-Caveat Lector- >From WND
}}}>Begin This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25746 Wednesday, December 19, 2001 The man without a country By Hal Lindsey © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com By now, everybody has seen the man dubbed "Johnny Taliban" by the press. John Walker Lindh is a 20-year-old convert to Islam who was captured fighting with the Taliban at the prison uprising at Mazar e Sharif. Walker, or Lindh (to eliminate confusion, we'll stick with Johnny Taliban), was a participant in the only battle in which an American died at the hands of the enemy. CIA agent Mike Spann was beaten, kicked, stabbed and ev en bitten to death, according to reports. This week's Big Controversy is centered around the question of what is the U.S. to do with Johnny Taliban? Personally, I don't find it controversial at all. I'll take you for a walk through my reasoning process. Some say that Johnny Taliban deserves mercy because he was just a brainwashed kid. Everybody deserves mercy, but mercy is an attribute of God, not government. Mike Spann deserved mercy, but he was bitten to death. Johnny Taliban deserves mercy as well – so if convicted and sentenced to death, he won't face the same kind of death as did Mike Spann. As to the mitigating factor of his being "brainwashed," that argument raises a number of issues. First and foremost, arguing brainwashing shoots a number of holes in the administration's doubletalk that alleges fundamenta l Islam was hijacked by Islamic fundamentalists. If being brainwashed by Islam can turn you into Johnny Taliban, what does that say about several million American Muslims? And if Johnny Taliban's crimes are mitigated by his being brainwashed, how can we prosecute the rest of al-Qaida? Each could argue the same defense. Unless we are prepared to argue that only Americans can be brainwashed. No one who is brainwashed voluntarily continues on the difficult path that Johnny Taliban did. He went to Yemen and learned Arabic so that he could delve deeper into the Koran. He went to Afghanistan to study with the Tal iban. He volunteered to join al-Qaida and went through their rugged terrorist training. These are not the actions of a brainwashed person, but rather of a dedicated Islamic fanatic. Johnny Taliban won't be able to play the Patti Hearst defense, either. She argued that, having been kidnapped, she was forced to participate in a bank robbery with her SLA captors. Johnny Taliban wasn't kidnapped, and he wasn't forced to participate. His opportunity to make that defense work came and went when he was interrogated by Mike Spann hours before Agent Spann was killed. Spann would ask a question, and the American Taliban would stare at the floor. When the i nterview ended, Spann didn't even know what language Walker spoke, let alone the fact he was an American citizen. That put to rest any defense that Johnny Taliban was participating in a battle against the United States ag ainst his will. Walker's defenders say he should be afforded legal counsel as an American citizen while in military custody. This is a thorny question. The Constitution is a weighty document. But Johnny Taliban was taken in Afghanistan, while he was actively fighting against the Constitution as part of a foreign military organization. He is a prisoner of war. Information gleaned from a prisoner of war is not evidence, it is military intelligence. It is impossible to obtain useful intelligence, especially classified material, with a lawyer standing by. Did Walker give up his ri ghts as an American? Fighting for a foreign power is a crime for which one can be stripped of citizenship. As I said, it is a thorny question. What is not in doubt are Johnny Taliban's own views. According to Newsweek, Walker admits not only to being a member of the Taliban, but also a member of al-Qaida. He says he trained in bin Laden's terror camps and even m et the "Shayk" himself. And most convicting of all, he expressed his support for the 9-11 attacks. The government has a number of options. The White House has already ruled out a military tribunal for Walker – granting him an automatic benefit of his nativity. Johnny Taliban could, however, be tried for treason, sediti on or as a foreign belligerent. All three of these charges carry the death penalty. American author Edward Everett Hale wrote a fictional account of a man who was sentenced to exile by an American court after having told the judge he wished he'd never heard the name of the United States. He was sentenced to live out his life aboard ship. The name of the United States was never to be spoken in his presence. The novel quoted Sir Walter Scott: Breathes there the man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd >From wandering on a foreign strand! If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no Minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. What should we do with the man who cheered the 9-11 attacks and took up arms against his country? As I said, I don't see the issue as controversial. He is a man without a country, and a terrorist by his own choice. Hal Lindsey is the best-selling author of 20 books, including "Late Great Planet Earth." He writes this weekly column exclusively for WorldNetDaily and maintains a website where he provides up-to-the- minute analysis of today's world events in the light of ancient prophecies. End<{{{ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. 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