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The Johnny Bin Walker Conundrum!
By Al
Ruechel
Oh, come on.! If John Walker Lindh,
the American who was captured fighting for the Taliban in
Afghanistan were your kid you would do whatever it took to save his
life. If you're a dedicated parent to say anything less is just a
lie. It's in your genes to forgive and love and attempt to correct
the wrongs, which can't be so easily righted. If you don't agree
then something other than blood is running in your veins. We are a
great and powerful nation but we have a revenge streak that runs
deep and wide. We want someone to blame and unfortunately John
Walker will fit that bill very nicely, thank you! He isn't Osama,
but he's close enough that lots of folks want to extract their pound
of flesh.
Don't vomit just yet! I'm not saying
Walker isn't responsible for his actions, but let's top acting so
self-righteous. If you want to blame the parents then blame them for
not doing something earlier in Walker's life, not for fighting for
him now. I mean what sane parent allows their child to go to Yemen
at age 16 after converting to a religion they admitted they knew
very little about. And what sane parent would disown their child
because they've done something stupid. That's the easy way out. The
tough thing to do is stand by your child, not accepting or condoning
what they have done, but offering your love and support as they
prepare to endure the consequences of their actions. You end up
suffering those consequences yourself because the cancer of guilt
will overcome the rationale part of you that says there's nothing
you can do when someone willingly chooses to side with evil.
You mark my words, Walker is not
going to get a life sentence and he won't be convicted of plotting
to kill Americans. On the surface this looks like a case of the
bleeding heart liberals versus the conservative hawks. In reality
it's a classic conflict between those who believe inappropriate
choices must result in some form of quick judgement and those who
don't seem to believe that anyone can make truly evil choices or be
held accountable for them. It is "absolutes" versus "victimology"
at it's best.
I've talked to half a dozen defense
attorneys who all agree a confession under duress is basically no
confession at all. Walker's attorney says the young lad asked to
talk to a lawyer for 53 days while he was being held and was denied
access each time. That's what I'd be saying if I were him, too. The
government says he waived his rights both verbally and on paper and
confessed of his own free will to CNN of all people, his loyalty to
Osama Bin Ladin and the Taliban. Walker will get some prison time
because if he doesn't then there is no justice for the men and women
who've already given their lives in Afghanistan.
If you think this is a cakewalk for
the Attorney General or the government you're wrong. One of the
reasons he must pursue Walker with the law….is the law. Precident.
The touchy-feely has no place during a war. It looks bad when
Americans take up arms against Americans. Not only that, it's called
treason. A democracy does not look kindly upon those who would
subvert the sacrifices of patriots past. If we are going to capture
and prosecute prisoners of war then Walker can't get off just
because he's a mixed up American kid.
No one believes Walker was sitting in
wait hoping to gun down an American soldier. We don't think he was
in on the planning of the World Trade Center bombing. We're not sure
if he even knew the US had been attacked. But we do know he was
carrying a weapon and professed his belief in trying to create a
more perfect Muslim state. That vision did include trying to rid the
world of any and all Western influence. If he truly believed all the
Taliban mantra and was acting in that regard when he was captured,
he is in a boat load of trouble. It also means his devotion to his
beliefs was stronger then his devotion to his family. That's what
has to hurt the Lindh family the most and can't be disguised by a
thousand great photo-ops.
So don't blame mom and pop! They are
fighting for their son even if they son was only fighting to get
away from everything they held dear.
It reminds me of a story several
years ago when a Countryside High School student in Clearwater
killed his best friend over a girl. It was a brutal murder with the
suspect luring his friend to an old childhood fort in the woods. He
made his friend lay down on the ground and then shot him three times
in the head. Talk about weird, this guy was the most popular guy in
his high school and even anchored the daily morning news on the
school's in-house broadcast. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail. I
talked to the mom who held herself accountable for his son's actions
even though she had done everything a single mom could do, except be
a dad, which is what he really needed. She told me, "it doesn't
matter what kind of judgement the world passes on my son, I can't
abandon him anymore than I could order my heart to stop beating, or
my lungs to stop breathing. If I betray him, then I betray myself
and I might as well be dead."
You may not be able to find a shred
of pity in your heart for John Walker Lindh, but shed a tear for all
parents who have no choice, if they are honest, but to welcome back
their prodigal sons from the edge of hell with open arms.
Al Ruechel, copyright 2001, all
rights reserved
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