John Walker Lindh of Marin, sometimes called the “American Taliban,” is currently serving a 20-year sentence for violating an Executive Order prohibiting aid to that group. His father, Frank Lindh, has been making the case that his son should be freed. From his May 21 op-ed in the New York Times:
John’s case was never about evidence. It was based purely on emotion — shock and anger over 9/11, compounded with a deep frustration that Bin Laden was able to escape from American forces. During the prison raid in which John was captured, another young American, a C.I.A. officer named Johnny Micheal Spann, was fatally shot. Mr. Spann’s father has pushed for harsh punishment. I respect his grief, and his son’s heroism. But his belief that John somehow was responsible for, or could have prevented, the death of his son is mistaken.
In fact, in a plea deal in October 2002, the government dropped its most serious accusations against John, including terrorism and conspiracy to kill Americans. John acknowledged only that he had aided the Taliban and carried weapons. For this, he accepted a term of 20 years’ imprisonment. He turned 30 in February…
John was a scapegoat, wrongly accused of terrorism at a moment when our grieving country needed someone to blame because the real terrorist had gotten away. Now that Bin Laden is dead, I hope President Obama, and the American people, can find it in their hearts to release John, and let him come home. Ten years is enough.
Not everyone agrees with this. Conservative columnist Debra J. Saunders, for instance.
…Lindh admits to having trained in a camp run by Osama bin Laden and having fought with the wonderful Taliban — apparently the Taliban, with its mistreatment of women and slaughter of Muslims not even worth mentioning, is not a problem for Frank Lindh. The son also admitted that he carried an AKM rifle and grenades.
Frank Lindh appeared on KQED’s Forum radio program yesterday, and the show generated extensive listener response, much of it critical. (See a Forum message board on the segment here.)
So Forum revisited the show with NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard and listeners who called in. You can listen to that show below: