Word: lindh
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Trapped in a cave in Afghanistan, Lindh and his comrades had no way to escape, he told Abdelwahab Hassan. But they awoke one morning to the divine comfort of a Taliban soldier's dream, which promised that somebody would come for them in seven days. They counted each setting sun until, just as foretold, a rescuer freed them. Another time, while learning from al-Qaeda terrorists how to fire shoulder-launched grenades and ignite Molotov cocktails for the glory of jihad, Lindh witnessed the shooting death of a fellow believer. The smell of musk filled the air, and he recalled...
...come to believe that he witnessed two modern miracles. But for Lindh, 21--raised amid the mellow comforts of California's Marin County and charged with betraying his country--another miracle came to pass last week in a northern Virginia courtroom, where defense lawyers and federal prosecutors announced a plea bargain. The deal abruptly ended the case against Lindh, who pleaded guilty to charges of aiding the Taliban and possessing explosives; in exchange, the government dropped terrorism and conspiracy charges that could have brought him three life terms plus 90 years. Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III must approve...
While the carefully worded agreement was not a complete surprise to legal scholars who doubted the strength of the case against Lindh, the timing of the deal stunned even Judge Ellis. He was ready to begin a series of hearings meant to decide whether to suppress incriminating statements Lindh gave FBI agents and a CNN reporter after his capture last December. Lindh had pleaded not guilty to a 10-count indictment, but he hardly denied one of the primary charges--that he assisted the Taliban by willingly fighting on the front lines. To him, say his lawyers and relatives, taking...
...Lindh's religiosity might not have helped him if the case had reached a jury, especially one in Alexandria, just miles from where al-Qaeda crashed a hijacked plane into the Pentagon. "When your defense is count nine of the indictment, you're in trouble," says Lindh lawyer James Brosnahan, referring to the charge that Lindh aided the Taliban. "He was a kid who believed in what he was doing, but he was not a terrorist...
...case against him had its troubles too. It was likely to be overshadowed by testimony about how Lindh's confessions may have been coerced by the humiliating conditions of his military confinement--bound, blindfolded, strapped to a stretcher and placed inside a steel container. So on July 12, when Brosnahan and his team came to the courthouse in Alexandria for pretrial motions, prosecutors asked for a meeting to discuss ways of avoiding a trial. Later, Brosnahan learned that U.S. Attorneys Paul McNulty and Randy Bellows had already paved the way for a deal...