January 25, 2006
Quite interesting
What we've got here is a speech given by one Frank Lindh, the father of the now infamous "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, at the Commonwealth Club if California.
It's a long read, but worth it. I think his father is probably right about his assertions of prejudicial statements in the media, by both media outlets and politicians, making a fair trial almost impossible. As it turns out, the government dropped 10 of 11 criminal charges against Mr. Lindh, in a plea bargain that leaves in incarcerated for 20 years for providing aid to the Taliban government in violation of sanctions enacted during the Clinton administration. Considering the nature of the original charges against him, this is pretty weak.
Still, I'm not sure what to think. He certainly was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the situation really didn't create an environment conducive to a fair and unprejudiced trial. That being said, sweet freaking corn dogs, what did he expect? Any person who takes up arms with a foreign country, even one of our allies, is in serious - if not automatic - danger of losing his US citizenship.
Well, he probably really didn't expect anything. He went to Pakistan and Afghanistan for personal, spiritual reasons during a period in which some thawing was occuring in relations between the Taliban and the US government. Sorry dude. Tough break. Wasn't your fault that some of your ideological cohorts decided to fly planes into buildings. But come on now, Islam hasn't exactly had a long and storied history of tranquil relations with... well... just about anybody. You want to look out for things like that.
I think his case should be retried, and the legal irregularities ironed out. But that doesn't mean I don't think he got what was coming to him.
