Posted: 12/7/2001 2:56:16 PM EDT
| I just saw Spann questioning Walker on the news. He wasnt abusive, just asking questions. The jackass was just sitting there not saying a word. I cant describe my feelings when I know this scumbag is alive and his father trying to tell everyone what a good boy he is. I say let Spann's widow and three kids decide what to do with Walker. |
|
Walker may not face a treason trial By Michael Doyle Bee Washington Bureau (Published Wednesday, December, 5, 2001 6:07AM) WASHINGTON -- The American identified as John Walker might now find his name shackled to the likes of Tokyo Rose, Aaron Burr and the poet Ezra Pound. By being captured among other Taliban fighters, the 20-year-old man raised in California's comfortable Marin County could face the historically resonant charge of treason. And though a treason trial appears unlikely, the legal scenarios still are being mapped out in military lawyers' offices. "I do know a bit about the various options, and I haven't landed on one at the moment," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday. "We'll get to that in good time." Rumsfeld added "there may be a couple of other" captured Taliban fighters who claim U.S. citizenship. A former student at the Islamic Center of Mill Valley, John Walker assumed his mother's last name. Walker's father, Frank Lindh, said on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that he has hired a lawyer and hopes to soon visit his wounded son. The Los Angeles Times reported that Lindh has hired James J. Brosnahan, a highly regarded San Francisco lawyer, to represent his son. "We have have asked our government for safe passage for John's parents and me to visit with John as soon as possible," Brosnahan said in a brief statement Tuesday. "We also asked that no charges be filed against John until we have had an opportunity to speak with the United States government." Walker could face death if convicted of the only crime that merits its own definition in the Constitution. At the least, a treason conviction would cost him five years in prison. Separately, he could lose his citizenship. Seditious conspiracy covers those who conspire to "destroy by force" or "levy war against" the U.S. government, and can bring a 20-year prison term. However, this crime involves only people acting "in any place" subject to U.S. jurisdiction. A 10-year prison term could follow conviction on charges of rebellion or insurrection, covering those who give "aid or comfort" to people in rebellion "against the authority of the United States." First, authorities must determine what Walker was doing with the Taliban forces he was captured with at a prison compound at Mazar-e-Sharif. A CIA paramilitary officer, Johnny "Mike" Spann, died along with hundreds of Taliban and Northern Alliance fighters during the prison uprising. |
|
"At least the allegations suggest the possibility of a charge of treason," Scott Silliman, a 25-year veteran of the Air Force's Judge Advocate General service, said Tuesday, but "it's exceedingly difficult to prove, and the government doesn't want to take on a case it might lose." If Walker was shooting at Northern Alliance troops, that's one thing. If he was shooting at Spann, that's another. Who might have seen him fight is crucial. Silliman predicted "the administration will look for a way for Walker to cooperate with them, in providing intelligence" and might then win leniency. As a U.S. citizen, Walker is not subject to powerful military tribunals established under a presidential order issued Nov. 13. "I suspect it's unlikely that they're going to end up with a treason trial," said John Norton Moore, director of the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia Law School. Prosecutions are rare, with only about 30 prior treason cases in U.S. history. The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (202) 383-0006. Someone should take this waste of air out back and crush his skull with a rock! |
|
Quoted: I just saw Spann questioning Walker on the news. He wasnt abusive, just asking questions. The jackass was just sitting there not saying a word. I cant describe my feelings when I know this scumbag is alive and his father trying to tell everyone what a good boy he is. I say let Spann's widow and three kids decide what to do with Walker. Wait, the US government must have doctored that video. Invictus and Lib of '76 told us Mike Spann was a madman, running around shooting tied up prisoners. I mean, my god the Times of India said it was so!! The government is somehow involved with this fake video.{Imbroglio mode off} |
|
Quoted: Quoted: I just saw Spann questioning Walker on the news. He wasnt abusive, just asking questions. The jackass was just sitting there not saying a word. I cant describe my feelings when I know this scumbag is alive and his father trying to tell everyone what a good boy he is. I say let Spann's widow and three kids decide what to do with Walker. Wait, the US government must have doctored that video. Invictus and Lib of '76 told us Mike Spann was a madman, running around shooting tied up prisoners. I mean, my god the Times of India said it was so!! The government is somehow involved with this fake video.{Imbroglio mode off} Ya, he did appear to have an AK on his back, but I saw no shooting of any sort going on. He should have let the NA "frag" Walker's sorry ass. |
|
Quoted: I just saw Spann questioning Walker on the news. He wasnt abusive, just asking questions. The jackass was just sitting there not saying a word. I cant describe my feelings when I know this scumbag is alive and his father trying to tell everyone what a good boy he is. I say let Spann's widow and three kids decide what to do with Walker. I'm not sticking up for Walker, but Spann's "compassionate" questioning was just part of his role in an interrogation technique known as "Mutt and Jeff or Bad Cop/Good Cop". "Dave" was playing "Jeff/Bad Cop". It may very well have been Walker, who after questioning, went back to his colleagues and exposed Walker and "Dave" as CIA or at least "American Speaking" agents! DaMan |
|
Quoted:Wait, the US government must have doctored that video. Invictus and Lib of '76 told us Mike Spann was a madman, running around shooting tied up prisoners. I mean, my god the Times of India said it was so!! The government is somehow involved with this fake video.{Imbroglio mode off} Who said that we don't know when we are wrong when we see evidence of it? Walker should be tried, convicted, and executed ASAP! |
|
At least on video, Spann didn't do or say anything that outrageous. Antiwar.com made it sound like he was threatening the guy with death. Sounds more like he was telling it like it is--we won, you play ball or face the music. Before you go beating up on Walker, remember that a lot of religions successfully brianwash people into doing things that sane people wouldn't do. It's possible he can be deprogrammed and realize what he has done is treasonous. Summary execution is unnecessary--he didn't fight very well, didn't partake in the 9/11 outrage, and is just as much a victim of the Taleban as most of the other poor fools who get roped into these religious causes. |
|
Quoted: Before you go beating up on Walker, remember that a lot of religions successfully brianwash people into doing things that sane people wouldn't do. It's possible he can be deprogrammed and realize what he has done is treasonous. Summary execution is unnecessary--he didn't fight very well, didn't partake in the 9/11 outrage, and is just as much a victim of the Taleban as most of the other poor fools who get roped into these religious causes. |