American fought with the Taliban

[sassa]

(CBS) A 20-year-old American who fought with the Taliban and survived a bloody prison uprising near Mazar-e-Sharif last week has been taken into custody by U.S. special forces troops, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which is running the military campaign in Afghanistan, confirmed that a man who said he was an American was in the control of U.S. military forces.

"Military forces in Afghanistan do have in their control a man who calls himself a U.S. citizen," said Marine Maj. Brad Lowell. "He was among the al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners; he was held by the Northern Alliance in Mazar-e-Sharif. He is injured and is being given medical assistance by U.S. forces."

The man, described by Newsweek as "a white, educated-sounding, apparently middle-class American" who identified himself as Abdul Hamid, was taken into custody Saturday at a hospital where he had been taken for treatment of minor gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

Hamid was identified by his parents as John Phillip Walker Lindh, of Northern California, according to Newsweek. His parents told the magazine they had contacted officials at the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan but had received no information.

Marilyn Walker said Sunday that the photo of her son that appeared on the Newsweek Internet site was the first indication that she had of his whereabouts since he left a religious school in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province seven months earlier.

John Walker, who uses his mother's last name, told Newsweek he had traveled across the border to Afghanistan to help the Taliban build a "pure Islamic state." He told CNN he had gone to the Afghan capital, Kabul, and volunteered to serve.

"I was a student in Pakistan, studying Islam and I came into contact with many people who were connected with Taliban," Walker said. "And my heart became attached to them."

Scores of rebelling Taliban were killed in the battle at Mazar-e-Sharif, in which Northern Alliance fighters were assisted by U.S. special forces and airstrikes by American warplanes. An American CIA officer was killed in the fighting.

The White House suggested an American fighting for the Taliban would not be given preferential treatment in the war on terror, reports.

"The facts are still being established," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, "but this is, as the president has said, a war against the Taliban and a war against al-Qaida regardless of who it composes."

On Saturday, the last 80-odd Taliban emerged from their hiding place. Video tape from the fortress Saturday and acquired by Associated Press Television News showed the prisoners, many of them visibly weak and thin after days without food or water.

Because he did not know the local languages, he said, the Taliban told him to contact forces supporting Osama bin Laden. He said he received combat training at a camp in Northern Afghanistan, fought with Pakistani allies of the Taliban in the disputed region of Kashmir and then returned to fight recently with the Taliban at Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Walker was born in Washington in February 1981, Newsweek said. He is the second of three children of a home health care worker and a lawyer, Frank Lindh. His mother said he spent the first 10 years of his life in the Washington suburbs of Maryland, moving to Northern California in 1991.

John's father, Frank Lindh, who is divorced from Marilyn Walker, said that his son took to Islam naturally. "I support him and his studies," Lindh said. "He's learned Arabic and is memorizing the Koran. He's a very good scholar."

Marilyn Walker said she was shocked by her son's statements of support for the Taliban and bin Laden. "If he got involved with the Taliban, he must have been brainwashed," she told Newsweek. "He was isolated. He didn't know a soul in Pakistan. When you're young and impressionable, it's easy to be led by charismatic people."

Walker's desire to pick up arms against allies of the United States were hardly the actions of the shy, frail boy remembered in California, reports CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen.

Bill Jones, a family friend, described him as "very intelligent, soft spoken and certainly not a fighter."

"This whole thing's not computing to any of us," Jones added.

The parents said they did not know if he would be charged with a crime but would stand by him.

The special forces soldiers who detained Walker took him aside for treatment and later left with him, doctors told the magazine. A Northern Alliance military source said the U.S. soldiers had taken him to Mazar-e-Sharif, Newsweek said, adding that U.S. forces refused to comment on his whereabouts.

Walker said he came into contact with Taliban teachings while studying in Pakistan and traveled to Afghanistan six months ago to help "because the Taliban are the only government that actually provides Islamic law," the magazine reported.

He fought with the Taliban at the siege of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and surrendered along with hundreds of other fighters after the two sides negotiated a deal.

He was later transferred along with hundreds of other prisoners to Qala-i-Jhangi fortress west of Mazar-e-Sharif, where a revolt broke out a week ago. The uprising was put down by U.S. warplanes and Afghani ground forces.

[sassa]

How does everyone feel about this? Goes to show you Muslims are not only Arabs and "murderous" Afghani people, but come in many different races and ethnicities...I was amazed when I first read about this.

[acidhd]

Very scary,feeling uncomfortable knowing that an American regardless of race decides hes wants to be a Muslim and join whatever.

[deeprock]

I don't buy this he was brainwashed attitude. He knew exactly what he was doing. He proclaimed he was American to save his balls from the Northern Alliance. He should be tried in federal court for sedition and hung by his balls.

[go411]

fucking kid probably thought this was a cool thing to do .... SUPPORT THE MIDDLE EASTERN "CHE GUEVARA" AKA BIN LADEN

of course you can't even begin to compare BIN LADEN to CHE but, with all this persecusion and shit ..... it feels like he is.

FYI ... I'M STILL NOT CONVICED HE DID ALL THIS SHIT ... THERE'S MORE TO THIS THAN WHAT WE THINK ....... MY FINGER POINTS TO ONE DIRECTION.... ISRAEL

[perfecto25]

what the fuck does israel has to do with this? oh yea i forgot, they drink christian blood, control all the media and flew the jets into WTC. thanks for reminding me there go411

[go411]

Why not? they hate ARABS and why not blow up two bldgs in the US and have everything pointed to the arabs so the US could retiliate and kill them all? I don't buy what the FBI tells people and I don't buy what the CIA says either and BUSH forget about it ..... THEY ARE CROOKS AND LIARS... and have a lot of power specially to change stories around ... to benefit this government ... NOW DON'T GET WORKED UP WITH MY OPINION IS JUST AN OPINION... I COULD BE WRONG TOO YA KNOW.

sincerely yours,

A REVOLUTIONIST.....

