Charge of Treason

We are a country that should be ruled by law, not hysteria. Post-Sept. 11 emotion is evident even in Americans’ reaction to the capture of John Walker, a U.S. citizen who was a Taliban soldier. Some Americans, who don’t know the first thing about military law, are bandying about the charge of treason. Law professor Jonathan Turley (“A Native Son May Elude Treason Charges,” Commentary, Dec. 5) has presented several arguments as to why Walker should not be charged with treason.

True, it’s inconceivable to me that someone raised in our beautifully free, democratic nation could have allied himself with a group of criminals who treated women so despicably. But treason? Hardly. If the U.S. government charges Walker with treason, it would only be to give revengeful Americans a whipping boy.

Stuart Lubin

Los Angeles