Tell that to the family of Johnny Spann!
Posted on 09/28/2008 8:40:34 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
He's a gentle man, lean and soft-spoken, careful to begin his lecture with an explanation of principles like the right to counsel. The passion in Frank Lindh builds only when he describes the details of what happened to his son, John Walker Lindh, the bearded young man who was tagged as the American Taliban.
In the waning days of George Bush's administration, the senior Lindh is asking the president to commute the rest of his son's 20-year sentence, now seven years along. It's almost certainly a hopeless quest. Bush is not a man prone to second-guess himself.
... In retrospect, his son's biggest enemy was bad timing.
You may remember the story: The younger Lindh grew up in Marin County, converted to Islam at age 16, went to the Mideast to study Arabic and memorize the Koran, and wound up fighting with the Taliban, meeting Osama bin Laden months before 9/11.
In many people's minds even now, that's enough to send him away for life. But the government's claims in other cases have frayed in court. An American citizen arrested in roughly the same circumstances as Lindh has been released. And after Abu Ghurayb,we know much more about the American practice of torture.
Facing a hostile public and an even more hostile Justice Department, the young Lindh agreed to a plea bargain that gave him 20 years in prison. It seemed like a good deal then. It seems much less so now.
Right or wrong, you can't escape the feeling that John Walker Lindh paid heavily because of the temper of the times. Now he faces almost as damning a fate, one his father is trying to bend. He isn't reviled. He's forgotten.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
If O is elected, then Mr. Lindh senior will certainly get his wish for his son's sentence to be commuted by the President. O's muslim sympathies run wide and deep, regardless of how much the MSM tries to sweep them aside: his father(s) religion, his years studying islam in Indonesia, travels to Pakistan when nonbelievers could not enter to the country, connections with Farrakhan, lauding the muslim call to prayer as the "most beautiful sound in the world" and even recently saying "my muslim faith" in his interview with Stephanopoulos.
“In retrospect, his son’s biggest enemy was bad timing.”
Treason is treason and timing has nothing to do with it. He should have been executed.
Another good reason to NOT vote for Obambi.
To quote Col. Stuart in Die Hard 2:
I think Cardinal Richilieu said it best: 'Treason is merely a matter of dates'
How about we pardon Ramos and Compeon (sp?) instead
People in hell want ice water.
I can think of 3,000 reasons for leaving his sorry as to rot in prison.
Yep.
Obama will spring him on Day 2.
There is no doubt that he is a TRAITOR.
GEESH!
He should be counting his blessings not looking for punishment defined further down. Geesh at this rate why not have a ticker tape parade for the traitor?
There is ONE way I’d end LIndh’s sentence.. and that is at the END of a ROPE!!
Of course, fighting for that Taliban is a minor faux pas, sort of like using the wrong fork.
Tell that to the family of Johnny Spann!
AMEN! I’ll agree to his sentence being commuted when Mike Span’s sentence is commuted. You’re right, that POS should have been excuted.
Working link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10568076?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
Lowlife Lindh should have been executed for aiding in the murder of Johnny “Mike” Spann.
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
Johnny Taliban got off light.
That butthead should have been turned over to the Northern Alliance when he was captured.
People were worried WE weren’t treating him right.
I am sure the NA would have had an expeditious trial etc...
I remember when he was his arrested, I sat dumbfounded at his poor father, talking about him saying, ... he was pleased he was searching for himself, learning about a religion that he respected, but he thinks he might need a kick in the pants... a kick in the pants yeah a kick in the pants
that is what he thought his punishment should have been...a kick in the pants.
Besides your own opinion where on earth gives you the idea that Obama would pardon Lindh?
This is sickening and the Mercury News (whoever they are) should be ashamed to publish such an article.
That was my first thought.
I think his sentence should be commuted. Afterall, what he has done to this country on a treasonous and seditious level is nothing in comparison to the daily treason we hear from others such as Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, CNN, The New York Times et al, David Letterman, Osama binLaden, Mr. & Mrs. Barrack Hussein Obama, Jeremiah Wright, blah, blah, blah, and the list goes on. Why should this boy be held responsible for what he has listened to and been exposed to in his own country every day of his young and impressionable life? Geesh, he wasn’t even in this country when he committed HIS crime. Give the guy a break.
Treason -—Hang him ..end of story..
Damn country is going insane.
Yeah, I’ve never seen a more cut and dry case of treason. I don’t care a wit what his reasons were, he wanted to destroy the United States.
Kid ought to be swinging from a rope or not brought out by the Americans who captured him.
John Walker Lindh should have been summarily executed so as to avoid our courts.
FEC Database:
LINDH, FRANK
SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY/
OBAMA, BARACK
VIA OBAMA FOR AMERICA
02/03/2008 500.00 28930947705
07/10/2008 500.00 28932576780
Total Contributions: 1000.00
... In retrospect, his son's biggest enemy was bad timing."
