Mercy or death?
Jack Stone
the faith of a loser. After all, he could have been the one shooting at
american soldiers, most of them his age and all of them volunteers also, but
unlike him, serving their country. He could have officially renounced his US
citizenship making him an official enemy and subject to Geneva convention,
however he didn't so at this point he is a traitor and shoud be shot as
such. Unfortunately I can see the US media making a farce out of this and
preventing justice from being done as usual.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Father hopes U.S. has mercy on Taliban fighter son
December 4, 2001 Posted: 2:34 AM EST (0734 GMT)
Lindh said would like to hug his son and kick his butt for not getting
permission to go to Afghanistan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
(CNN) -- In his first television interview since his son made headlines,
the father of an American who fought with the Taliban hopes that the United
States will show mercy to his son.
The wounded 20-year-old John Walker was in the custody of U.S. Special
Forces somewhere in Afghanistan, U.S. military officials at Central Command
in Tampa, Florida, said Monday.
Frank Lindh described how his son's devotion to Islam drew him to the Middle
East. But during his appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," Lindh said he
had no idea the young man was in Afghanistan.
Also appearing on the show was "CBS News" anchor Dan Rather, who posed his
own question to Lindh.
LARRY KING: What is the story, Frank? What attracted your son to go over?
FRANK LINDH: Larry, my son was a convert to Islam when he was 16, just in
high school age here in California. He attended a mosque in San Francisco,
began to really study in earnest while he was there, and then he went
overseas to study Arabic in Yemen, which is a good place to study Arabic
because the old form of Arabic is spoken there.
He came back home after about a year in Yemen, then he went back to Yemen to
continue his language and religious studies there in Yemen. Then in November
of 2000, he went to Pakistan. He was there in a mosque in Pakistan in a city
called Bannu from November until May, the first of May this year.
At that point, he had told us he was going to go up to the mountains of
Pakistan and spend the summer because of the heat in Bannu during the
summer. And with my blessing, he did leave. What we didn't know until
Saturday night, was that John apparently went to Afghanistan rather than
farther up to the hills of Pakistan.
KING: When, Frank, was the last time had you heard from him?
LINDH: At the first of May, Larry.
KING: So it was not since May?
LINDH: Not since May. We have been waiting and hoping and praying to hear
some word from him since the first of May. It was only Saturday night of
this week that we, you know, we all viewed those images on CNN.
KING: Did anything in your mind lend you to think that he might be with
them? Anything from a prior correspondence before May, any statements he had
made to you that might lend you to think that he would join or be part of
that group?
LINDH: No, Larry. John, he's a very sweet kid, very devout, very religious.
He is certainly devoted to this religious conversion that he had to Islam.
But to me, John was always the same kid. He always had the same sense of
humor, the same family relations with his sister and his brother. And so I
had no indication or reason to be concerned that he would put himself in
danger like this by going to Afghanistan.
KING: What were your thoughts after September 11?
LINDH: Well, our thoughts were very troubled, Larry. We were very concerned
because there had been this long period already where we had not heard from
John, and now of course we have this, the terrible, terrible tragedy here in
the United States. And demonstrations in Pakistan, where we thought John
was, against the Americans, so we began to be even more concerned about the
lack of any communication, thinking that John might be in some danger there
in Pakistan.
KING: Now, Frank, what are you going through? You're obviously overjoyed
that your son is alive, you haven't heard from him so you know he's alive.
Yet you know, he might be charged with something, right?
LINDH: Well, I don't know, Larry. Our first concern is we want to see John.
We want to see him. His mom and I both want to see him. We have hired a
lawyer. We're very interested in getting information from the government as
to where John is now. Let me say, though, we're also very grateful that the
Special Forces picked him up. We know John is safe and we are very grateful
for that information. But we do...
KING: But you have no idea what's going to happen to him?
LINDH: No, we have had no information or communication of any kind from the
government as yet. We are, though, hoping, hoping to hear from the
government.
KING: Have you tried to contact him?
LINDH: Well, no, Larry. I have no idea where he is. My information was that
he was taken by the Special Forces. The one reporter on the ground in
Afghanistan that I spoke to, the "Newsweek" reporter who broke the story,
said he was speculating, but he thought John had been removed from
Afghanistan to another country.
KING: What, as you look back and think back, he was raised Catholic, was he
not, Frank?
LINDH: Yes.
KING: What took him to this extreme route? We understand being attracted to
another faith and many do go to Islam and other type faiths as they move
through life. But why this far, do you think?
LINDH: Larry, I really can't answer that without speculating. Until John
disappeared on us, so to speak, on the first of May, I had nothing to see
there other than a kid who, a boy really, who had converted to a religion
that I respect and that seemed very healthy and good for him.
He was very devoted to it, devoted to the intellectual study and the study
of Arabic, the memorization of the Koran, even by Islamic standards I think
John is an outstanding student, a really devoted student, who ultimately
wanted to attend the University at Medina, in Saudi Arabia. And I supported
that, I thought that was a noble thing, and I was proud of John for pursuing
that alternative course. Different, certainly, from where I grew up.
