"Sept. 28 - Since his tearful confession in a federal courtroom in Virginia two years ago, the world has heard nothing from John Walker Lindh, the young Marin County, Calif., man who provoked public outrage when he was captured alongside Taliban forces in November 2001. After Justice Department officials agreed to drop more serious terrorism charges against him, Lindh, now 23, plead guilty in July 2002 to aiding the Taliban, and received 20 years in federal prison.
Now, says his lead attorney James Brosnahan, “times have changed,” and the man once reviled as the “American Taliban” has asked President George W. Bush to commute his sentence. “There comes a time after the heat of war that people look at things more fairly,” said Brosnahan, flanked by Lindh’s parents at a San Francisco press conference. “It seems a matter of justice and compassion for the president to reduce his sentence.”
I am not sure how I feel about this. I remember being 20 and doing some pretty stupid things, but none of them involved attempting to kill anyone or engage in treasonous acts against my country.
It would be unfair to not think about this and consider the possibility. But consideration and action are two different things.
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