BRILLIANT TEEN SCHOOLED HIMSELF IN ISLAM

New York Post ^ | 12/04/01 | JOHN LEHMANN and RONNA ABRAMSON

[kattracks]

December 4, 2001 -- The year 1997 was a critical turning point for high-school student John Walker. That's when he read "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," began wearing a white robe and turban, and changed his name.

The conversion of John Phillip Walker Lindh from California teenager to grimy Taliban fighter and U.S. prisoner of war can be traced to the year he spent cramming for his high-school diploma at an alternative independent school in the San Francisco Bay area.

[kattracks]

This explains a lot.

[Highest Authority]

He's a traitorous terrorist, he should be executed by a military firing squad!

[DeaconRed]

"He's a traitorous terrorist, he should be executed by a military firing squad!"

A.S.A.P ain't soon enough

[Ditter]

Intresting life this nutjob has lived. Sorry he decided to become a traitor to his country along the way to "helping the poor'.

[petbop]

"The parents had moved from Washington to California when their son, whom they named after John Lennon, was 10, and had brought up their three kids to have open minds."

What a couple of bonehead parents.

[YaYa123]

Catholic Dad and Buddhist Mom are in the middle of an amicable divorce...so said the Dad on Larry King Live last night. John is the middle of 3 kids. They have a 23 year old son who works in a record store, and a young daughter, I forgot her exact age.

[piasa]

Has Democratic Underground or smirkinChimp been one man short lately?

[Zipporah]

I read this from a Fox News story:

His parents then paid for him to travel to Yemen to study Arabic. They lost track of him after he moved on to Pakistan, where he studied the Quran at a religious school.

His PARENTS PAID for him to travel to Yemen?? These people are pathetic.. they typify the parental movement that views themselves as facilitators rather than parents.

[Movemout]

If he is so brilliant, why are his parents worried about a possible charge of treason resulting in the death penalty? He is referred to as a teen but I would point out that he is elder to many of our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Choices in life matter. He has made bad choices, abetted by a liberal upbringing. Now he reaps the consequences at an early age. I sympathise as a parent and vilify his actions as a patriot. He merits hanging.

[Rubber Duckie]

I would venture that one U.S. Marine on the ground in Afghanistan has done more to help the poor than the entire alumni of this brilliant idiot's school. Helping to toss the Taliban into the dustbin of history has given the AFGHAN people more tools to help themselves out of poverty than all theleftwing programs combined.

[piasa]

Well, he's 20 now, and that's older than the usual US army recruits. I hate it when the press talks about him like he's a kid. But that makes his lawyer happy.

[Quila]

Just going from the story:

-He ended up as a soldier for another country which at the time was not an enemy of the U.S.
-When war with the U.S. started, he deserted the army of the enemy of the U.S.

Where's the treason?

[Movemout]

I remember being 17 years old in the US Army and reading a newspaper story that referred to teenage killers being mass produced by the US Army for deployment to RVN. The press remains unchanged for the last thirty years.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Just a couple of terms being thrown around too loosely are "brilliant" and "good boy."

[Movemout]

Gee Quila,

If the Taliban are not our enemy then why are we exterminating them? Americans who fight for the enemy are treasonous. If you are positing your argument based on the lack of a formal declaration of war by Congress then you are technically correct. I suggest you spend a month explaining the technicality to survivors of the WTC massacre and the orphans resulting from the attack.

[eno_]

Exactly. Ship him out tho that rock in the Pacific with the other Taliban prisoners and show them we are merciful: they get 30 years hard labor, and this doofus will be first up against the wall.

[Ken522]

Thanks for posting this, Kattracks. That the kid is labeled "brilliant" is clearly misuse of the term - determined, yes; brilliant, no. If his father is such a devout Irish Catholic, then his father should have taught him that Islam is false!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The parents appear to only be "devout" about their careers. They let this man blow in the wind as a child.

He is responsible for his own actions now. They, however, should be utterly ashamed.

[12B]

Nice try Quila but no cigar.

He joined a terrorist group which had already blown ub two embassies and a destroyer. He knew perfectly well that Al-Queda/Taliban were then carrying out attacks against American targets and were planning future attacks. He trained in an Al-Queda terrorist camp. He was assigned to the Arab brigades because of his language skills.

The article makes no mention of him deserting. Nowhere. He is seriously screwed and I hope they throw the book at him. Nice attempt at spin though. Welcome to Free Republic.

[smiley]

Too soon dumb............too late smart.