He was captured in 1987 by the Soviet forces in Afghanistan and spent 7 months in an Afghani prison where he spoke to many young men who were considering following the Jihadist movement to defeat the Soviets. From this background, he was able to explain why Jihadism has such a powerful role in the Middle East. He explains that Jihadist movements have existed since before the mid 1980s, and thus it was a mistake for the United States to think they had defeated the movement just through overthrowing the Taliban and conquering Afghanistan.