[perfecto25]

yea a revolutionist. why dont you try to revolutionize the way many arabs think and behave, especially when killing civilians in the name of allah is justified. some fucking revolution. are you really this naiive to think that the israelis are behind these inhuman acts? do you think those 19 hijackers were picked randomly out of the innocent arab population? and maybe the israelis blew themselves up this past weekend in jerusalem? hmm? cut the bullshit and grow up.

[CTACbKA]

that is the worst piece on NONSENSE I've ever heard, read, or faced

[vision]

like i've said before there can be terrorists from anywhere, ANY RELIGION, any color, any race, any citizenship

[go411]

I LOVE HOW YOU GUYS GET WORKED ON STUPID OPINIONS .... SERIOUSLY ... I DON'T THINK THE ISRAELI'S DID IT AND YEZ THE TALIBAN SHOULD BE FUCKING WIPED OUT FROM THIS EARTH INCLUDING THAT AMERICAN IDIOT. "WOMYN'S RIGHTS" "WOMYN'S RIGHTS" ENOUGH ABUSE ALREADY.. KILL EM ALL BUT, HONESTLY SHIT IS GONNA HIT THE FAN REAL SOON FROM THAT CONTINENT AND UNFURTUNATELY WE THE REST OF THE WORLD ARE GONNA SUFFER.... THE PALESTINIAN'S AT WAR WITH THE ISRAELI'S AND THE US WITH THE TALIBAN AND WHO ELSE IS NEXT.... IRAQ MAYBE? WTF WE ARE SCREWED ..... I WISH I COULD PULL A MOISES ON THIS EARTH AND HEAD UP TO SPACE AND START BRAND

NEW ! KUS>>>> I'M OVER IT>>>>

[avalondon3]

Originally posted by go411

Why not? they hate ARABS and why not blow up two bldgs in the US and have everything pointed to the arabs so the US could retiliate and kill them all? I don't buy what the FBI tells people and I don't buy what the CIA says either and BUSH forget about it ..... THEY ARE CROOKS AND LIARS... and have a lot of power specially to change stories around ... to benefit this government ... NOW DON'T GET WORKED UP WITH MY OPINION IS JUST AN OPINION... I COULD BE WRONG TOO YA KNOW.

sincerely yours,

A REVOLUTIONIST.....

Wow, u really need to get ur head removed from ur ass .asap!

[laraver]

Come Mr. Taliban, Taliban Bin Laden. US bomb and they all fall down!

But seriously folks, that deluded moron should be treated no different than any of the other Al-Queda scum.

[sassa]

Originally posted by go411

I LOVE HOW YOU GUYS GET WORKED ON STUPID OPINIONS .... SERIOUSLY ... I DON'T THINK THE ISRAELI'S DID IT AND YEZ THE TALIBAN SHOULD BE FUCKING WIPED OUT FROM THIS EARTH INCLUDING THAT AMERICAN IDIOT. "WOMYN'S RIGHTS" "WOMYN'S RIGHTS" ENOUGH ABUSE ALREADY.. KILL EM ALL BUT, HONESTLY SHIT IS GONNA HIT THE FAN REAL SOON FROM THAT CONTINENT AND UNFURTUNATELY WE THE REST OF THE WORLD ARE GONNA SUFFER.... THE PALESTINIAN'S AT WAR WITH THE ISRAELI'S AND THE US WITH THE TALIBAN AND WHO ELSE IS NEXT.... IRAQ MAYBE? WTF WE ARE SCREWED ..... I WISH I COULD PULL A MOISES ON THIS EARTH AND HEAD UP TO SPACE AND START BRAND

NEW ! KUS>>>> I'M OVER IT>>>>

I would tend to agree...I'm not saying Israelis or whatever might have initiated the attack and then tried to blame it on the Arabs..but that's an interesting opinion.I don't think we should rule out any possibility when it comes to world events and politics today...there are so many things that we are not aware of that are happening (we=general public), and who knows..maybe you're right,maybe you're wrong. I just find it interesting that an American would fight for the Taliban...kind of throws people off their bullshit patroitism a bit...maybe see things differently.

Tribal, you keep on talking about the Israelis being killed and suffering from this whole scenario.Well,what about the Palestinians?They are victims in this too!And as for the Palestinians rejecting land and all....keep in mind that Arafat does not even represent the majority of Palestinians, therefore his decision does not come from the people, but from his own personal issues,I can't say why this happened, but I do know that Palestinians just want to live in peace in their land and not deal with this violence any longer..and so do the Israelis. The problem is who gets what.As I said before, both sides are using religion and ethnicity to recruit people to fight for the cause...but why don't we look at the benefits both sides will gain and lose if Palestine was to become an independent state...first, Palestine would have full access to the Jordan River...one of the few water supplies in the region. If this were to happen, it would severely hurt the Israelis' water supply,and they would only have to depend on the Sea of Galilee and perhaps use the Mediterranean and "desalt" the water from there..which costs major bucks. Second, the issue of Jerusalem. I don't think both sides should have it, it should become an international city that the UN would be involved in and then both sides would stop fighting about that..granted, they both wouldn't be too happy not having it but other than splitting the city into two parts, I don't see how else this issue would be resolved. Anyways, enough on this.