Episode 123 - A Travesty of Justice: John Walker Lindh with Lt. General Jerry Boykin

American forces first entered Afghanistan in 2001, members of the CIA’s ultrasecret Special Activities Division were among the first boots on the ground. A former Marine Corps captain was among them.  His name was Johnny “Mike” Spann. In 1999 Mike joined the CIA and became a member of the agency’s paramilitary unit in the Directorate of Operations. Dozens of paramilitary officers—the actual number is still classified—were dispatched to Afghanistan to assist U.S. Special Operations forces in equipping, arming, training, and supporting the troops flooding into Afghanistan. After the attack on 9/11, Mike Spann was among the first in the Special Activities Division to volunteer for duty there. During the last week of September, SAD operatives were deployed to establish a forward base for military Special Operations detachments which soon followed. Once on site, Mike and his teammates “vetted” Afghans for duty with the Northern Alliance, organized intelligence collection and analysis cells for operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and conducted counter-intelligence activities. During the fight for Mazari-Sharif, more than 300 Taliban fighters surrendered and were taken into custody by Northern Alliance forces and imprisoned in the city’s nineteenth-century fortress. Because the detainees had potential intelligence value on the capabilities and whereabouts of key Taliban and Al Qaeda kingpins, SAD officers were assigned the task of interrogating them.

 

On 25 November, Mike Spann and his partner arrived at the prison and began to conduct interrogations. That’s how they discovered that one of the detainees wasn’t an Afghan at all. He was an American named John Walker Lindh. According to Lindh, he was a convert to Islam and had traveled first to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan with the intention of joining Al Qaeda. Shortly after being interrogated by Spann, Lindh and his fellow prisoners overpowered their guards and murdered Mike Spann with two gunshots to the head, making him the first American casualty of the War on Terror. Mike Spann was thirtytwo years old when he died at the hands of a murderous countryman who had joined the Jihad. Mike left behind his widow, Shannon Span, an infant son, and two young daughters.

 

for his part, Lindh was one of only a few dozen to survive the uprising that killed Mike Spann. Brought to trial in United States federal court in February 2002, Lindh pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

 

Fast forward to last week, May 23, 2019, Lindh was released early under supervision.  IT was a pretty contentious decision.  To talk about it more, let's go over to former Delta Force commander and deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence under George W Bush, Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin.

 

That's all I have for today folks.  Go back and peruse the last 123 episodes of this program.  We have brought you some absolutely powerful interviews with some very high caliber guests.  If you've been watching the show you have heard a lot of news before it broke in the mainstream media.  I'm busting my hump to bring you really good content that will make you smarter about the most pressing issues of our day.  So if you are enjoying it, please support the podcast by subscribing over at itunes or podbean, or on youtube.  And for three dollars a month at patreon.com/hotzone you can be part of the inner circle and get lots of cool extras.  So go do that right now.  It takes only second and it's really encouraging to me.  Thanks for watching.  I'm Chuck Holton and this has been the Hot Zone.

 

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