Friday, April 06, 2007

Johnny Taliban

I'm not prone to quoting the bible, but I will here.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his brothers (John 15:13)
There have been mighty tales told of great heroes making great sacrifices to save their brothers in the heat of battle. Medal of Honor recipients are few and far between. Living recipients even rarer. They are the bravest of the brave, and usually the most humble about their experience. Something about a man who performs such a selfless act inspires awe and respect, even without a medal.
Then you have people on the other end of the spectrum like Johnny Lindh. A misguided youth? Hardly. Wrong place, wrong time? Not likely. He left home and traveled first to Yemen to learn Arabic in order to read the Q'uran. Then a return trip to Yemen, followed by his entrance into a madrassa in Pakistan. After his schooling he journeyed to Afghanistan in order to aid the Taliban, which he stated was to help the only government that actually practiced Islamic law. He then joined the Taliban and was sent to a training course, issued weapons, and sent out to fight the enemies of the Taliban. Along the way, he not only met Osama bin Laden, but reportedly, shook his hand and received praise from OBL for joining the fight.
All of this took place prior to 9/11, and had that day never transpired the way it did, he would just be another Islamic fascist asshat. After that day, he became a traitor. Voluntarily choosing to remain and fight with Al Quaeda after 9/11 is exactly the reason he is serving a prison sentence now. It is the reason that he agreed to a plea bargain (stating at his trial,"I plead guilty. I provided my services as a soldier to the Taliban last year from about August to December. In the course of doing so, I carried a rifle and two grenades. I did so knowingly and willingly knowing that it was illegal."), knowing the penalties could have been much harsher. He was not captured trying to escape from the fighting. He was actually headed in the wrong direction for that. Instead he was actually moving with others to join another Taliban group for an attack on Mazar i Sharif. After being captured he had all the opportunity in the world to identify himself and chose not to do so. Instead he plotted along with the other prisoners, to attack and kill their guards. Mike Spann is killed during this conflict, and Lindh did nothing to prevent it, even though Spann had questioned him earlier after Lindh was pointed out as speaking English (they called him the Irishman).
Of course now we should feel sorry for him. He was in over his head, most likely scared and unsure of whom to turn to for help. We should give him leniency because he may have been tortured, or possibly questioned while under pain medication. Fuck him and everyone who acts like him. He knew full well what he was doing, as is evident from his response to a reporter asking him if he thought he had been fighting on the right side? "Definitely," was his answer. Or maybe he was on a spiritual quest that just went bad. What kind of spiritual journey includes military training and the issuing of AK-47's and hand grenades? The truth of the matter is that he is a traitor, and the price for treason should still be execution. Lindh doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as real heroes.