What happens to this Taliban guy?

Tale of an American Taliban

He’s purportedly a US citizen. If he is a citizen can he be tried by a miltary tribunal or will he have to tried for treason as a citizen or… what?

He should be treated as every foriegn taliban soldier is treated. Or perhaps brought back and tried for treason.

Um, sorry, but my “oh, come on” alarm went off, right about here:

Uh huh.

Yeah?

Oh, really?

Eh, maybe it’s just that I’m not an MSNBC reporter anxious to file a scoop. It’s possible to obtain a “Mid-Atlantic” accent without being born and raised in the Mid-Atlantic states. Let’s wait until he proves he’s really an American citizen before we start the hand-wringing about military tribunals.

And if he is an American citizen, what exactly would he be charged with? Being a member of the losing side? How is it treason to be fighting with the Taliban? Doesn’t there have to be an official declaration of war by Congress before Americans who fight for the Bad Guys and get caught doing it can be charged with treason?

Last time I looked, they were being encouraged to throw down their arms and surrender, but presumably not so that they can be trucked off to the U.S. and tried before military tribunals for having had the bad judgement to join a jihad that didn’t materialize.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/12/01/ret.afghan.revolt/index.html

[tangent]
Whatever happened to the American guy who they picked up as an Iraqi POW in Kuwait who’d been an American drafted into Saddam’s army? I remember a quote in the news along the lines of, “I’ve been waiting for youse guys.”
[/tangent]

Assuming he hasn’t renounced his citizenship, he’s in fairly serious trouble. If he did renounce his citizenship, he’s just another Talib.

Depending on whether or not he actually fired on American soldiers, he might be liable for prosecution for treason. If it can’t be demonstrated that he actually fought against American soldiers, then I don’t think a treason charge will stand-up. I didn’t see anything in the article that indicates he took part in any actual fighting, although he certainly witnessed a lot, and was present at the epicenter of the prisoner’s revolt.

He will, of course, be liable for any other crimes he may have commited, and even if he’s not charged with a single crime, he’s still in a world of hurt. To start with, he’s essentially without country now. Getting a replacement US passport will be difficult at best, I can’t think that any other country will want him, and I doubt he’ll be welcome to stay in Afganistan.

What can any of the Taliban be tried for? It appears that we will be trying senior Taliban but I’m not sure for what.

There’s a GD thread on this topic.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=102005

Hmmm. On CNN, they had (exclusive, so they said) footage of a guy they claimed to be named John Walker, from DC, who fought with a bin Laden sponsored group. Same guy? But this one clearly had an Arabic accent. As usual, it will take a day or two to get this straightened out.

Johnny Walker? My god, I was just partying with him last night.

And what about Mohammed Junaid? He picked the losing side, too. Will they let him come back?

The original article that sparked the Pit thread.

The original New York Post story has been sent to the Post Archives, and they want $$$ to retrieve it. We discussed him here.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=98215

I saw the guy on CNN and I’m leaning towards believing his story:

A. He looked white to me, he had very pale skin when they removed his shirt. Looks can be decieving however, and there are probably caucasions who live in Afghanistan. Still, it lends some credence to his story.

B. I have to disagree with the way The Bad Astronomer characterized his accent. He did have what I would call a slight Arabic accent, but other than that he was clearly speaking American English. Again, not proof, but lending credence to his claim.

I think this guy claimed to have been in Afghanistan for a year, so either he’s lying or it’s not the same guy as in the New York Post article. Plus CNN said this guy was 20, not 26, for what it’s worth.

His parents speak

Here is the relevant US code.

Darned if I can make much sense out of it, though. As a slight history buff, though, I don’t believe a declared war is a prerequisite to charges of treason - remember the Rosenberg trial?

I hope someone will come along and make sense of this lawyerese, but I’d say he’s in for a bad time.

I feel for the parents, though I have to admit I’m having trouble with the “he’s a good boy” statement. But I’ll wait for more facts before making any judgement.

Dangit.

Try this.
Nailed it!
[sub]Preview is more than my friend, it is the love of my life, I want to father it’s children! :o [/sub]

from today’s Washington Post:

That’s all I’m going to quote here, but check out the article, it’s rather fascinating.

From CNN.com:

Update from MSNBC- Overview of options in dealing with him.

What legal consequences face Americans such as John Walker who fight on the side of the Taliban?
The legal consequences facing Americans who fight for the Taliban and non-citizens accused of terrorism