I really enjoyed this thread.
Thanks for everyone's input whether I agree with you or not.
No bad things can come from communicating your thoughts. If everybody did more of what we do here, the world would be a much better place.
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I really enjoyed this thread.
Thanks for everyone's input whether I agree with you or not.
No bad things can come from communicating your thoughts. If everybody did more of what we do here, the world would be a much better place.
I agree. I think it is important to note, that, according to some sources, when he chose to be a militant member, he was given a choice of fighting within Afghanistan OR fighting overseas! In that light, he obviously isn't a Die-die-die-America character.Quote:
Originally posted by jared_c
I think we should simply strip him of his US citizenship, then treat him as a POW. Simple as that.
He left the US and fought us, so as far as the US should be concerned, he isn't a citizen anymore. He was captured during war, hence he is a prisoner of war. Treat him exactly how we are treating the rest of the Taliban prisoners.
Or the US can continue doing what they are doing, and turn him into a martyr.
Also, what if his motivations were pro-Taliban/Extreme Islam, rather than pro-Laden? In that case, he wasn't attacking his country, he was fighting against the other forces within Afghanistan, and he can't be blamed that the US suddenly decided to help out in order to get what they want.
You're way off.....
He admitted being pro-al qaeda which in my mind is pro-laden which in turn is anti-American.
he admitted to being trained by al-qaeda.
He admitted meeting with laden and his henchmen.
He knew what was going on, come on, ignorance is no excuse. Please.
That makes about as much sense as those idiots that actually believe he was brain-washed.
Okay?
I got here too late to make the point jared_c did but I want to elaborate. To be an American you not only need your citizenship, you need a certain belief. A belief that you are an American, that freedom is good, etc. All the Americans know it cause we more or less have this rather dull yet indescribable belief...which is partly why some of us are so arrogant. John Walker doesn't have this belief, therefore he is no longer an American. He joined with the Taliban and became an Afghan. If an Afghan comes here, gets his belief and a citizenship he becomes an American.
So my point is this. John Walker was once an American, he isn't anymore therefore he should not be treated as one. He has to be treated just like any other captured Taliban soldier.
He's technically still an American. His citizenship did not lapse, it can't.Quote:
Originally posted by Alcatraz
I got here too late to make the point jared_c did but I want to elaborate. To be an American you not only need your citizenship, you need a certain belief. A belief that you are an American, that freedom is good, etc. All the Americans know it cause we more or less have this rather dull yet indescribable belief...which is partly why some of us are so arrogant. John Walker doesn't have this belief, therefore he is no longer an American. He joined with the Taliban and became an Afghan. If an Afghan comes here, gets his belief and a citizenship he becomes an American.
So my point is this. John Walker was once an American, he isn't anymore therefore he should not be treated as one. He has to be treated just like any other captured Taliban soldier.
Ideologically you are correct, but in real life you're not.
He wasn't deemed an expatriot, nor did he apply for the status, so in fact he is an American citizen, not that I like the fact but then that's what being a grown-up is all about.
Technically, yes, he's an American. But he doesn't want to be an American. To punish him as we are, we're forcing him to be an American. I don't want to look at this guy as a fellow American, and I don't want him punished as such. Why don't we just strip him of his citizenship and then treat him like the regular Taliban soldier that he is.
Judging by the poll. Even if only 25 responded, the concensus is he should die (one way or another).
Good to know.
You left little choice for another option KD :) As soon as someone against killing him sees three options that describe some way for him to die, they forget about polling, and start to write a post - at least, that's what I did :)
Sonics42ny - I know I'm not American, and I can't speak as one. I was not commenting on American justice, I was commenting on justice in general. I could quote you the Dutch dictionairy-entry for 'justice' but only a handful people in here would understand, but the general idea is the same anyway.
Little choice?
Sending him to prison isn't humane enough for ya?
Maybe we should expand the west wing in the white house and give a room there?
I really don't think there is another "sane" choice, do you?
Or are you so impartial that that offends your sensabilities?
No, what I tried to say was that when I saw that you liked him dead (you can't quite call the poll unbiased) I immidiately wanted to post against that. Actually, I had to re-read the poll to verify that you actually had put in an option to let him live.