01/25/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09666

U.S. PROSECUTES TERRORISTS

A federal grand jury has indicted John Walker Lindh for conspiring to kill United States nationals engaged in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Lindh is also charged with providing material support to two foreign terrorist organizations, Osma bin Laden's al-Qaida and Harakat ul-Mujahideen, an Islamic extremist group that operates primarily in Kashmir.

John Walker Lindh was among the Taleban and al-Qaida captured by Northern Alliance forces and detained near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, in November. Lindh told U.S. authorities that he went to Yemen in 1998 and 2000 to study Islam. From there he went to Pakistan, where he joined Harakat ul-Mujahideen and was trained to carry out terrorist attacks in Kashmir. In June 2001, he joined Taleban forces in Afghanistan. He underwent additional terrorist training at al-Qaida’s al-Farooq camp, where, on one occasion, he met Osama bin Laden. Lindh served with al-Qaida forces against the Northern Alliance until his capture.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said that John Walker Lindh "faced a choice, and with each choice, he chose to ally himself with terrorists. Drawn to south Asia, [Lindh] chose to train with terrorists. Trained as a terrorist, [Lindh] chose more advanced instruction from al-Qaida. Schooled by al-Qaida, [Lindh] chose to fight on the front lines with America's enemies."

John Walker Lindh is now in the process of being brought to trial. Another American who chose terrorism is being brought to justice. Sara Jane Olson is a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, or S-L-A, a leftwing terrorist group that carried out murders, robberies, and bombings in the U.S. during the 1970s. Olson has been sentenced to a minimum of twenty years in prison for conspiring with other S-L-A terrorists to murder Los Angeles, California, police officers in 1975. Olson is also facing trial for her part in a 1975 bank robbery in which a woman bank customer was shot to death. Also charged with that and other robberies and bombings are S-L-A leader William Harris, his wife Emily Harris, and an associate, Michael Bortin.

"We have not overlooked attacks on America when they were made by foreign nationals," said Attorney General Ashcroft. "We cannot overlook attacks on America when they come from the United States." The prosecution of these Americans should make it clear that the U.S. will bring terrorists to justice -- no matter who they are, where they are, or how long it takes.