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John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, seeks Irish citizenship - POLL

Irish American likely to settle in Ireland on his release if given citizenship

By
JAMES O'BRIEN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Thursday, February 9, 2012, 7:24 AM
Updated Thursday, February 9, 2012, 11:49 AM

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John Walker Lindh pictured in Dublin
John Walker Lindh pictured in Dublin
Photo by Broadsheet.ie


IrishCentral.com Poll

Should John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, be given Irish citizenship?

Yes.


No.


Maybe, after some review of his case.


The father of American-born Taliban solider, John Walker Lindh, who is serving 20 years in prison, is petitioning for his son to be granted Irish citizenship. It is likely he will seek to settle there on his release.

Frank Lindh also belives that the Irish government could question his son’s treatment by American authorities if he was an Irish citizen.

When John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan he told the soldiers he was Irish to try and disguise his US citizenship. His preferred name is now Abu Sulayman al-Irlandi (the Irlandi title refers to Lindh's claim to be Irish).

The young man’s father, who is Irish American, spoke to Newstalk radio about his son and his plan to get Irish citizenship. Frank Lindh’s mother is from Donegal.

Walker Lindh and his father visited Ireland in 1998 (see photo above) at the time “he found Irish people to be open and accepting,” according to a Broadsheet.ie report.

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In his interview on Newstalk radio in Ireland Lindh’s father stated that

•    He believes  his son  will be released from his 20 yrs sentence in 7 yrs on parole.
•    He hopes his son could live in Ireland when he gets out of prison.
•    He says his son will not be safe in America. That's why he hopes his son might be able to live in Ireland.
•    He thinks many in America believe his son was involved in 9/11. He says that statements by Pres Bush & others have marked John out as a terrorist.
•    He is working on getting Irish passports for all three of his kids.
•    He expects no issue getting Irish citizenship for JWL
•    He figures Irish govt should support him because of human rights issue in John's case.

Last year, Lindh spoke at the University of San Francisco, School of Law and told of how his son was handling prison nearly a decade after being captured. In 2002, his son pleaded guilty to supplying the Taliban government and carrying explosives for them. He was charged with conspiring to kill Americans and support terrorists. Those charges were dropped in a plea agreement.

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63 Comments

15 - 63 | See all comments

merefalow | Apr 26, 2012, 06:54 PM EDT
i would be very carefull about giving sanctuary to a person who supported a form of government who encouraged female genital circumcision,denied the rights of women,had no conception of democracy,and betrayed his own countrymen,sounds like a religious nut to me,should feel quite at home in ireland.

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merefalow | Feb 12, 2012, 04:21 PM EST
brill.bring the whole bloody tribe over,shites,sunny,s,binliners,alibaba and the 40 thieves,.

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gobdawpaddy | Feb 12, 2012, 06:49 AM EST
'Im sure youre benefiting just as much from our low corporate tax rate as much as your employees are from a wage'. Absolutely Ciara, that's how commerce works. Would you prefer that I relocate to eastern europe where my salary costs would be much lower etc. Ireland's corporate tax rate is indeed very attractive but why the resentment at those who use it to their benefit, employing Irish workers in the process?

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seanomelb | Feb 12, 2012, 12:55 AM EST
exactly Ciara that's what makes us Irish with DNA going back way beyond the 1000yrs old country of your imagination.

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ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 05:12 PM EST
Just like we didnt suddenly appear in Ireland as a completely homogenous race of people! So the language IS something that evolved over a hell of a lot of years via various cultural interactions?

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seanomelb | Feb 11, 2012, 04:53 PM EST
Like your 1000yr old Ireland ciara you are not going back far enough in fact it can be traced back as far as India,it did'nt suddenly appear in Greece.

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ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 12:00 PM EST
Gobdaw, hooligan is American and I think he is just being sarcastic. Stop being so paranoid man! If you have a company or business here Im sure youre benefiting just as much from our low corporate tax rate as much as your employees are from a wage.

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gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 10:14 AM EST
Hooli, 02/09 4.46PM EST, 'we don't want any of those nasty Americans living in Ireland'. I hope Enda, Eamonn and Bill aren't reading this and they doing their best just 2 days ago to attract US investment into Ireland. I hope none of the dozen or so Americans working for me at our Irish location aren't reading this. Am I to take it that the Irish only want our dollars, but our people are not welcome? Perhaps if the climate is as you have expressed (ant-american), my American crew should pack their bags, shut down the operation and let our 117, well paid, Irish employees join the unemployment line?

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gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 09:48 AM EST
Wasn't it only a few years ago that Ireland's fianna fail led government were selling Irish passports. Some very dubious people got their hands on them including a brother of Osama Bin Laden, who had invested in Kerry airport.

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Curitiba | Feb 11, 2012, 06:03 AM EST
Ha, ha, that's funny Ciara!

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FLstormorphan | Feb 10, 2012, 10:47 PM EST
INNOCENT, Lindh is innocent. Cheney, Bush and Chertoff should be in prison for their wars of choice in Afghanistan and Iraq and crimes against humanity. The Bush administration violated Lindh’s constitutional rights by silencing him. Was Lindh silenced because of the massacre at Mazar-e-Sharif? What did he know, what did the Bush administration hide? Thousands of dead shot and killed in semi-tractor trailer trucks as they called out for air by American troops their blood running out of the trailers buried in a mass grave. There is an outstanding Irish documentary on the subject ‘Afghan Massacre’. Lindh was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. The U. S. military tortured him, denied medical care for his wounds and kept him naked in a freezing container. I hope he can find his freedom in Ireland away from American war criminals. American media labeled him ‘American Taliban’ the truth was never published until the documentary. Shame on my country for war crimes to benefit war profiteers and this injustice.

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ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:45 PM EST
Ah family, cant live with them, cant kill them!

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Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 06:34 PM EST
anyway, our co-ethnic Abu should be given Irish Citizenship, Like it or not, he is part of the Irish family. You can choose your friends, but not your family!

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ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:17 PM EST
It was 100% part of Irish culture to take babies away from their mothers just as it was to put these women into Magdelane laundries. As an adopted person, this is a part of a thankfully, long gone Irish culture that I hold very close to my heart.

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ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:14 PM EST
Its not my interpretation, its true! Its all an adaptation! On your point re culture. My granny has told me in conversation that endemic child abuse was part of the culture here just like a preference for male children is part of the culture in certain parts of the world. In other parts of the world, bear bating, forced marriages and female circumcision is part of the culture so not all culture is cause for celebration.

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