Another British John Walker: this one's name is James Alexander McLintock, he's a white kid and he comes from Dundee. He is described as a "suspected" al-Qaeda member, which actually takes him a step further than Walker, by some accounts. (Though I'm more inclined to think that, in Afghanistan, Taleban = al-Qaeda any way you slice it.)
I believe I've already noted the fact that British reaction their own John Walkers has been surprisingly mild. Is it because the British don't see this as "their" war? (Terry Jones doesn't, at any rate. Splonge!) Is the charge of "treason" simply too embarrassingly old-fashioned for forward-thinking British chatterati to want to bring it up? I've had my suspicions that part of it may be that non-white or poly-ethnic native Britons are not thought of as "really" British, citizens or not. This opinion appears to be held, if not always expressed, even by left-leaning bleeding hearts, though their motive is presumably a variety of multicultural exoneration, rather than condemnation. Well, here's a test case, at any rate. I'm still waiting for the national soul-searching, the intense discussion on treason, values, child-rearing, and on what it means to be British. So far, everybody seems to take it in stride, which is the British way, of course.
Posted by Dr. Frank at December 31, 2001 04:12 AM | TrackBack