Posted on 12/20/2001 3:18:02 PM PST by flamefront
Terror: John Walker left America, endorsed military attacks on it, then joined arms with those attackers. If this isn't treason, then what is?The Walker case is no small matter. How America responds to it will reveal much about how seriously it takes the war on terrorism. Will America uphold the laws that protect it? Or will if neglect them as it slips back into the very relativism that made America vulnerable to Walker's Taliban brethren in the first place?
President Bush has said America will make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them. Why, then, should his administration make an exception for an American who fought with them?
Treason is the only crime listed in the U.S. Constitution for a reason: It is the direst threat to the common good. If it is left unpunished, free republics fold.
Walker is not a "misguided" boy, as the usual chorus of apologists assert, but a self-described "jihadi," the same age, 20, as many of the American soldiers his Taliban friends tried to kill.
The Constitution says, "No Person shall be convicted of Treason, unless on the Testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on Confession in open Court." Will Walker's case meet these requirements?
This is an open question. The two CIA agents who questioned a surly Walker in a prison in Mazar-e-Sharif might have satisfied the Constitution's requirement. But one of them, Mike Spann, died in a prison revolt that Walker's stonewalling helped, at least indirectly.
Walker still might confess, or other witnesses to his conduct may still be alive. Whatever happens Walker should not escape trial for political reasons, or on loopholes a la Alan Dershowitz.
Perhaps only in the relativistic redoubt of Northern California's Marin County -- where Walker first imbibed his anti-Americanism -- would treason abroad form a legitimate destination point on a young adult's search for self-identity.
In the real world, treason kills people, and a society that treats it as an eccentric joke is on the path to ruin.
American's cannot justify Walker's conduct without jeopardizing their own future safety. They cannot release Walker on a rationalization without at the same time insulting all the men his age who are making equally free choices in defense if American freedom.
Punishment and reward presuppose that humans, beyond the age of reason, are free moral agents. If John Walker isn't responsible for his treachery, then his contemporaries in the Marines aren't responsible for their heroism.
This is an abominable conclusion to draw. But it necessarily follows from a philosophy that considers 20-year-olds automatons of fate, not humans with free choice.
A writer for the San Francisco Chronicle says Bush should welcome Walker back to America, and "let him get his life back on track. We'd want nothing less for our own children, who could easily have found themselves in a similar mess."
Freeing Walker would only deepen the mess. After decades of anti-Americanism -- long indulged by craven politicians -- Americans, particularly young Americans, need a clarifying lesson in law and civic duty. Sure, let him return to the Bay area. But to a cell in San Quentin.
The lawyer James Brosnahan, unoffordable by mear peasants like the Walker's father, what large organization is footing his bill? And what about all the CNN exposure? Whose PR?
Treason - "It is the direst threat to the common good. If it is left unpunished, free republics fold."
(Hurray, for Free Republics.)
The Constitution says, "No Person shall be convicted of Treason, unless on the Testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on Confession in open Court."
Maybe a confession will be forthcoming. Demand it from the shriveling lips of Walker. Or will he further shrivel behind the 5th Amendment and media support?
Much more than Walker himself hangs in the balance here.
I suggest he be released in Manhattan.
L
Here's an approach to take. Johnny was in a prison run by the new Afghan government. Why in the world did the US spring him, rescue hime from a foreign prison? This is what in effect we did! The best way out for the Bushies, who I'd bet are dreading the upcoming circus show (which has already started,) would be to extradite Johnny back to Afghanistan and forget about him. I imagine a demand for extradition from the Afghans (or the Indians or the Pakis on whose territories he also committed crimes,) could be arranged.
He got himself into this, release him to the Afghans and see if he can get himself out.
Either:
A. He is a treasonous bastard whose crime is of great relevence to the United States. In which case he should be convicted and hung, or
B. He is not actually treasonous and he is simply another AlQaeda foreign mercenary who was a member of the occupying force in Afghanistan. As such he is of no concern to the US and we should do nothing to help repatriate him.
Bless you, Flamefront, for posting this sensibly written editorial. It cuts right to the heart of the mantter.
...committed treason...
Looks innocent to me (???)
Just hold the trial in New York city, or the Virgina suburbs of DC. You will have to find a hanging judge though, since I believe in the federal system the judge determines the sentence. Might also be a good idea to hold it in the 5th District. Texans won't look any more kindly on him than New Yorkers or Virginians, and the 5th Circuit is mostly Texas judges, and you know Texas judges aren't known for being anti death penalty. The Supreme Court won't touch the case with a ten foot pole, "Cert Denied!".
If an American takes up arms in the service of another nation, I believe he forfeits his U.S. citizenship.
If true, then Walker, contrary to what so many are saying, is no longer a U.S. citizen.
Therefore, he should be given a fair trial - and then hung (not as a traitor, but as the terrorist scum that he is).
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