I vote "no"

The parents of John Walker Lindh, the American who converted to Islam as a teenager and ended up fighting for the Taliban, are asking President Bush to show mercy during the holiday season and, before leaving office, order their son released from prison. Lindh is serving a 20-year term after pleading guilty in 2002 to serving in the Taliban army, thus violating the U.S. sanctions that were in place then against Afghanistan. Lindh was captured by Northern Alliance troops in Afghanistan in December 2001, was later shot during a prison uprising and was then turned over to U.S. authorities. He's doing his time in a minimum-security prison in Indiana, and I think he should spend a bit more time there to consider the errors of his ways. There are thousands of common and uncommon criminals asking Bush to pardon them or commute their sentences. They include junk bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and disgraced ex-Congressman Duke Cunningham. They may or may not be worthy of the president's mercy, but none of them admitted serving with a military force trying to kill Americans. Lindh's mother, Marilyn, said "John made a mistake in joining the Taliban." A mistake? No, a mistake is locking your keys in your car. It's all well and good to criticize one's government. I've done plenty of that. But to take up arms against your own people? There's no pardoning that.