Indeed it is. John Walker Lindh has not reformed while in prison — how could he have done so, when prison officials wouldn’t have dared challenge the Islamic beliefs that led him to join the Taliban in the first place, and in fact did a great deal to encourage them? He should have been tried for treason. And now he is a supporter of the Islamic State (ISIS). He should not be released.
“Daughter of American man killed after speaking with John Walker Lindh calls his early release ‘a slap in the face,'” by Hollie McKay, Fox News, March 23, 2019 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):
It was a text message that, for 26-year-old Alison Spann, ripped open old wounds of mourning.
“My grandfather wrote that he needed to talk to me about news of an early release of John Walker Lindh,” Spann told Fox News on Friday, two days after that dread message ping. “It floored me. This man sat in front of my father and let him be killed. The fact that he is now able to get out early is unacceptable. It feels like such a slap in the face.”
Alison was just nine years old when her father, Johnny “Mike” Spann, a U.S Marine turned CIA paramilitary operative, became the first American to be killed in combat in Afghanistan, amid the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
In November 2001, U.S forces learned that an American – Lindh – was among the cluster of Taliban fighters left in limbo after their leader surrendered to the Northern Alliance in the northern Afghanistan province of Mazar-i-Sharif. Spann was first into the compound, serving as a prison, to interview Lindh, peppering him with questions about where he was from and what he was doing. But Lindh refused to respond.
“In those moments, when he chose to stay silent, he sealed his fate as a traitor to the United States,” Spann said. “At any point, he could have warned him that something was being planned.”
Hours later, Lindh’s fellow detainees erupted in a violent revolt that left Mike Spann dead.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Lindh – who is currently behind bars in Terra Haute, Indiana – will be discharged on May 23, several years in advance of his initial 20-year jail sentence. The initial charges leveled against the then 20-year-old Lindh in 2002 included one for murder conspiracy for the part he played in the killing of Americans, including Spann, in the prison rebellion.
However, nine of the ten counts in the indictment were dropped and he ended up pleading guilty to disobeying an executive order outlawing support to the Taliban and for possessing a weapon in Afghanistan.
It is not apparent why Lindh, now 38, has been made eligible for a premature release, and the BOP did not immediately respond to a comment request. Yet his sentencing reports indicated that “good behavior” could serve as justification.
“I was so young when it all happened, but I knew there was a man named John Walker Lindh, who was an American and had been at the prison when my father had been killed,” Spann said. “I saw his image on television, but my family tried to shield me from too many details. As I got older, I started to ask questions and understand what happened.”
In Spann’s view, 20 years was a “measly” sentence to begin with, but the notion of that being reduced is heartbreaking….