The American Taliban John Walker Lindh Will Be Released This Week

John Walker Lindh is seen in this photo released by the Alexandria County Sheriff's Department in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002.

SF Chronicle: John Walker Lindh, ‘American Taliban,’ to be released from prison next week

John Walker Lindh, the Marin County man convicted of fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will be freed from a federal prison Thursday.

Federal Bureau of Prison records show Lindh, dubbed the “American Taliban,” will be released Thursday from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution in Indiana.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2002 after pleading guilty to supplying services to the Taliban and carrying explosives.

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. His release is going to own the news cycle this Thursday.

More News On The American Taliban John Walker Lindh Being Released This Week

Senators ask Trump administration why the ‘American Taliban’ is getting out of prison early -- Roll Call
‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh leaves prison this week. Will he return to the Bay Area? -- Mercury News
Father of slain CIA officer calls for investigation of comments by 'American Taliban' fighter ahead of release -- David Shortell, CNN
The ‘American Taliban’ will be free after 17 years. Is the U.S. ready to welcome him back? -- The Washington Post

Afghanistan Frees Scores Of Taliban Fighters With 'Blood On their Hands'

Pentagon Fumes As Afghanistan Frees Taliban Fighters With 'Blood On Their Hands' -- FOX News

Afghani officials freed 37 insurgents and Taliban fighters with “blood on their hands” in what the Pentagon called a “major step backward” for the rule of law in the war torn nation.

The hardened fighters were among 88 prisoners who were being held by the U.S. and being transferred to the emerging Afghan criminal justice system. U.S. authorities said many had directly participated in attacks that wounded or killed scores of U.S. military personnel and Afghan citizens, yet were freed by the Afghan Review Board.

“The ARB is releasing back to society dangerous insurgents who have Afghan blood on their hands,” the United States Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement. “This extra-judicial release of detainees is a major step backward in further developing the rule of law in Afghanistan.”

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More News On Reports That Afghanistan Has Freed Scores Of Taliban Fighters With 'Blood On their Hands'

U.S.: Afghanistan orders release of deadly insurgents -- USA Today
US Condemns Release of Afghan Detainees -- Voice of America
U.S.: Afghanistan has freed 37 “dangerous” prisoners -- AP
U.S. Angry at Afghanistan’s Release of ‘Dangerous’ Prisoners -- Time
US military denounces release of 'dangerous' Afghan prisoners -- Stars and Stripes
Afghanistan to free 37 Bagram inmates despite U.S. protests -- NBC News
Afghanistan set to free 37 Bagram prisoners -- Al Jazeera
U.S. warns Afghanistan over release of prisoners -- Reuters

My Comment: The ISAF have made it very clear that the release of these dangerous Taliban prisoners will threaten any security agreement .... it now looks like the Afghan government is calling their bluff.

U.S. Program Has Been Releasing Taliban Fighters In Exchange For Pledges Of Peace

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Valdez, left, extends a helping hand to U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Patrick Mireles as he jumps a stream during a security patrol in Durzay, Afghanistan, April 30, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder

Secret U.S. Program Releases High-Level Insurgents In Exchange For Pledges Of Peace -- Washington Post

KABUL — The United States has for several years been secretly releasing high-level detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, a bold effort to quell violence but one that U.S. officials acknowledge poses substantial risks.

As the United States has unsuccessfully pursued a peace deal with the Taliban, the “strategic release” program has quietly served as a live diplomatic channel, allowing American officials to use prisoners as bargaining chips in restive provinces where military power has reached its limits.

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My Comment: This is a mistake. You release detainees when the war is over ..... not in the middle of it.

A Former Taliban Captive Talks About His Ordeal

David Rohde: 'What I Saw In Captivity' With The Taliban -- The Atlantic

David Rohde, the New York Times reporter who spent seven months in captivity with the Taliban before escaping in June 2009, said that while history will judge our approach to the Taliban unfavorably, withdrawing from the region is "not an option."

Rohde is a two-time Pulitzer-prize winner who also received the Michael Kelly Award, named after the former Atlantic editor who was the first journalist killed in the Iraq War. Rohde's said his kidnapping during an interview with the Taliban "sealed my position as the worst newly wed husband ever."

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My Comment: Western journalists usually suffer a far worse fate than 7 months of captivity. All things considering .... David Rohde is one very lucky man.

Half Of Taliban Prisoners Captured In Combat Are Released After 96 Hours Because Of Detention Rules

US forces in Afghanistan have freed 81 Taliban prisoners from the jail at Bagram, north of Kabul. Photo from The Independent

Troops 'Release Half Of Taliban Prisoners After Four Days' -- the Telegraph

British troops have to release captured Taliban militants after only four days because of Nato rules limiting the time they can be held.

Official Foreign Office figures claim that since July 2006, UK Forces have detained 630 individuals, who were either transferred or released. According to officers, around half of those detained are then freed.

"It's a joke," one officer told The Sunday Times upon returning from Afghanistan. "We can only hold them for 96 hours and then we have to hand them over to the Afghans. If we can't do that, we have to let them go. We end up releasing about half those we capture and they just go off, join their friends and come back to attack us."

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My Comment: The lawyers and the political correctness crowd appear to now be running this war .... I predict that the end result will be many more of our soldiers and Afghan civilians being killed by these murderous gangs.