In retrospect Jihad Johnny's biggest enemy was his father who hired a blow-hard Hollywood lawyer who thought he could try the case in the media instead of working a quiet deal behind the scenes. That cost his son ten years at least, and eliminated any possibility of future clemency.
The next Bill Ayers.
Twenty years from now some lib will be calling him a valuable member of society.
Yeah, like that time that he went to Afghanistan and joined the Taliban.
Excuse me, Mister Lindh: Can your tender little white son just do his 20 year stretch in the Federal pen like everyone else that's not getting any special Presidential pardons, you Obama-voting "If you're not voting for Obama, you're probably a racist" liberal hypocrite?
Well then, thank God for blowhard lawyers.
That can have serious implications.
Yes- that underwear on the head is pure agony
Oh and weren't they charged with a crime for doing that? so how does that make it an 'american practice'
Ask the so-called author if he would rather be 'tortured' in an american prison or an islamic one?
Lindh prefers to go by the name Hamza Walker Lindh today, although during his time in Afghanistan, he went by Sulayman al-Faris.
In 1997, John Lindh officially converted to Islam and began regularly attending mosques in Mill Valley and later San Francisco. In 1998, he traveled to Yemen for about 10 months, to learn Arabic so that he would be able to read the Qur’an in its original language. He returned to the United States in 1999, living with his family for about eight months before returning to Yemen in February 2000, whence he left for Pakistan to study at a madrassa.
Lindh initially gave his name as “Abd-al-Hamid” but later gave his birth name when interviewed by Robert Young Pelton for CNN. Pelton brought a medic and food for the American and interviewed Lindh about how he got there.
On July 15, 2002, he entered his plea of guilty to the two remaining charges. The judge asked Lindh to say, in his own words, what he was admitting to. Lindh’s allocution went as follows: “I plead guilty”, he said. “I provided my services as a soldier to the Taliban last year from about August to December. In the course of doing so, I carried a rifle and two grenades. I did so knowingly and willingly knowing that it was illegal.” On October 4, 2002, Judge T.S. Ellis, III formally imposed the sentence: 20 years without parole.
******
John Walker Lindh spent his formative years in an affluent Northern California community known for its tolerance and open-mindedness.
He apologized for fighting alongside the Taliban, saying, “had I realized then what I know now ... I would never would have joined them.” The 21-year-old said Osama bin Laden is against Islam and that he “never understood jihad to mean anti-American or terrorism.”
“I was a student in Pakistan, studying Islam,” Walker-Lindh told CNN in a non-American accent, which he attributed to the fact he been speaking Arabic exclusively for months. “I came into contact with many people who were connected with the Taliban.
He went to Pakistan in October 2000 and joined a radical Islamic group, getting military training to fight against Indian forces in Kashmir. After becoming disillusioned with the cause, according to interrogation reports, Walker Lindh asked to join the Taliban.
Because he was not native to Afghanistan and did not speak the local languages, Walker Lindh said he joined the “Arab group” — or al Qaeda, headed by bin Laden. Aware of al Qaeda’s anti-U.S. position, he agreed to attend their camp, the documents said.
“At some point during the training, Lindh said he had been offered to swear allegiance to ... al Qaeda,” an FBI document said. “Lindh stated that he declined, however he swore allegiance to Jihad” — or holy war against enemies of Islam, as defined by al Qaeda.
His father was a Catholic who worked as a government lawyer, and his mother was a health care aide who became a follower of Buddhism.
Frank Lindh called his son “a sweet kid” who was devoted and committed to his conversion to Islam. He said he was proud of his son’s dedication to study the Koran and thought his conversion had been good for him.
Walker Lindh told interrogators that bin Laden visited the camp several times, usually with one of his sons. Walker Lindh and four others met bin Laden on one occasion, and the al Qaeda leader “made small talk and thanked them all for taking part in the Jihad,” according to the FBI report.
January 20, 2006
Frank Lindh, speaking publicly after years of relative silence, called on President Bush to reduce John Walker Lindh’s 20-year prison term, saying the sentence was issued when the wounds of Sept. 11 were fresh and anger at Lindh was disproportionate to his crimes.
“Being viewed through the prism of those attacks has caused this young man to be vilified as a terrorist and a traitor,” the elder Lindh said.
“In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest,” he said.
With his parents’ blessings, he headed to Yemen, and later Pakistan, to memorize the Quran and become an Islamic scholar.
The younger Lindh saw bin Laden speak twice while he was training in Afghanistan, but had no idea that he was involved in terrorism against the U.S., his father said.
“What happened unfortunately for John is that the United States made an abrupt change after the 9-11 attacks,” Frank Lindh said. “We switched sides. John was on the ground there when that happened. He certainly didn’t go to Afghanistan to do anything against America.”
