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A soldier between two worlds Philadelphia Inquirer, by Glenn Sacks Original Article Posted By:Cameron, 12/9/2001 5:14:02 PM Those willing to sacrifice for their beliefs deserve respect, even if what they believe in is foolish. As a teenager, American Taliban fighter John Walker gave up a comfortable life in a wealthy Northern California town and traveled halfway around the world to put his life on the line for his religious beliefs. How many of us are that courageous? There have been other times in American history when idealistic young men have volunteered to put their lives on the line for foreign causes in foreign lands, though it has generally been for far worthier causes. Three thousand Americans joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in 1936 and fought as volunteers against the fascist takeover of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. True, as he lay in the hospital wounded, Walker has made some stupid statements about America and Sept. 11. He has had little contact with the outside world, however, for several months and knows only what his Taliban commanders told him. I ask the reader to think back, when judging him, to when you were 19 or 20 years old. Like me, you probably cringe at the memories of your own foolishness. No doubt Walker, if allowed to return to the United States

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001

Answers

If my son had done the same thing, I would disown him. No, it's not easy for me to say, but dammit, there's no excuse.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001

American in Afghanistan Cooperating with U.S. December 9, 2001 12:24 pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 20-year-old American captured while fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan is providing information to U.S. Marines at a desert base south of Kandahar, a top U.S. military official said on Sunday.

With the Bush administration still determining how to handle the case of John Walker, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "the evidence is pretty strong that he was right in the middle of it."

Myers said Walker was in the custody of the Marines at remote Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan and was being accorded "all of the rights and privileges as if he were a prisoner of war."

"But he is not (a prisoner), he is a detainee right now," Myers told the "Fox News Sunday" program.

Myers later told CBS's "Face the Nation" program: "It's too early to say exactly what he did."

But he added that Walker had already provided useful information and U.S. officials were trying to determine if he had intelligence that could assist in the ongoing U.S. operation in Afghanistan or protecting against "any further terrorist attacks."

"He's been pretty close to the action and I think he has provided, at least from the Afghan viewpoint, some useful information and probably will continue to do so," Myers said.

Such cooperation, he added, would figure into the decision on whether to charge him. "All of that will be taken into consideration. Right now he is a detainee. He is receiving medical treatment. He is being fed and cared for .... We're taking care of him I think in the way we should and the future disposition will have to be determined," Myers said.

"He has been reasonably cooperative and talkative," Myers added on the CBS program.

Walker was being held at the Marine base at an airstrip about 55 miles southwest of Kandahar.

A statement issued at the Camp Rhino base said Walker was "a battlefield detainee" and was being held "pending disposition instructions from higher headquarters."

Walker was found among 80 foreign al Qaeda guerrilla fighters who survived a bloody uprising at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress in northern Afghanistan last week. Opposition Northern Alliance forces turned him over to the U.S. military.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi told Fox it appeared that Walker had fought with the Taliban, "if not the al Qaeda (network of bin Laden) and so he should be treated as a wartime criminal" and tried in a civilian American court.

"He obviously is guilty of some really horrible things. He should be tried and at the very minimum, I believe, should be sentenced to jail," Lott said. "I don't know all the facts, I don't think any of us do yet. But he certainly looks like a traitor. He looks like he was right in there in that rat's nest with the rest of them."

The Washington Post reported Walker would likely receive a civilian trial, perhaps for treason, murder or conspiracy.

The newspaper cited unnamed Pentagon officials as saying they expected Walker to be turned over to the Justice Department. "Down the road, at some point, civilians will likely be involved," an official was quoted as saying. "That time frame is unclear."

Walker, known in Afghanistan as Abdul Hamid, converted from Catholicism to Islam at the age of 16 and traveled to Afghanistan from the United States via Yemen and Pakistan.

He has said he received combat training in northern Afghanistan from forces supporting al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Walker's father has pleaded for mercy following reports that his son said he supported the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, in which about 3,900 people were killed.

Walker's parents pleaded on Friday for permission to visit him, saying the government had given them no information on his condition or whereabouts.

"Like any parents would be in their situation, John's parents are desperately worried about their son," attorney James Brosnahan, who represents Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker, said in a statement.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001

He seems like a piece of shit to me, but I bet his parents hire a high-priced lawyer and the whole thing turns into a media circus.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001

His fat5her, who is a lawyer, has already hired one.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2001