Frank Lindh is shown speaking to law students in front of a projected image of his son, John Walker Lindh, at the University of San Francisco, 02/06/11. (photo: Jeff Chiu/AP)
Bin Laden's Gone. Can My Son Come Home? By Frank R. Lindh, The New York Times
25 May 11
On the evening of May 1, we learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The following dawn, I left my house in the Bay Area to catch a bus to Oakland International Airport. I flew to Indianapolis for a scheduled visit with my son, John Walker Lindh, at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.
I love my son. I enjoy our periodic visits and our weekly telephone calls, but this visit felt different. "If Bin Laden is dead," I kept thinking, "why can't John come home?"
A convert to Islam, John was found, unarmed and wounded, in a warlord's fortress in northern Afghanistan in December 2001. He was subjected to physical and psychological abuse - a precursor to the mistreatment of many prisoners, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, by the American military during the George W. Bush era. Marines took a photograph of John, blindfolded, bound and naked. It was published and broadcast worldwide.
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Interesting Comments on Reader-Supported News:
+1 # davidhp 2011-05-25 09:06
Comparing the Taliban to the American's who fought the fascists in Spain during the Spanish Civil War is a stretching too far. The Taliban has far more in common with the Spanish Fascist than those who fought them.
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+9 # Carole McArthur M.D. 2011-05-25 09:10
Yes, I agree. How could any 21 yr old realize the implications of what he was doing anyway? Why would anyone in the middle of Afghanistan understand that anything they did had US lawa appleid. I was in Afghanistan when I was about 20 and certainly would not have recognized this.
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+2 # Carole McArthur M.D. 2011-05-25 09:11
I agree. He was a youth when this occurred and could not ahve recognized the legal implciations of what he was doing. We should free him.
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+4 # June Cunniff 2011-05-25 09:51
The male brain does not mature until 25 (the female at 18) so why should this young man be punished for pursuing his spiritual quest which is the highest of callings. He should be sent home to his parents.
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+6 # granny 2011-05-25 09:51
And then there's Bradley Manning, also imprisoned and tortured for doing what he thought was right. Our President, duly elected, should recognize that these young men are every bit as deserving of support as are the several "reformed" athletes he has chosen to hold up as some kinds of role models.
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+5 # Dave W. 2011-05-25 10:10
Mr.Lindh,Your son was indeed a "scapegoat." The Bush Administration NEVER intended to capture or kill Bin Laden.His was the "requisite" face of terror needed to perpetuate our military involvement in the Middle East.This was about oil and
geo-political hegemony as laid out in Project for a New American Century with a number of Bush Adm.officials as signatories.
Your son was used as a "visible" face back here at home not only in a covert war against the Islamic faith but a "warning" to others that becoming an "other",meaning anything less than unwavering support for our imperialism in the Middle East,might come with a heavy price.The "real" terrorists are those who got us into these wars of empire under "false" pretenses and those who refuse to get us out.Your son got mixed up with the wrong people at the wrong time.He's paid his "debt" to society whilst the "true" criminals write books of faux courage and give inane speeches about sacrifice.
I truly don't believe your son will be released until,and if,President Obama is re-elected.Releasing him now would not be "politically expedient." And that is truly an injustice in a country where injustice is becoming more commonplace everyday.Ten years is indeed long enough for a twenty year old young man's momentary lapse in judgment.My best wishes to you and particularly your son. May our "collective" sanity come to his rescue.
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