Dubbed the "American Taliban", he bore much of the brunt of the outrage in the aftermath of the tragic 9/11 attacks. Locked in a shipping container, denied access to medical treatment and the Red Cross, photographed naked, blindfolded and duct-taped to a stretcher, John Walker Lindh's story is emblematic of the so-called war on terror's disregard for even basic human rights.
Facing abusive interrogation while in custody, John Walker Lindh had 9 of the 10 charges against him dropped. While then Attorney-General John Ashcroft was declaring that Lindh dedicated himself to "killing Americans", the actual indictment against said nothing about this. Although he was exonerated of all terrorism-related charges, John is now serving a 20-year sentence in an American prison. John is a Muslim convert who has explained he went to Afghanistan in the spring of 2001, prior to the U.S. invasion, to help defend innocent civilians there from attacks by the Northern Alliance warlords. Lindh is behind bars for participating in another country's civil war. Ironically, individual Americans have been doing that for a long time.
Frank Lindh, a lawyer and John Lindh's father, has launched a justice campaign for his son. At this special London meeting he will address: "John Lindh: Human Rights Implications of an Extraordinary Case". This will be his first lecture in Great Britain.
also from jimgibbon.com:
What’s more, the author says Lindh’s case has implications for the future of Islam and America:
Facing abusive interrogation while in custody, John Walker Lindh had 9 of the 10 charges against him dropped. While then Attorney-General John Ashcroft was declaring that Lindh dedicated himself to "killing Americans", the actual indictment against said nothing about this. Although he was exonerated of all terrorism-related charges, John is now serving a 20-year sentence in an American prison. John is a Muslim convert who has explained he went to Afghanistan in the spring of 2001, prior to the U.S. invasion, to help defend innocent civilians there from attacks by the Northern Alliance warlords. Lindh is behind bars for participating in another country's civil war. Ironically, individual Americans have been doing that for a long time.
Frank Lindh, a lawyer and John Lindh's father, has launched a justice campaign for his son. At this special London meeting he will address: "John Lindh: Human Rights Implications of an Extraordinary Case". This will be his first lecture in Great Britain.
also from jimgibbon.com:
What’s more, the author says Lindh’s case has implications for the future of Islam and America:
He will get out, and the question is not what he will be like—that we know—but what we will be like. For Hamza Walker Lindh has come to embody the challenge of Islam to America, and the challenge is simply this: In response to what America has done to him, Hamza has become more Islamic—more himself, and a better Muslim. And in response to what Hamza has done to it, America has become less properly Christian, and ever less democratic, and ever so much less than itself. It is a simple, remorseless calculus, and it will transform the face of the country Hamza is released into, whenever he is released.painting from Vanessa at pervertedlogic.com
2 comments:
That quote sums up how bent and twisted the logic is in all this.
So much is just knee-jerk hatred, fueled by sheer propaganda.
It makes the outlook seem dimmer and grimmer at every turn. I'm growing less and less hopeful we'll emerge from this with any soul at all.
War is not curtailed by warfare. And, in the meantime, innocents suffer.
Look on the bright side.. err... err.. um...
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