We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, McGrath. The Taliban were/are a nasty bunch, and we were not on friendly terms with them prior to September 11th (nor were we on particularly good terms with Pakistan, by the way). Lindh knew what he was doing, knew what the Taliban were, and went to some trouble to join them under arms while retaining his American citizenship. The Taliban and al Qaeda made no secret of their hostility to the US prior to September 11th, nor did they make any secret of their willingness and intention to use terrorist methods in furtherance of their aims. Lindh claims not to have wanted to continue fighting for the Taliban once hostilities were initiated between them and the US, but to have been too afraid to leave. I suppose we can give him the benefit of the doubt on that, but it isn't exactly a profile in courage or integrity.

All of his actions were taken of his own free will, and now he has pleaded guilty of his own free will. Either he's telling the truth about his guilt, or he's once again dispensing with courage and personal integrity (and agreeing to betray his former comrades in arms) to get himself a better deal. While I'm grateful to Steve Earle for reminding us of his humanity, I'm not losing any sleeep over this guy.

And yes, I think American citizens who join the Israeli military should also be held accountable for their actions.