Posted on 01/20/2006 5:19:54 AM PST by seanmerc
'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency Jan 19 5:33 PM US/Eastern
By MARTHA MENDOZA AP National Writer
SAN FRANCISCO
After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh said Thursday he has asked President Bush to grant his son clemency, adding that the then teenager never raised arms against the United States.
"In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh, swallowing back tears at times during a speech at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization.
John Walker Lindh, now 24, was captured by American forces on Nov. 21, alongside the Taliban. Frank Lindh said his son thought he had been rescued by U.S. soldiers until he was taken into custody and tortured.
Charged with conspiring to kill Americans and supporting terrorists, the younger Lindh avoided a potential life sentence in 2002 by pleading guilty to lesser charges of supplying services to the Taliban in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and of carrying weapons against U.S. forces.
Last year John Walker Lindh asked President Bush for a reduction in his 20-year sentence, repeating a September 2004 request the government rejected.
Until now, his parents have mostly maintained a public silence about the case, hoping to avoid a media barrage that could be detrimental to their son. But on Thursday Frank Lindh shared baby pictures and other photos of his son during the presentation and said he is proud of his child.
Lindh said he decided to break his silence because he hoped the story of his boy's journey from bucolic Marin County to harsh Afghanistan battlefields will help gain him a reprieve.
He should have been shot on site. Two of our intelligence corp guys died that day, and this worm was fighting with their killers. No mercy for traitors.
Tough hop, Dad.
Put his head on a pike, and place it outside of this traitorous father's home! The whole family should be deported to iran.
LLS
He'll have to wait for Hildebeast to do that.
Go back to the bathhouse Frankie.
This man has got to be kidding. He should be thankful that his son didn't get worse. I can see why the son ended up this way because his father is not wanting to deal with the reality of the situation.
Frank tolerated young Johnny's "spiritual quest." Now he is suffering the consequences for his parental negligence. Hopefully he's learned something about moral relativism. Sure it's fun, until someone loses a son.
You reap what you sow.
I say that we put that little mutt back on the street.
Just for the sake of grins, I think that the "release point" should be a street just outside the main gates of either Fort Hood, Camp Pendleton or somwhere in Baghdad.
The father is the reason this kid did what he did.
The father bears responsibility for the kid becoming a civilization-hating fanatic.
This father should consider the fact that his ahole of a son didn't get executed a victory and STFU.
"In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest..."
The DUer's will eat this up. |
His quest was caused by the damage done when dad announced he was "gay" and was leaving the family to live with another turd burlar.
No kidding. Wonder when he's going to show up on the "Today" show with that other moonbat, I won't say her name( but she likes to camp (Crawford TX and travel to europe), trying to avoid the "beetlejuice" affect.
This guy should fire himself as his son's publicist because he is taking the wrong line if he wants to get the kid out early. He doesn't seem to know that a phrase like "honorable young man" makes Bush administration officials think of an entirely different category of men, like Mike Spann for instance. The best thing Frank Lindh can do for his son is to hire a seasoned, professional PR guy and then STFU!
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