Born: February 9, 1981 (1981-02-09) (age 28)District of Columbia, USA
Charges: Conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; Conspiracy to provide material support & resources to foreign terrorist organizations; Providing material support & resources to foreign terrorist organization; Conspiracy to contribute services to al-Qaeda; Contributing services to al-Qaeda; Conspiracy to supply services to the Taliban; Supplying services to the taliban; Using and carrying firearms and destructive devices during crimes of violence
Penalty: 20 years imprisonment
Status: imprisoned in FCI, Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana
Patriotism among Americans has been especially prevalent since the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in New York back in 2001. With this newly found love for one’s country comes much curiosity and perplexity concerning Islam and the ideology behind the many facets of terrorism. John Phillip Walker Lindh was among these curious Americans, though his interest in Islam - the heavily-populated religion throughout the Middle East - began years before 2001.
Lindh grew so intrigued by the religion that he officially converted to Islam in 1997 and later traveled to Yemen and Pakistan to further his Arabic studies. These innocent studies of a then-mysterious world ceased when Suleyman al-Faris, aka Abdul Hamid – Lindh’s preferred names after his conversion – began training in Mujahideen terrorist training camps and aiding the terrorist group al Qaeda.
In November 2001, the CIA employed some of the agency’s most talented members to Afghanistan to aid the recapturing of various Afghani cities with the help of the country’s own Northern Alliance. While many of the terrorist fighters refused to surrender, a massive group numbering as high as 300 was disarmed and trucked to Mazar-e Sharif after a withdrawal was negotiated with General Dostum of the Northern Alliance.
In early December, shortly after the Taliban fighters were transported into the makeshift prison, a violent uprising ensued. The seven day conflict ended with only 86 survivors out of the original approximated 300 Taliban fighters, and resulted in the first American combat death of the Afghan War. Johnny “Mike” Spann, a CIA operative responsible for interrogating the prisoners, was brutally killed, but only after first emptying his AK-47 and pistol on the prisoners, followed by a hand-to-hand battle with a number of Taliban fighters, whom he could no longer fend off.
In February 2002, John Walker Lindh was indicted by a federal grand jury on ten charges, including engaging in a conspiracy to kill nationals of the United States and unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations, namely the Mujahideen and al Qaeda. Lindh would later plead guilty only to serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons, for which he now serving twenty years in prison without parole. Lindh’s family has since petitioned for a Presidential commutation to lower his sentence; fortunate to say, our then - President George W. Bush denied Lindh’s clemency in one of his final acts in office.
The Taliban uprising, deemed the Battle of Qala-i Janghi, was one of the bloodiest conflicts that had occurred during the Afghan war thus far. With the help of America’s own John Walker Lindh, the Taliban forces were able to methodically plan and initiate a coordinated attack against the American and Northern Alliance forces that left many of the men either dead or wounded. Of the friendly forces who survived, they will be forever haunted with the disturbing images of battle and are left to find ways to erase these incessant reflections of war from their minds. We can no longer ignore the conflicts that are arising outside of the United States; terrorism is mounting both in countries abroad and here at home.
http://www.justice.gov/ag/criminalcomplaint1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_Lindh
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/walker/profile.html
Not quite the story I heard.
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