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'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency
Yahoo News (AP) ^
| 1/19/06
| MARTHA MENDOZA
Posted on 01/19/2006 2:52:23 PM PST by madprof98
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, 2001, 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.
TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: franklindh; gwot; jihadinamerica; jihadjohnny; johnwalkerlindh; lindh
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To: mainepatsfan
Only if he has enough scratch, in small, nosequential, untraceable bills.
21
posted on
01/19/2006 3:07:34 PM PST
by
PzLdr
("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
Comment #22 Removed by Moderator
To: ikka
I think you've confused father , who I read somewhere, left Mom and Osama Wanna for another man [without being consecrated as an Esiscopal Bishop].
23
posted on
01/19/2006 3:09:53 PM PST
by
PzLdr
("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
To: madprof98
According to the federal government, Lindh fought terrorism by signing up with the Taliban, attending al Qaeda seminars on how to kill Americans, staying in guesthouses funded by Osama bin Laden, sharing campfire tales about suicide terrorists being dispatched against the United States (just before 9/11 and practicing his anti-terrorism skills with rocket-launchers, pistols and Molotov cocktails (a favorite tool of anti-terrorism forces everywhere). During the summer of 2001, Osama bin Laden personally thanked Lindh for everything he had done to "fight terrorism and oppression." However, when Lindh was invited to take the fight against terrorism to U.S. soil, he declined in favor of a Rambo-style battlefield experience....*sniff*
24
posted on
01/19/2006 3:11:27 PM PST
by
Doogle
(USAF...8thAF...4077th TFW...408th MMS...Ubon Thailand..."69"..Night Line Delivery,AMMO)
To: madprof98
While it was never proven in court, Lindh may well have had a hand in the death of Mike Spann during the prison uprising at Qala-i-Jangi.
Lindh deserves no clemency. He was and is a traitor to this country.
To: LibWhacker
How about letting the little creep out and post his location, in case a few Americans want to impress upon him, their views of his actions.
26
posted on
01/19/2006 3:12:32 PM PST
by
newcthem
To: madprof98
"In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh In reality, nothing like that happened.
Better shut up while you're ahead, Lindh. Your boy's lucky to be alive.
27
posted on
01/19/2006 3:14:01 PM PST
by
martin_fierro
(Internationally-recognized insomniac)
To: newcthem
Hang him by his thumbs in the lobby of the CIA's headquarters for a year, no cameras or nannies of any kind watching over him. Let every employee give him a piece of their mind -- er, umm, or whatever -- each time they walk in or out of the place. What happens in CIA's headquarters, stays in CIA's headquarters.
To: martin_fierro
29
posted on
01/19/2006 3:22:26 PM PST
by
jocko12
To: madprof98
30
posted on
01/19/2006 3:24:40 PM PST
by
El Gato
(The Second Amendment is the Reset Button of the U.S. Constitution)
To: Bahbah
Frank Lindh said his son thought he had been rescued by U.S. soldiers until he was taken into custody and tortured. What is torture to a 20 yr old kid from Kalifornia, No Eminem CDs?
To: Diana in Wisconsin
Even if that's true, how does that indemnify him over gleefully supporting the shooting in the head of women who had committed such heinous crimes as working or going outside, in the middle of a soccer stadium no less? This guy's a walking piece of s**t who should have been shot with the rest of them.
After an extended period of torture.
32
posted on
01/19/2006 3:27:21 PM PST
by
oldleft
To: teenyelliott
Either way, you're right about him being a traitor. 20 years is getting off easy.
33
posted on
01/19/2006 3:30:49 PM PST
by
GBA
To: madprof98
Well I know I'll catch flak for this but I could see Bush pardoning him on leaving office. I don't know if there's any evidence that he fired on US troops. If there is, then Bush probably shouldn't. I think the kid was mostly rebelling against his father over leaving his family for a homosexual life.
34
posted on
01/19/2006 3:32:25 PM PST
by
bkepley
To: newcthem
Oh...Really!! Let him out and he probably try to enlist to help OBL blow up some sight here in the US....just as the last OBL message to US suggested !!
35
posted on
01/19/2006 3:35:12 PM PST
by
SoldiersPrayingMom
("....And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Matt. 21:22)
To: madprof98
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.
Maybe more likely, Papa doesn't want any more scrutiny of his ditching
his wife and running off with his boyfriend. That was rumored to
be a factor in sending Taliban John on his strange odyssey.
IIRC, this surfaced when Taliban John was a news item.
36
posted on
01/19/2006 3:36:08 PM PST
by
VOA
To: GBA
37
posted on
01/19/2006 3:37:46 PM PST
by
SoldiersPrayingMom
("....And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Matt. 21:22)
To: Diana in Wisconsin
I don't know about being "dressed as a Muslim" but he sure faked an Arab accent in speaking to his co-national captors. What an idiot!
To: jocko12
I Agree...20 years is too lenient...he should have to hang high as a traitor!!
Even so, he'll still end up doing his 20+ years with all of the appeals, before they would actually get around to stretching his scrawny little neck!!
39
posted on
01/19/2006 3:43:12 PM PST
by
SoldiersPrayingMom
("....And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Matt. 21:22)
To: El Gato
It may lean liberal, I am not sure, but I have seen ads for some big conservatives there too. It is the place in San Francisco that most authors and others on the "speaking tour" will go and charge a fee to hear them speak.
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