Author Topic: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out  (Read 396 times)

h cottie is bac-tive?

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Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« on: January 20, 2006, 11:32:29 AM »
The father of the infamous John Walker Lindh publicly spoke out, urging President Bush to grant clemency for his son. He is serving 20 years in prison. What Do You Think should happen?


http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060120074009990001&ncid=NWS00010000000001


Quote
'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency
Lindh Says Son Had Nothing to Do With 9/11 Attacks
By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP

SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 20) - After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh called on President Bush on Thursday to grant clemency to his son, who he says was wrongly maligned as a traitor and murderer.

"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.

Frank Lindh said that although his son had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks, they ended up adding dire consequences to his decision to join the Taliban, targeted by the U.S. after the 2001 attacks for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

"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.

John Walker Lindh, who turns 25 next month, was 20 when he was captured by American forces on Nov. 21, 2001, alongside Taliban fighters.

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. In exchange, John Walker Lindh agreed to withdraw claims of abuse or torture.

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.

Frank 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 him get a reduction in his 20-year prison sentence. Last year his son renewed his request for clemency, already rejected once.

John Walker Lindh, raised Catholic, was 12 when he saw the movie "Malcolm X" and became interested in Islam, his father said. A few years later he converted to Islam in a mosque in Mill Valley.

With his parents' blessings, he headed to Yemen, and later Pakistan, to memorize the Quran and become an Islamic scholar.

What did Frank Lindh think of his son's decision to pursue these studies?

"It's a wonderful thing for an American kid to go overseas and study, to learn another language, to learn another religion, these are great things," he said.

In the spring of 2001, John Walker Lindh told his parents he was going to dodge the desert heat and spend the summer in the mountains of Pakistan. He did not tell his parents that he planned to cross into Afghanistan and join the Taliban army.

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.

On Thursday, Frank Lindh emphasized that John Walker Lindh was involved in an Afghan war, not a fight against the U.S., when the Muslim convert joined the Taliban army to fight the Northern Alliance. He noted that the U.S. once supported Taliban fighters when they were fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

"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. He never fought against America. He never fired a gun at an American. He was simply rescued."

Or he thought he had been rescued, his father said, until he was taken into custody, duct taped naked on a stretcher and held in a metal shipping container for two days.

Frank Lindh said he would have urged his son not to get involved in the fighting had he known of his plans.

"If he had asked, I would have told him, 'John, we don't have a stake in that fight,'" said Frank Lindh. "I would have told him that if he wants to help, he should go work in a refugee camp."

Even so, 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.

As passionately as Frank Lindh is advocating for his son's clemency, there is another father fighting just as hard to extend John Walker Lindh's sentence by getting him convicted of murder or treason.

Johnny Spann is the father of CIA officer Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann, who was killed in a prison riot after being videotaped speaking with John Walker Lindh.

Johnny Spann is conducting his own investigation into the origins of the riot at the Mazar-e-Sharif prison, where suspected Taliban supporters were held. Spann contends that the uprising began with a planned grenade attack inside the prison building rather than a spontaneous scuffle outside where his son was interviewing prisoners, including Lindh.

Frank Lindh, a San Rafael, Calif. attorney for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., said he and Lindh's mother, Marilyn Walker, an office manager who lives in San Anselmo, visit their son for long weekends each month at the medium security federal penitentiary in Victorville, Calif.

"The silver lining in this whole cloud is that we have wonderful visits with our son," said Frank Lindh. "Ordinarily a son who is 25 doesn't have much time to spend with his father. But we have a lot of time."

I WENT TO STAPLES CENTER WEN I WAS WALKING MY GOLD RAG FALL OF MY POCKET AND THE GROUND WAS WET TO AND DIRTY MY RAG GOT DIRTY A LIL BIT PULL IT IT BACK AND MAKE SURE IT WOULD NOT DROP AGAIN ROCKING MY RAG AGAIN HOMIE 8
 

mauzip

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2006, 11:35:16 AM »
let that motherfucker burn
 

J Bananas

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2006, 11:45:05 AM »
wait what did he do? "supply services"? fuck that we dont need another nerdy ass white kid in jail over some bullshit, this guy reminds me of infinite. he is severely misguided but he doesnt need to lose his freedom for it.
 

$do11a biLL$

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2006, 11:47:50 AM »
How can his father prove he wasn't in the taliban to fight against america? Thats what that army was basically all about and he joined it so he has to pay the consequences for it. They should have gave him a much longer sentence.
 

J @ M @ L

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2006, 11:49:37 AM »
How can his father prove he wasn't in the taliban to fight against america? Thats what that army was basically all about and he joined it so he has to pay the consequences for it. They should have gave him a much longer sentence.

LOL you guys are fucking retards.
my throat hurts, its hard to swallow, and my body feels like i got a serious ass beating.

LOL @ this fudgepacker
 

virtuoso

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2006, 11:52:12 AM »
Lol so those who oppose the empire should be jailed is in effect what you are saying. Does it leave a nasty taste in your mouth that they have built a massive oil pipeline running right through Aghanistan? did you know the U.S was friends with the Taliban until the Taliban opposed this?. The CIA's drug trafficing took a pounding during the years of the taliban but now opium production is a roaring success again, long live the empire right. You dumbass drone.
 

J Bananas

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2006, 11:59:40 AM »
Lol so those who oppose the empire should be jailed is in effect what you are saying. Does it leave a nasty taste in your mouth that they have built a massive oil pipeline running right through Aghanistan? did you know the U.S was friends with the Taliban until the Taliban opposed this?. The CIA's drug trafficing took a pounding during the years of the taliban but now opium production is a roaring success again, long live the empire right. You dumbass drone.

haha. college kids. "it's the evil corporations bro!"
 

virtuoso

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2006, 12:17:47 PM »

Yes it is but the funny thing is you dont realise it  ::)
 

virtuoso

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2006, 12:30:23 PM »

To say that Haliburton oil companies etc have all the power and influence is not exactly a conspiracy you dumb fool but thanks for the laugh!. Last post on this since denial of this is at a hill billy incestous child level of intelligence.
 

big mat

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2006, 02:26:54 PM »
america's army is like the empire in star wars, a fuckin big strong army that a bunch of rebels will defeat with time
 

King Tech Quadafi

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2006, 12:22:58 AM »
They should let this guy go;.

Only an ignorant faggot like Mauzip would say such an idiotic thing as he said

he went to afghanistan to fight in a civil war with a side he sympathized with ideologically

one year later, some fuckery occurs, and the towers are down and the us is in afghanistan


low level taliban couldnt find new york on a fuckin map, let alone be down wit al qaeda.
that was a partnership fostered at the top by taliban/pakistani intelligence elite

he was a muslim kid fightin with a muslim govt against another side in a civil war. how this makes him a traitor ill never know
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

virtuoso

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Re: Father of the American Taliban Speaks Out
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2006, 06:32:00 AM »

Many a true word spoken there FT, something I had forgotten, yeah he joined the Taliban before the invasion by the americans. Although it just didnt sit right with me, its documented that the U.S were shunned by the Taliban over their plans to build a pipline right through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lo and behold September 11 happens and suddenly they have carte blanche, now all they need is Syria. Its like the dictator of Pakistan, before he suddenly came to power BP were refused the exploration of the pakistani national park, now musharaff has allowed them free rein since his rise to power.