Traitor John Walker Lindh aka American Taliban Released from Prison Early

[Bill]

John Walker Lindh, Known As The American Taliban, Released From Prison After 17 Years
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May 23, 20195:27 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Graeme Wood, staff writer at The Atlantic, about his correspondence with John Walker Lindh, known as the American Taliban, who was released from prison Thursday.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

What now for John Walker Lindh? The man known as the American Taliban was released today from federal prison after 17 years; that's three years early for good behavior. Lindh's attorney has not responded to questions from NPR but told CNN that Lindh plans to move to Virginia. Lindh's release has a lot of people talking and wondering about how someone convicted on terror-related charges can or should reenter society; among them, journalist Graeme Wood of The Atlantic.

Wood tracks terrorism and extremism, and four years ago, he sat down and wrote a letter to Lindh, in prison, asking for his thoughts on jihad and the Islamic State. And Graeme Wood, I gather John Walker Lindh wrote you right back?

GRAEME WOOD: Yes. I wrote to him and asked, what do you think of this group? They seem to be doing what you wanted to do, and how have they been able to accomplish that? And he got back to me pretty promptly, saying, you know, I'm able to see things on CNN; I can watch BBC. But that's all I know, so you'll have to send me some of their propaganda to read before I can speak to you in an informed way. And then he said, thank you for your interest in the Islamic State.

KELLY: Wow. There was a striking exchange between you two where he wrote - he couldn't answer some of the questions you were asking him, and he suggested you go visit the Islamic State yourself, so you could pose these questions directly to the leaders of ISIS, to which you replied - what?

WOOD: I said, that sounds like a great idea; I just don't want to get killed or put into slavery. And he wrote back and said, your apprehensions are understandable, but I believe they are misplaced. And he said, the Islamic State seems to be led by Muslims who will respect the covenants that they make with you. So if you follow the correct procedures to go in, you can trust these people.

KELLY: Well, I mean, that prompts me to ask, was there anything, as you corresponded with him, that suggested to you that he has had some epiphany, that he has completely changed the way he thinks about the world while in prison, and that he no longer sympathizes with al-Qaeda or with jihadist ideology?

WOOD: Quite the opposite. The more that I corresponded with him - and it was fewer than half a dozen letters - but he would drop little hints that, yes, he maintains a very strict jihadist orientation, and that he thinks the Islamic State was a good thing while it was lasting. Not only did he say that he thought the leaders of the Islamic State were trustworthy people, he also referred me to a person he described as a colleague, Ahmad Musa Jibril, who was in the penitentiary in Terre Haute with him for a bit of time and who was the most popular cleric among travelers to the Islamic State. So I take that as a pretty strong endorsement of the Islamic State's project by John Walker Lindh.

KELLY: Well, so what kind of life do you imagine he may be able to lead now that he is no longer tucked away inside a penitentiary, as of today?

WOOD: Well, he's going to be watched very carefully, of course, by American authorities. They're perfectly aware that he seems to be unreformed. But what we have now is a really striking case of what do we do with someone who has more or less paid his debt - he's served his judicially approved sentence - and still wants to be part of a caliphate, still wants to be part of jihad, in a violent sense? So the ability that our society has to reintegrate and rehabilitate such a person are really going to be tested, as he lives on the outside.

KELLY: And just practically speaking, what are you watching for - because his probation terms forbid him from owning devices that connect to the Internet or from having online communications in any language other than English without permission from his probation officers. Is that realistic?

WOOD: Well, I think you can keep tabs on what devices he's using, see what he's looking at on the Internet. And for the three years of his likely probation, that will be pretty easy. Going forward, beyond that, it's going to be tough for him. I mean, he's going to be a totally free man after his supervised release is finished. And from there forward, he's famous, but there's other people who will look at him as a hero, and those people will probably not get the same scrutiny. So I'm less concerned about him blowing himself up or convincing someone else to than what he represents as a category of people, not all of them as prominent as he is, who might have some of the same ideas.

