Frank Lindh: My Lost Boy John Walker Lindh

[tekisui]

Source: Guardian

In 1998, aged 17, my son John Walker Lindh travelled to Yemen to study Islam and learn Arabic. In April 2001 he went to Afghanistan. Then 9/11 happened. He was captured by US troops, tortured, and jailed for 20 years, an innocent victim of America's 'war on terror'.



John Phillip Walker Lindh, my son, was raised a Roman Catholic, but converted to Islam when he was 16 years old. He has an older brother and a younger sister. John is scholarly and devout, devoted to his family, and blessed with a powerful intellect, a curious mind, and a wry sense of humour.

Labelled by the American government as "Detainee 001" in the "war on terror", John occupies a prison cell in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has been a prisoner of the American government since 1 December 2001, less than three months after the terror attacks of 9/11.

John is entirely innocent of any involvement in the terror attacks, or any allegiance to terrorism. That is not disputed by the American government. Indeed, all accusations of terrorism against John were dropped by the government in a plea bargain, which in turn was approved by the US district court in which the case was brought.

Much, much more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/john-walker-lindh-american-taliban-father
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A very good, long read.

[xchrom]

1. a national case of PTSD -- spot on. nt

[MH1]

2. Dup, already posted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1455755&mesg_id=1455755

[tekisui]

3. Yeah, I caught that about two minutes after posting.

[Long Shadow]

4. On the other hand...

Lindh received training at Al-Farouq, a training camp associated with Al-Qaeda and located in Afghanistan. There, he attended a lecture by Osama bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks. Lindh had previously received training with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, an internationally designated terrorist organization based in Pakistan.<1><2><3><4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_Lindh