KING: Boy, now, when the Cole was bombed, is it true that you expressed
displeasure with that and he did not?
LINDH: Yes, Larry. We did have a difference of political views on that
issue. John, I was upset and I was concerned about the fact that these young
Americans who were killed on the Cole were the same age as John. And we just
had a little father/son debate, much like my dad and I used to have over
Vietnam war, frankly. We had a father/son disagreement on that issue.
KING: Are there other children, Frank?
LINDH: Yes, we have three children. John is the middle child.
KING: What do the other two do?
LINDH: I have a son here in San Francisco, who is 23 years old. He works in
a record store. And our daughter Naomi is a seventh-grader.
KING: And your wife is at home, or does she work, too?
LINDH: She works part-time, and we're actually, at Larry, in the midst of an
amicable divorce, so we're separated.
KING: How are the two siblings handling this?
LINDH: Well, I have to say, I'm doing my best to remain composed, but we're
all very, very upset with what John went through in this prison. It really
defies description. And to think that our son, he's really not much more
than a boy, that he went through this horrible experience in the prison and
who knows what leading up to that, as parents and as family, we're very
troubled and very concerned for his welfare.
And that's why we're -- go ahead.
KING: I'm sorry.
LINDH: I was going to say, that's why we're so anxious to see him as soon as
possible. We want to give him a big hug. I also want to maybe give him a
little kick in the butt for not telling me what he was up to, and for not
getting my permission, because I would not have given him permission to go
to Afghanistan.
KING: All right, what do you, what are your expectations the government is
going to do?
LINDH: I don't know, Larry. I spoke with an attorney today. I have hired the
attorney to represent John. I hope the government recognizes that John does
deserve to have representation. But John is a good boy. I don't know of any
information, any suggestion of any information indicating that he's done
anything wrong. Therefore, I hope that John can be debriefed by the
government and then come on home.
KING: There's no indication, thus far, that he was doing anything militarily
with the Taliban.
LINDH: Larry, I know only what I have seen on CNN and on, on- line. It does
indicate in those reports, this is hard for me to reconcile with the John
that I know, but he was carrying an AK-47, according to one story.
So he appears to have been a combatant with the Taliban.
KING: Frank, before you leave us, Dan Rather is in Kabul. Dan, do you have a
question for Frank?
RATHER: I do, Larry. I've been listening very carefully. Let me first of all
say, that any father can certainly relate to what Frank is feeling. But
Frank, you said your son had done nothing wrong. He's been quoted as saying
that he supported and supports the attacks of September 11. Whether there's
anything legally wrong with that or not, there are going to be many, many
Americans, I have to say candidly this one, who would say that for whatever
reason he said that, that that was wrong. I would like to get your reaction
to that.
LINDH: Dan, I'm very troubled by that statement as well. I would just ask
you to consider the fact that he was being pressed by a reporter after being
pulled out of the basement of a prison where he went through that horrible
ordeal.
All I can say is that I don't think his mind was working, I don't think he
was thinking straight at that moment. I don't think anybody could be
thinking straight after that kind of an ordeal.
KING: Sad stories of war. You just ask what, Frank?
LINDH: Ask that people have a little mercy, and think about what he went
through before he made that statement.
KING: Thank you, Frank.
LINDH: Thank you.
RATHER: Frank, I think you know that Americans are filled with mercy,
thanks.
LINDH: Thank you, Dan, very much.
Logical
"Jack Stone" <stlj...@hotmailNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:9ujufh$a0p$1...@news.vol.cz...
> I would vote for death, this guy knew what he was doing and should accept
> the faith of a loser. After all, he could have been the one shooting at
> american soldiers, most of them his age and all of them volunteers also,
but
> unlike him, serving their country. He could have officially renounced his
US
> citizenship making him an official enemy and subject to Geneva convention,
> however he didn't so at this point he is a traitor and shoud be shot as
> such. Unfortunately I can see the US media making a farce out of this and
> preventing justice from being done as usual.
Try him under the civil courts, I have more faith than you do in the justice
system. If he renounces US citizenship, transfer him to a military
tribunal.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yukon Jack
<stlj...@hotmailNOSPAM.com> wrote:
*I would vote for death, this guy knew what he was doing and should
accept
*the faith of a loser. After all, he could have been the one shooting
at
*american soldiers, most of them his age and all of them volunteers
also, but
*unlike him, serving their country. He could have officially renounced
his US
*citizenship making him an official enemy and subject to Geneva
convention,
*however he didn't so at this point he is a traitor and shoud be shot
as
*such. Unfortunately I can see the US media making a farce out of this
and
*preventing justice from being done as usual.
*----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can see how a young kid disillusioned with his country got caught up
in something like that. It's remindful of some of the
kids from the hippie period. I don't think I would go as far as
taking his life. I probably would bar him
from the US for twenty years, that way he could bond with his muslim
brethren for a long time. y
Pivomil Budejsky
He joined up long before the conflict.
Had he tried to leave after the declaration of war they
would have shot him, knowing how alkaida operates.
So he was stock between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Besides, he was fond of mass musturbation sessions with
his fellow alkaidans deep in the caves of Afganistan.
