a government house back in the UK so that company carried on paying my salary just to be clear you do mean they kept paying you while you were hostage right they didn't take you off payroll or anything right correct they kept paying me while I was a hostage interestingly I also got pay rises and promotion if there was one thing you could have done differently what would that one thing be I think with hindsight we should have not stayed as long as I did with the Ministry of Finance what the everlasting duct I am a news junky I have never heard anything about this tell me more does this happen often it wasn't published very much and I haven't done much PR about it but Google Peter Moore hostage and you will find loads of articles also if you search Peter Moore in the reddit search box articles come up silly question but were you aware when your birthday or a significant others birthday had passed that really is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw you were a captive two and half years I managed to keep track of days pretty well I worked the week Tuesday - Tuesday as that was the day we were abducted in late 2008 onwards I had a TV so it was easy to keep track of time with that do you think your captors are bad people or good people on the opposite side of a conflict no I just think they were in a conflict what is interesting is that this militia were actually enemies of Saddam Hussein what were the reasons or the purpose behind taking you as a hostage what did your captors hope to gain by holding you and keeping you alive did you ever consider or plan escaping even as a thought exercise rather than as an executable course of action your story is chilling and I'm glad you survived it I have no relevant experience in my life to empathize with your ordeal and I hope I never do on the face of it we were taken to do an exchange for the militia leaders but my work would have shown miss spending within the Iraqi government and there are theories we were taken because of that we did have a plan for escape but never had a chance to implement it what was the plan or is that confidential okay so one of the plans was that when one of the British guards went to the toilet they were going to lock myself and the two Iraqis in the room does two rooms in Iraq all have locks on them and they always left the key in the lock the British guard would then go and get the gun from the room neck come back and shoot the Arrakis what do you feel is the most important thing you took away from this ordeal just to think about the implications of your actions I knew my parents would be upset about it but I had friends of friends who were crying when they met me at any point did you think I'm going to die a hostage I'm never going to see my family all were you always hopeful that you would be released I thought I was going to die everything but once I knew the guards had been killed I really thought that I would never get out it was after the number two commander got released he came to see me in June 2009 and I pointed out that America did not keep him the same as me he agreed and conditions improved do you feel like it was a fair trade 100 militia who could do more damage to Allied forces for the bodies of your comrades I'm sorry if it sounds hard but I would have chosen the live hostages like yourself over the deceased ones no it was not a good trade I would not have done it if I was in charge I would not have exchanged myself for the militia leader Ivor ro you made it to the end you're ducking beasts I'll cut you a deal smash like and subscribe for more curated content might it's free and that's a great price

Channel: Sir Reddit

Views: 602,841

Rating: 4.9163585 out of 5

Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, askreddit question, askreddit top posts, ask reddit, askreddit reading, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, reddit ama, ask me anything, reddit ask me anything, r/IAmA, peter moore

Id: FpOCcL0XV1k

Length: 16min 19sec (979 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 25 2019