‘American Taliban’ in the custody of US Special Forces. November 2001
John Philip Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981) is an American convicted felon who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001.
A convert to Sunni Islam in California at age 16, Lindh traveled to Yemen in 1998 to study Arabic and stayed there for 10 months. He later returned in 2000, then went to Afghanistan to aid the Taliban in fighting against the Afghan Northern Alliance. He received training at Al-Farouq, a training camp associated with al-Qaeda, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other countries. While at the camp, he attended a lecture by Osama bin Laden. After the 9/11 attacks, he remained with the Taliban military forces despite learning that the U.S. had become allied with the Northern Alliance.
As an adolescent, Lindh participated in IRC chat rooms with the IRC nickname Mujahid. He became a devoted fan of hip-hop music and engaged in extensive discussions on Usenet newsgroups, sometimes pretending to be an African American rapper who would criticize others for "acting black." Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X impressed him deeply and sparked his interest in Islam.
In 1997, at the age of 16, Lindh converted to Islam. He began regularly attending mosques in Mill Valley and later in nearby San Francisco. In 1998, Lindh traveled to Yemen and stayed for about 10 months to learn Arabic so that he could read the Qur’an in its original language. He returned to the United States in 1999, living with his family for about eight months.
Lindh returned to Yemen in February 2000 and left for Pakistan to study at a madrasa. While abroad, Lindh exchanged numerous emails with his family. In one, his father told him about the USS Cole bombing, to which Lindh replied that the American naval destroyers being in the Yemen harbor had been an act of war, and that the bombing was justified. "This raised my concerns," his father told Newsweek, "but my days of molding him were over."
Lindh was held and interrogated at U.S. bases in Afghanistan for two weeks before being transferred to a navy ship in the Arabian Sea, where he was held for several more weeks. He was transported back to the United States in January 2002, and criminal charges including conspiring to kill U.S. citizens and aiding a terrorist organization were filed against him. Lindh’s lawyers claimed that he had been subjected to torture (including the denial of medical treatment for his injuries) during his detention and interrogation in Afghanistan.
In July 2002 Lindh’s lawyers reached a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. Lindh agreed to plead guilty to charges of supplying services to the Taliban in violation of U.S. sanctions and carrying weapons while committing a crime, and he also agreed to drop his claims that he had been tortured while in custody. In return, the more serious charges of supporting terrorism and conspiring to kill U.S. citizens were dropped. In October 2002 Lindh was sentenced to 20 years in prison. While incarcerated he obtained (2013) Irish citizenship through his paternal grandmother.
In 2019 Lindh was released from prison after his sentence was shortened by three years for good behaviour. Although he faced strict probation restrictions—notably, he was barred from international travel, he needed permission to use the Internet, and he was to be closely monitored—his release drew much criticism. Various letters and comments by Lindh raised concerns that he continued to support violent extremism.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.