KELLY: Graeme Wood, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of the book, "The Way Of The Strangers: Encounters With The Islamic State." Thanks very much.

WOOD: Thank you.

[CFM]

Not supporting the view, but you know damn well if Obama was still President this would be the major theme on Fox and all the radio channels for the week, "why is Obama freeing a terrorist"

If? You don't shit, boy, other than the next time you're going to kiss Obama's ass. Pucker up.

[RB 60]

Not supporting the view, but you know damn well if Obama was still President this would be the major theme on Fox and all the radio channels for the week, "why is Obama freeing a terrorist"

Oh, bullshit. You know damn well it was the court who left him out, why would we blame Obama?
The SOB joined a terrorist organization against the US, why the hell does he even have citizenship
here in the US? He should have been shot for treason. We wasted 17 years housing, feeding and
medicating his worthless carcass, put him on a plane and drop him off over the Taliban's mountainous
region and let the treetops break his fall.

[Earl]

Originally Posted by Grokmaster View Post
He'll be elected to Congress in Minnesotistan, Wisconsinistan, Michiganistan ,or Californistan...

He would probably have to serve as the mayor of San Fransisco first.

[Earl]

John Walker Lindh in January 2002
Born John Philip Walker Lindh

February 9, 1981 (age 38)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Other names Sulayman al-Faris, Abu Sulayman al-Irlandi
Criminal status Out on supervised release.
Parent(s) Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh
Criminal charge

Conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals (18 U.S.C. § 2332(b)) (count one)
Conspiracy to Provide Material Support & Resources to Foreign Terrorist Organizations (18 U.S.C § 2339B) (counts two & four);
Providing Material Support & Resources to Foreign Terrorist Organizations (18 U.S.C. §§ 2339B & 2) (counts three & five);
Conspiracy to contribute services to Al-Qaeda. (31 C.F.R. §§ 595.205 & 595.204 & 50 U.S.C. § 1705(b)) (count six);
Contributing services to Al-Qaeda (31 C.F.R. §§ 595.204 & 595.205, 50 U.S.C. § 1705(b) & 18 U.S.C. § 2) (count seven);
Conspiracy to supply services to the Taliban. §§ 545.206(b) & 545.204 & 50 U.S.C. § 1705(b)) (count eight);
Supplying services to the Taliban (31 C.F.R. §§ 545.204 & 545 206(a), 50 U.S.C. § 1705(b) & I8 U.S.C. §2) (count nine);
Using and carrying firearms and destructive devices during crimes of violence (I8 U.S.C. §§ 924(c) & 2) (count ten)

Penalty 20 years' federal imprisonment

[Minister of Truth]

he served his time and is cured That is how the justice system works.

Sarcasm is a wonder of the world.

[Minister of Truth]

Not supporting the view, but you know damn well if Obama was still President this would be the major theme on Fox and all the radio channels for the week, "why is Obama freeing a terrorist"

If Obama had commuted his sentence, like he did with Brealsea Manning, then, you would have a point. Otherwise, it's just called lying.

[jimmymccready]

Lindh shares all his worst qualities with extremist rwnjs.

[Yurt]

WHy is Trump releasing the Taliban guy?

Trump has nothing to do with this you blithering idiot.

[Gonzomin]

He is?

Yes,And he served his time. That is the part the rightys keep avoiding.

[Truth Detector]

The scumbag should've been taken to a black site and "disappeared".

https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-...051057309.html

This is shameful. Right before Memorial Day as well.

[Truth Detector]

WHy is Trump releasing the Taliban guy?

LIE and LAME; Trump didn't release him.

[Truth Detector]

he served his time and is cured That is how the justice system works.

Cured?

[Truth Detector]

Not supporting the view, but you know damn well if Obama was still President this would be the major theme on Fox and all the radio channels for the week, "why is Obama freeing a terrorist"

Whataboutism. That and lies are all you lefties have these days.

[Truth Detector]

Does that mean Trump flunkies can't ignore subpoenas?

It means that you are still a clueless idiot.