Should John Walker Lind, the stupid kid that converted to Islam and went to Afghanistan, be set free?

Question

To me, this guy is no terrorist. He seems to only be a very stupid kid whose stupid parents allowed him to convert to Islam and travel to Pakistan on his own to learn more about his faith. Being young and stupid, he got brainwashed by some sick people and was led astray into Afghanistan where he ran into more sickos. He has already served 4 1/2 years of a 20 year sentence and was recently moved from Medium Security to the Supermax in Colorado. He has renounced Islam and acknowledged the stupidity of his past. Should his sentence be commuted?

Answer 1

I think he is guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

To me the most interesting aspect of this case is he has never in his life fired a weapon or a gun.

That speaks to intent and participation. Afghanistan is full of guns full of AK's for him as a 16 year old to maintain his pacifist ideals in those surroundings says a lot.

If he had been jailed in Getmo he would be free now. But due to the 911 public out cry he has life in prison.

I have followed this case and I do not think he fought against US forces uniformed or not uniformed.

I do not think he has any appeals or chance of early release other than a Presidential Pardon.

Answer 2

I'm a liberal (who actually grew up across the Bay from Marin County), and I don't think that he should be set free. I don't quarrel with his decisions, I just think that his parents should not have permitted him to make one without a sound discussion of consequences.

So he wants to convert to Islam. Fine. So he wants to move the Central Asia. Fine. There's nothing necessarily wrong, but any responsible parent would not let that pass without ensuring that he knew what he was doing and why.

Either way, he deserves the chance to atone for his mistakes, but not the freedom to make them again. Was converting to Islam and moving to Afghanistan a mistake? I don't know, I haven't spoken with him or read anything that outlined what he had in mind. But that doesn't excuse betraying his country.

By acknowledging the stupidity of his past, he is unique from about 0.0001% of teenagers that ever lived. That's commendable, but not exceptional, and he shouldn't receive much special credit for that.

Sure, we all make mistakes and do stupid ****, especially when we're teenagers. I'm the first to admit that it was probably not a great idea to jump barefoot over that bonfire when I was 14 (at least not as great an idea as it sounded). I got burned, and I became a little wiser that day. But I only endangered my own life and health, not strangers and fellow Americans.

Answer 3

each and every physique is so blind to what he became into charged with. on the time he became into arrested, he became into scuffling with the Northern Alliance--previously the Bush administration grew to alter into in touch interior the conflict. sometime he became into an Afghani freedom fighter, the subsequent he became into an enemy of the U. S.. 9 of the ten rates against him have been dropped. He became into convicted of supporting the Taliban in 2001--the comparable 3 hundred and sixty 5 days that the Bush administration sent the Taliban $40 3 million in help. there is not any evidence that Lindh meant to homicide individuals or to help terrorists in doing so. He became into scuffling with in yet another u . s .'s civil conflict. He grew to alter right into a scapegoat for the positioned up 9/11 hysteria.

Answer 4

Yes. I don't think he actually acted on anything. He was just a stupid kid who got caught up in the wrong crowd. It's not like he has any other criminal history, and he is an American.

If the government wants, tap his phone and keep tabs on him, 10 years of probation or whatever. But I think he'll walk the straight and narrow from now on.
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He joined the Taliban way before 9/11. So it was not his intention of waging war against America. He got caught up in circumstances.

Answer 5

No. I don't care what he says. This guy needs to realize that there are consequences to his actions, even if he realizes how stupid they are. If you get caught driving recklessly you should still lose your license, if nothing else than for being a dumbass. I have no problem with him converting to Islam, hell, if he wants to go to the middle east then more power to him. The problem I have is what he really did there. He was fighting with the Taliban. This guy is lucky he wasn't charged with treason.

Answer 6

Yes, who among us has not at a tender age done something really stupid. Than add to the mix the anger of the American people (rightly so) looking to hold someone responsible for 911.

Answer 7

This is like saying Lee Harvey Oswald came from a broken home and should be absolved of any wrong doing. This little moron was present when an officer of the CIA was killed in that uprising. This little bed wetter is lucky he was not shot for treason. Let him rot in jail.

Answer 8

Call back in 5 years.

Answer 9

first of all Islam had nothing to do with it. look how many people the U.S.A has killed and we say we are christians so keep God, Allah. out of it. sick people are everywhere. Alot right here in this country. mothers killing their own kids. polticians playing mob by extorting our hard earned small paychecks! need I say more? walker, sure let him out. He got cought up in something he had no damn clue about and those guiding him had no more then he did!

Answer 10

There is no grounds for leniency, save that he wasn't actually in the service of a foreign government. If that were the case, then he should be executed for treason. As it is, justice would have him spending a loooong time in prison or facing the death penalty