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'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency
 | | That is one painful looking zit on that fearsome jihadi... |
After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh said Thursday he has asked President Bush to grant his son clemency, adding that the then teenager never raised arms against the United States. "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.
| The "decent and honorable young men" became a jihadi. He joined the Taliban, where as a dues-paying member he was authorized to beat women on the street with whips if they showed an ankle. |
John Walker Lindh, now 24, was captured by American forces on Nov. 21, alongside the Taliban. Frank Lindh said his son thought he had been rescued by U.S. soldiers until he was taken into custody and tortured.
| What made him think they would rescue him? The fact that he ran out of ammunition? What made him any more important that all the other dead jihadis around him? |
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.
| He was rooted out at Qala-i-Jangi, where the hard boyz from the siege of Konduz had been shipped. They decided to unsurrender and Dostum's guys shot them to shreds. Johnny Jihad was one of very few survivors. By rights he should have been a corpse. |
Last year John Walker Lindh asked President Bush for a reduction in his 20-year sentence, repeating a September 2004 request the government rejected. 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.
| No doubt enough time's gone by that the usual suspects think they can garner some sympathy for him from the short attention span crowd... |
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 would no doubt be prouder of him if he'd been caught breaking and entering or mugging little old ladies... |
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 gain him a reprieve. | Let me think......umm, no. |
Posted by: Steve 2006-01-20 |
