Frank R. Lindh, the father of convicted "American Taliban" fighter John Walker Lindh, says his son has served his time and deserves to come home:
In fact, in a plea deal in October 2002, the government dropped its most serious accusations against John, including terrorism and conspiracy to kill Americans. John acknowledged only that he had aided the Taliban and carried weapons. For this, he accepted a term of 20 years' imprisonment. He turned 30 in February.
On May 2 and 3, I had two long visits with John. He remains idealistic and spiritual, and a practicing Muslim. He once told me he thought Bin Laden had done more harm to Islam than anyone in history. As I said farewell, we both felt a sense of closure. I saw grief in his eyes over the pain he has caused himself and his family.
John was a scapegoat, wrongly accused of terrorism at a moment when our grieving country needed someone to blame because the real terrorist had gotten away. Now that Bin Laden is dead, I hope President Obama, and the American people, can find it in their hearts to release John, and let him come home. Ten years is enough.
Lindh was unfortunate enough to have been an American, unlike Australian David Hicks, who was captured a month later and tried years later by military commission. Both committed similar offenses, yet Hicks is free after serving nine months post conviction by military commission in 2007 and Lindh still has another 10 years of hard time to do. Still, conservatives insist that denying the accused superior due-process rights offered in federal courts is worth the paltry sentences handed out by military trials. In the conservative imagination, military commissions are really tough, while in federal trials the only punishments available for terrorists are community service and mandatory dance therapy. Americans aren't eligible for trial by military commission, but if by some twist of fate they had been, Lindh would most likely be home-free by now, and his father wouldn't have any reason to be writing.