John Walker Lindh: The American Taliban

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John Walker Lindh an American citizen who has been referred to as “The American Taliban”, left the United States to receive military training as an enemy combat. Upon his departure from the United States, he received the necessary discipline that was required in order to be a part of the Afghan Army. These Afghans were in the business for recruiting Muslims to engage in the fight against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan’s civil war. After training and fighting with an Afghan based Taliban group, the ultimate result ended with John Walker Lindh being captured as an enemy and returned to his homeland. It was at this time he appeared in front of the American judicial system to face charges ranging from providing material support to conspiracy against citizens of the United States (America’s 2011)

The American citizen who became known as a national symbol of anti-Americanism was an unsuspecting 20 year old young man from San Anselmo, California who became interested in Islam and started preparing for his choice of lifestyle at the age of 12. As a pre-teen, John became acquainted with the history of Malcom X, the African-American Black Muslim leader. At age 16 he became a Muslim and even begin dressing in the djellaba, which is a type of loose cloak that has an attached hood and is worn by those in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular males. It was at this time in his young life that he studied and then converted to the Muslim faith, completely forgetting the Catholicism beliefs he had once based his morals on; also, it was at this time he learned Arabic so that he was able to read the Koran in its original language (War 2014).

It was July 1998 when John Walker Lindh's journey began in Yemen, where he d...

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...rd two military ships during December 2001 and January 2002. In return, all other charges would be dropped. The gag order was suggested to have been a request from the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Orstein, 2004).

With the plea deal agreed upon between all parties involved, the government enforced the Son of Sam law and made it more than clear that if Lindh attempted to make any type profits from his story, all earnings made from book deals or any type of movies about his experience, would be automatically go to the federal governments bank account. This included Lindh himself, his family, his relatives, his associates, and even his friends

Currently serving out his 20 year term without any possibilities of an early parole release, John Walker Lindh is incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Complex, located in Terre Haute (FCC Terre Haute) Indiana.

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