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John Walker  – Traitor, or "only" Terrorist?

US forces have three alleged American citizen Taliban fighters  in custody. Only one, John Walker, has been publicly identified by name so far.

There is plenty of debate about what should be done with Walker and his "compatriots." This is inexplicable. There are only two reasonable options: Try them on charges of treason, sedition or terrorism before a US criminal court; or revoke their US citizenship and place them before the military tribunal President Bush invoked for terrorists and supporters of terrorists.

John Walker

Mr. Walker is a self-confessed associate of Al Qa'ida.

Mr. Walker has made statements supportive of the 11 September terrorist attacks.

Mr. Walker was part of the armed force which attacked US military forces during the Mazar e-Sharif uprising.

These are not the acts of a confused boy. They are the wilful conduct of a man as mature as most of the Marines on Afghani soil today.

Al Qa'ida was a known terrorist group well before Mr. Walker went to Afghanistan – according to his own words – six months ago. Osama bin Laden had been publicly implicated in both the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the October 2000 Cole bombing, before Walker voluntarily left Pakistan for Afghanistan. His orientation is clear from e-mails he sent his family  approving of the Cole attack. After his capture he expressed support for the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Although US personnel were present at the Mazar e-Sharif fortress where Taliban POWs were taken, Walker made no attempt to identify himself to them after the POWs were initially incarcerated. He did not request assistance; he did not claim to have been forced into fighting with the Taliban or al Qa'ida; he did not warn the American or allied forces of the Taliban plot to revolt. There is no reason to assume he did not participate voluntarily in the fighting.

A terrorist is a terrorist, regardless of pass.

While less is known of the other Americans than of John Walker, the same truth holds.

While US law no longer permits automatic revocation of citizenship for Americans voluntarily joining foreign armed forces, the actions of the three men in question should be sufficient for indictment:

* At Mazar e-Sharif they formed part of an armed force which deliberately smuggled weapons into the fort under guise of surrender, then attacked Northern Alliance and US forces. This should suffice for indictment on treason, or for revocation of US citizenship and subsequent trial alongside other Taliban and Al Qa'ida members.

* Walker, at least, is not only a Taliban-combatant but, by his own public statements, an associate of Al Qa'ida. Even if no evidence links him to the September 11 attacks, this is sufficient for trial as a terrorist under the guidelines President Bush has announced.

Justice requires that American and non-American Taliban and Al Qa'ida be treated equally. So does politics. US demands that Saudi or Pakistani Taliban or Al Qa'ida be subject to trial in Afghanistan or before US courts would ring hollow if an American passport shielded Walker and co.
 

Sidney E. Dean is President, Transatlantic Euro-American Multimedia LLC (www.TEAMultimedia.com), publisher of Hampton Roads International Security Quarterly (HRISQ) and Pentagon Brief.
 
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