The Making Of John Walker Lindh

How did a quiet, bright young boy from suburban America end up alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan? This is a story of love, loathing and an often reckless quest for spiritual fulfillment

By Timothy Roche, Brian Bennett, Anne Berryman, Hilary Hylton, Siobhan Morrissey and Amany Radwan Monday, Oct. 07, 2002

    • (8 of 12)

    Correction Appended: March 24, 2003

    Yemenites say the blame for Lindh's radicalism lies elsewhere, however. A language teacher says Lindh came from the U.S. already hating America. And Lindh's correspondence from Yemen evinces an ambivalence toward the U.S. In a letter to his mother dated Sept. 23, 1998, he refers to the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Africa the previous month, saying the attacks "seem far more likely to have been carried out by the American government than by any Muslims." By October he writes home, saying, "Although I'm not particularly fond of the idea of returning to America, I do have a four-month vacation in about six months. This means you'll probably be seeing me again before you expected."

    Leaving Yemen in february 1999 turned out to be tumultuous. YLC director Saleem says Lindh was detained when he tried to leave the country without an exit visa and was taken to the school he had abandoned, to clear matters up. "His face was awful," says Saleem. "I think he was tired of Yemen, tired of everything, and he wanted to go home." But even when Lindh was finally permitted to return to the U.S., the drama was not behind him. Life at home, he soon discovered, had undergone a dramatic change. In late 1998 Frank said he was gay and moved out. On June 30, 1999, not long after Lindh's return, Frank filed for divorce from Marilyn. Three days later the Lindhs sold their home in San Anselmo at a profit of approximately $270,000.

    When Lindh got together with his young Muslim friends, he would discuss many things, including his desire to continue studying Islam and return to Yemen. But he did not discuss his family--except Naomi. Says his friend Abdullah Nana from the Mill Valley Mosque: "He did mention about his sister. He was worried about his sister."

    As time passed, Lindh started to wear Arab, not Pakistani, dress. He also spent less time at the Mill Valley Mosque and began frequenting mosques in San Francisco where Salafi Yemenis worshipped. To reach the mosques on Sutter and Jones streets for Friday prayers, he would take a bus ride into the city, leaving the sunny hills of Marin County for the streets of San Francisco. It was while waiting to return to Yemen that his path into Pakistan and then Afghanistan opened up.

    In autumn 1999 the Mill Valley Mosque played host to a band of seven visiting missionaries who belonged to the Tablighi Jama'at. They had journeyed north from San Diego on what is called an aik saal--a one-year religious trek from mosque to mosque--preaching as they went. One member of the group was Khizar Hayat, abusinessman from the town of Bannu in Pakistan. Hayat apparently made such an impression on Lindh that the American asked him for his address and telephone number in Pakistan. Hayat says he barely remembers the meeting. But Lindh's spiritual adviser in Pakistan, Mufti Mohammad Iltimas Khan, says that the young American vividly recalled the occasion. Says Iltimas: "It was the beginning of the dangerous journey, the first jaunt, the pleasure journey."

    3. 1
    4. 2
    5. 3
    6. 4
    7. 5
    8. 6
    9. 7
    10. 8
    11. 9
    12. 10
    13. 11
    14. 12