'Detainee 001': Trump tried to keep 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh in jail
John Walker Lindh, known as the 'American Taliban' will be the key figure in Showtime's upcoming documentary 'Detainee 001.' Directed by Greg Barker, who gained worldwide recognition for his scintillating docu 'Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden,' the latest work will showcase some unseen footage and also shed light on the aftermath of his capture. One of the news that made rounds during Lindh's release on May 23, 2019, was that of former president Donald Trump stating that he had tried to stop the release of the radical mujahideen fighter.
Lindh was freed on probation after serving 17 years of his 20-year time for providing his time and support to the Taliban. Born John Philip Walker Lindh, he was captured during the Afghanistan invasion in 2001 and returned to the US the following year.
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Trump said he had tried to stop Lindh's release
According to a report by The New York Times, former President Trump said he had tried his best to stop Lindh from the release from the Indiana prison, however said there was no legal way to do so. He didn't mince words or keep his disappointment a secret.
He explained that the best lawyers in the country that "work for the government" had told him that there was no way to legally stop Lindh from staying in prison. "The lawyers have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb,” Mr. Trump said. “If there was a way to break that, I would have broken it in two seconds." He also added that the prisoner released from the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana would be closely monitored. Lindh was 17 when he left California in 1998 to study Arabic in Yemen.
He made his way to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan serving as a volunteer for the Taliban at a Queda training camp. He was held at a prison near Mazar-i-Sharif, where an uprising saw a 32-year-old CIA officer, Johnny Michael Spann killed in a violent Taliban uprising after questioning the prisoner. At trial later, Lindh pleaded guilty to charges of supporting the Taliban and carrying a rifle and a hand grenade.
'Detainee 001' synopsis
The official synopsis reads: "In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan with the mission of identifying, infiltrating, and eliminating terrorist networks. Public attention was riveted on the capture of John Walker Lindh, a radical mujahideen fighter who became known as “the American Taliban.” Through never-before-seen footage of his capture and interrogations, Emmy winning director Greg Barker harrowingly explores how America grapples with justice in the fog of war and how narratives are built and destroyed in the aftermath of battle."
'Detainee 001' releases Sep 10 at 9 pm ET/PT on Showtime.