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www.opednews.com
7/31/09
Editorial Note: In a poignant account, a marine's mom recalls that her son and the other young marines were of the same age as John Walker Lindh. She understood that the young marines who captured John Walker Lindh and punished him felt that he was a traitor because he left America and became a Muslim. She tells a story about how she became enlightened about the " 'horrific' things this country is capable of."
Listening this morning to Democracy Now! brought back a flood of memories which I would prefer to have forgotten. Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh were being interviewed. If you recall they are the parents of John Phillip Walker Lindh who was captured in Afghanistan on November 25, 2001. Lindh, who is a US citizen, was crucified immediately in the media as being the "American Taliban."
He was 20 years old, and officially converted to Islam in 1997, travelled to Yemen to study the Qur'an, and returned to the US in 1999. He then went to Pakistan via Yemen in 2000, to study further at a madrassa.
When Lindh was "captured" by the Afghan Northern Alliance forces, they were also working with CIA special operatives and an elite Marine Corps Unit assigned to work in the foothills searching for bin Laden. The reason I know this is because my son was there. He participated in Lindh's capture and in the subsequent battle when the "Taliban" prisoners at the military garrison, Qala-i-Jangi, near Mazar-e Sharif, became the scene of an uprising. One CIA officer, Johnny "Mike" Spann, was killed, along with other members of the CIA and military.
I remember the phone call I received in the early morning hours from the Marine Corps base "Camp Rhino." I got used to the 3 AM calls when my son would return from his "hunting" missions and tell me every last detail of trying to capture bin Laden. But this call was different. I heard the entire story of what ensued with the fight and detention of the "American Taliban."
Story continues here.
