Pentagon Uncovers More Lindh Photos
The Pentagon has discovered more photos that raise questions about the treatment of John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban, CBS News has learned.
Lindh, captured early in the war in Afghanistan, allegedly admitted receiving military training from al Qaeda and personally meeting with Osama bin Laden.
Lindh's lawyers are trying to get those incriminating statements thrown out, saying they were made under duress and citing, among other things, a previously released photo showing Lindh naked, blindfolded and strapped to a stretcher inside a metal container.
CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports that one official says the newly discovered photos show U.S. special forces soldiers posing with a blindfolded and handcuffed Lindh. Across the front of the blindfold someone has written an obscenity which is another word for scum and which seems intended to humiliate Lindh.
Until now the special forces have been seen as the heroes of the war in Afghanistan. But these photos are at the very least embarrassing to them.
When they are produced in court, they will almost certainly provide ammunition to Lindh's lawyers, who have argued all along that he was denied his constitutional rights.
"He began requesting a lawyer almost immediately, which would have been December 2nd or 3rd," said James Brosnahan, one of Lindh's attorneys. "For 54 days he was held incommunicado."
The photos will also be turned over to Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to determine whether any action should be taken against the special forces who posed with Lindh.
Lindh is charged with conspiring to murder U.S. nationals; providing support and services to foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda; and using firearms and destructive devices during crimes of violence. Three of the 10 charges carry maximum life sentences; the other seven have prison terms of up to 90 years.
In previous court maneuvering, a federal judge ordered the preservation of government papers, videotapes and photographs related to the Lindh case.
Prosecutors drafted the two-page order after Lindh's lawyers notified the court that some evidence already had been destroyed.
Prosecutors previously told the defense that photographs and videos of Lindh were destroyed aboard a ship where he was held, and the Army destroyed handwritten notes in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan - another location of Lindh's captivity. Some of this material could have helped Lindh's case, the defense said.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III directed that materials existing prior to Jan. 24 - the date of Lindh's initial court appearance - must be preserved.