Frank Lindh said his son did no wrong.
“I feel very proud of my son. He acted with great integrity throughout this entire ordeal. He’s a great kid. He has more integrity and more dignity than any politician or any journalist that I’ve ever met,” he said.
My heart bleeds.
He should have been shot.
Father of the Year
Frank Lindh, father of jihadi jailbird John Walker Lindh, really ought to swear off public speaking. Every time he opens his mouth, something stupid comes out. Yesterday, after his son had pleaded guilty, the elder Lindh dared liken him to a statesman: “Nelson Mandela served 26 years in prison. He’s a good man, like John. Some day I hope—I hope that the government will come around even further and say that even 20 years is wrong for this boy.”
The Washington Post notes that Frank Lindh also said of the Marin mujahid: “Never, in all the interrogations . . . did John ever say anything against the United States—never once. Not one word. John loves America, and we love America. God bless America.” But the fanatic’s father told a different story back in December, when we noted this, from a Newsweek report:
When the U.S.S. Cole was bombed as it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden in October of 2000, killing 17 U.S. sailors, father and son had an uncomfortable e-mail exchange. Frank says he was upset that the dead sailors were the same age as his son. John seemed to have a more casual view of the attack, which U.S. authorities blamed on operatives of Osama bin Laden. He suggested that the U.S. ship should never have been there in the first place, and that by docking in an Islamic country, had committed an “act of war.” The bombing, John implied, was a justified response. Lindh says he was “concerned” by his son’s views, but felt that since John was an adult, there was little he could do to change them. “It was clear he had developed a different point of view,” says Lindh. “My days of molding him were over.”
Then there’s this, from an earlier Newsweek piece:
When asked if he supported the September 11 attacks, [John Walker Lindh] hesitated. “That requires a pretty long and complicated explanation. I haven’t eaten for two or three days, and my mind is not really in shape to give you a coherent answer.” When pressed, he said, “Yes, I supported it.”
And of course John himself admits, in the “statement of facts” that he signed as part of his plea agreement (links in PDF form), that he “traveled to the al-Farooq training camp, a facility associated with Usama Bin Laden,” and “participated fully in its training activities, including courses in weapons, orienteering, navigation, explosives and battlefield combat.”
he should have been executed!
give him work release-let him be Bawney Fwank’s page.
Frank and his son, John, in New York City
"I don’t know that John’s reputation here in the United States can ever be restored. It was so badly damaged."
" I’m not really sure that John will be able to recover his reputation."
"he is really actually a noble person, a person of great integrity"
John in Yemen.
"John’s imprisonment is unjust. I ask that people write, politely and respectfully, to the President and request that he release John as a dedication to justice and human rights."
The guy deserves what he got. Give the guy his due, as has been pointed out here before, he was able to do with $3,000 and in one year do what no one in the entire intelligence community with unlimited resources of the US Govt could ever do, get next to bin laden
Otherwise, uhhhhh no.
I’m so sorry you let your son walk down this path and let him go into the mouths of wolves at such an impressionable age of 16. I’m sorry you think this America’s or Bush’s fault, but the fault lies at your feet Mr. Lindh. He was not an adult and you feel for Islam. You were supposed to keep him safe, even from himself.
When the U.S.S. Cole was bombed in October 2000, Walker was back in Yemen. In an e-mail exchange with his son, Frank Lindh said he felt terrible for the victims and their families. John’s reply suggested that the attack may have been justified because the Cole was docked in an Islamic country. Lindh dismissed the exchange as a “father/son debate, much like my dad and I used to have over [the] Vietnam war.” A month after the Cole bombing, Walker left Yemen for Bannu, a village in Pakistan’s northwest, to attend an Islamic school, or madrasah. Pakistan’s madrasahs specialize in teaching students to memorize the Koran. They are also reputed to provide thousands of soldiers for the Taliban.
He asked his father for money, and Frank Lindh sent him $1,200.
John said he had been sent to an Arabic-speaking al-Qaeda camp, where he learned to shoot a Kalashnikov. He saw Osama bin Laden several times. He answered the call to jihad and fought in Kashmir and Kunduz. Then he became a prisoner of war.
Mr. Lindh probably feels responsible for his son going off the deep end. It was his own homosexual affair that led him to divorce his wife and abandon his family. John Walker Lindh was a teen struggling to find himself in the midst of a family scandal and got sucked into the vortex of Islam. If daddy wasn’t obsessed with being a rump ranger, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so willing to fund the kid’s trips abroad to “study.”
“WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS SON” ?????? “WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS SON”
How about “WHAT HIS SON DID TO OTHERS, AMERICANS”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn his traitorous son and may he waste away and end his worthless life in prison.
Um, I feel strongly about this, can you tell?
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