The Real Story of John Walker Lindh as told by his father

[Douglas Carpenter]

this is an incredible article about about how hysteria can pervert justice.

link:

http://www.alternet.org/story/31211/

snip: "John had never even heard of al Qaeda"

snip:" The public has heard little about John Walker Lindh since the media frenzy over his capture in the winter of 2001. On January 19, John's father Frank Lindh delivered an address at The Commonwealth Club of California. Lindh explained that he and his family have avoided the press for nearly four years; he now wants the public to understand the truth about his son, who he says didn't stand a chance of getting a fair trial in the emotional days following 9/11. Immediately characterized as a "terrorist" by the press and politicians, Lindh faced a jury in Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Pentagon. The trial date scheduled by the judge was the anniversary of 9/11. Initially facing 11 criminal counts -- most relating to terrorism -- the only charge that John Lindh was found guilty of was violating economic sanctions by supporting the Taliban government, for which the 20-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The following is excerpted from Frank Lindh's"

snip:"I think it's clear that the United States really made a mistake in treating Taliban footsoldiers and the Afghan army as if they were al Qaeda terrorists. This was unjust in the eyes of the whole world, but especially among Muslims. And finally, I hope you will indulge me when I say that the mistreatment and the imprisonment of John Lindh was and is a human rights violation. It was based purely on an emotional response to the 9/11 attacks, and not on an objective assessment of John's case."

link:

http://www.alternet.org/story/31211/

[pitohui]

1. world's tiniest violin

i find i don't care, he travelled across the world to join a fight for keeping women in the 14th century, so if bad happened to him, so sad, too bad, i've got bigger issues

he wanted to take my freedom, and every woman's freedom, instead, he lost his freedom

to the women denied even the right to learn to read, the taliban damn well ARE terrorists, and we had better not forget it

[Nathyn]

2. World's tiniest violin, indeed.

If you're supportive of PROGRESSIVE causes, you can't be against the Afghanistan war. The Iraq war was clearly founded on pure lies by President Bush, but as I see it, the war in Afghanistan was solid. They had Bin Laden. They wouldn't give him up. They were oppressive anyway, implementing brutal laws under sharia and throwing acid on women who didn't wear burkas, so we invaded.

"the only charge that John Lindh was found guilty of was violating economic sanctions by supporting the Taliban government"

That's a pretty big deal. Was this BEFORE we declared them our enemies or AFTER?

Furthermore, John Walker Lindh is an idiot for saying that most Muslims support the Taliban. They don't. And such ridiculous claims only further legitimize ignorant Conservative bigotry about Islam.

The Taliban's treatment of ITS CITIZENS were human rights violations. In Lindh's case, emotion was likely a catalyst for stronger judgement, but justice was still served. They didn't torture him.

[DELUSIONAL]

7. "They didn't torture him?"

Evidently we have a different definition of "torture".

[springhill]

12. Bullshit!

If you believe that crap then you are truly either uninformed or delusional. The Afghanistan War had nothing to do with the war on terror, Bin Ladin, or any other phony reason that was given. They wanted a goddamn pipeline through that region and it was the only way to make it happen. People need to understand; This war on terror is fake. It was the only way to scare the sheeple enough to get them to go along with the MANY invasions throughout the Middle East that they have planned for us.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. Hey, congratulations, you got a newbie's support

But not mine. It's true that Lindh did not get a fair trial. It's true that he did little to nothing illegal under US law, and since he was in a foreign country, US law didn't apply anyway. Does US law apply when one is abroad? I don't think so, but was he fighting against the US? If so, he might have been expatriated and deported to another country, but being hysterically scapegoated and imprisoned isn't a punishment I would want applied to anyone.

Next time, they might be coming for you. Or worse, me.

:evilgrin:

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[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Did you even read the story?

Yes, he was a stupid kid who got in too deep in something he didn't understand. But he wasn't there to repress women, and he wasn't there to take your freedom, he was there to defend Muslims against brutal, Russian-backed warlords -- the same ones our country was opposed to at the very time he joined the Taliban.

Bushco needed a visible example in his opening shots in the war against Islam, and he was the perfect patsy. What should have been nothing more than a violation of his visa put him in prison for 20 years.

That's justice.

[bpilgrim]

11. He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.
Thomas Paine

peace

[htuttle]

3. He wasn't a terrorist, and never fired a weapon at anyone

John Walker's Blues

I'm just an American boy--raised on MTV
And I've seen all those kids in the soda pop ads
But none of 'em looked like me
So I started lookin' around for a light out of the dim
And the first thing I heard that made sense was the word
Of Mohammed, peace be upon him...

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah
There is no God but God

If my daddy could see me now--chains around my feet
He don't understand that sometimes a man
Just has to fight for what he believes
And I believe God is great
All praise due to him
And if I should die I'll rise up to the sky
Just like Jesus, peace be upon him

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah
There is no God but God

We came to fight the Jihad
And our hearts were pure and strong
As death filled the air we all offered up prayers
And prepared for our martyrdom
But Allah had some other plan
Some secret not revealed
Now they're draggin' me back with my head in a sack
To the land of the infidel.

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah
There is no God but God
-- Steve Earle

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. it is not a question of thinking his cause was right. Obviously it wasn't

but, was he a terrorist?

was he involved with Al Queda?

did he fire his weapon at anyone?

did he even have the slightest intention of committing terrorist acts or fighting against American forces?

was the U.S. supporting the Russian backed-warlords when young Mr. Lindh went to Afghanistan?

does anyone even know his personal opinions about the role of women? I've never seen anything about that subject.

his personal beliefs are not a crime.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. And let's not forget his parents

Who in their right mind lets their teenage son go to Yemen alone to "study Islam"?

Given the Marin County location, I sense some wealthy but basically neglectful parents who provided their son with little except money (no attention, no direction), impelling him to look for attention (as a convert) and direction (Islamic rules) elsewhere.

[laststeamtrain]

9. Thanks for posting...

This is a fascinating story I think. There was no chance to hear it during '9/11 fever' when crazy gender malcontents like Anne Coulter were calling for the kid's summary execution ("to show liberals what they have to fear".)
Those were dark days. Kind of like when, during WWI, people were kicking Dachshunds on the streets because they were 'German dogs'. There's a lot of historical parallels. Attacks on Jewish citizens in early Nazi Germany, attacks on Palestinians by Israeli 'settlers', lynch photos with all those smiling faces. Scapegoating the 'other' is a nasty business.
When did jingoistic insanity come back into style? Reagan I'd say, like so much else that stinks about the current USA(USAUSAUSAUSA!)
Sieg f__kin' heil.

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. The justice of hysteria takes many forms.

Sometimes it involves framing three misfit teenage boys for the savage murder of three little 8-year-olds as in the 1993 West Memphis, Arkansas case. link--http://www.wm3.org/live/evidence/index.php

Sometimes its such cases as the McMartin Preschool in the L.A. suburbs and other similar cases.

Sometimes its something like the McCarthy era.

And of course there was Salem, Massachusetts.

Hysteria does not produce rational or fair justice.