Jack Stone
Yukon Jack <mys...@gci.net> wrote in message
news:3c0dc10e...@news.gci.net...
Yeah, and next thing you'll see him somewhere in a public place wrapped in
hand grenades :-)
He's old enough to understand what he has done. No one should pick up a gun
and then expect mercy when luck turns the other way. This guy is as far as
I'm concerned more dangerous than most native Afghan Taleban soldiers and
who knows how many people he has killed so far. You don't think Taleban
admitted just about anyone from the west without some kinda initiation rite,
do you ? If they did, the movement would be crawling with CIA agents :-)
--
Jack Stone
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Lepsi pivo v zaludku nezli voda na plicich."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
''
"It's better to have beer in the stomach than water in the lungs."
J. Cimrman
Jack Stone
Pivomil Budejsky <busE...@Onthe.net> wrote in message
news:3C0F2528...@Onthe.net...
> You makes no sense, kameniku.
>
> He joined up long before the conflict.
> Had he tried to leave after the declaration of war they
> would have shot him, knowing how alkaida operates.
> So he was stock between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Hm.
>
> Besides, he was fond of mass musturbation sessions with
> his fellow alkaidans deep in the caves of Afganistan.
Okey dokey, that explains it then :-)
Robert Knowles
"Jack Stone" <stlj...@hotmailNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
>
> Pivomil Budejsky <busE...@Onthe.net> wrote in message
> news:3C0F2528...@Onthe.net...
> > You makes no sense, kameniku.
> >
> > He joined up long before the conflict.
> > Had he tried to leave after the declaration of war they
> > would have shot him, knowing how alkaida operates.
> > So he was stock between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
>
> Hm.
Yeah, but he and his dad had a little argument about the
terrorist bombing of the Cole in Yemen, and the little
terrorist wannabe went to Yemen. Then he saw the
shit the Taliban was dishing out and wanted to go
Pakistan to "study".
He's a fucking sociopath with a beard and Quran
just like the other terrorists.
> > > FRANK LINDH: Larry, my son was a convert to Islam when he was 16, just
> in
> > > high school age here in California. He attended a mosque in San
> Francisco,
> > > began to really study in earnest while he was there, and then he went
> > > overseas to study Arabic in Yemen, which is a good place to study
Arabic
> > > because the old form of Arabic is spoken there.
I'd be checking out that mosque in San Francisco to see
just how many other terrorist wannabe's are connected
to it.
Martin Ripa
soc.culture.czecho-slovak in article
<9uodph$1n85$6...@news.vol.cz> "Jack Stone"
<stlj...@hotmailNOSPAM.com> wrote:
Do you think that the 60's are returning, but this time with
Taliban as the new hippies? Urgh ;-(((
I don't think I would go as far as
>> taking his life. I probably would bar him
>> from the US for twenty years, that way he could bond with his muslim
>> brethren for a long time. y
>
>Yeah, and next thing you'll see him somewhere in a public place wrapped in
>hand grenades :-)
>He's old enough to understand what he has done. No one should pick up a gun
>and then expect mercy when luck turns the other way. This guy is as far as
>I'm concerned more dangerous than most native Afghan Taleban soldiers and
>who knows how many people he has killed so far. You don't think Taleban
>admitted just about anyone from the west without some kinda initiation rite,
>do you ? If they did, the movement would be crawling with CIA agents :-)
>--
>
> Jack Stone
>
>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>"Lepsi pivo v zaludku nezli voda na plicich."
>""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>''
>"It's better to have beer in the stomach than water in the lungs."
>
> J. Cimrman
>
Best wishes
Martin
FEEB
>and then expect mercy when luck turns the other way. This guy is as far
as
>I'm concerned more dangerous than most native Afghan Taleban soldiers and
>who knows how many people he has killed so far. You don't think Taleban
>admitted just about anyone from the west without some kinda initiation
rite,
>do you ? If they did, the movement would be crawling with CIA agents :-)
Good point. He must have had proven himself first, probably by murdering
couple of opponents. If organize crime does it, I do not see any reason
why the Taleban would not.
Frank Bures, <grandial at softex.cz>
dae
"Robert Knowles" <knowl...@home.com> wrote in message
news:H7TP7.48637$Sx.13...@news1.elcjn1.sdca.home.com...
His parents are well to do, and have connections. They also weren't sure
where their "minor" child was for the last few years. I would expect a show
trial in Criminal Court (Federal) and probably a Life Sentence. Given the
feelings in Europe these days over the death penalty I doubt that we would
give him that if the prosecutor would go for the death penalty.
Don
Yukon Jack
<stlj...@hotmailNOSPAM.com> wrote:
*do you ? If they did, the movement would be crawling with CIA agents
:-)
J. Cimrman
I am pretty sure it was. y
Eugene
dae wrote:
> I would expect a show
> trial in Criminal Court (Federal) and probably a Life Sentence. Given the
> feelings in Europe these days over the death penalty I doubt that we would
> give him that if the prosecutor would go for the death penalty.
Show trial?
What would be the charge/s??
Jack Stone
You better hope not, 'cause if it was then they didn't do shit in there
besides wasting taxpayers money :-)