The Constitution, by design, is a broad document that does not linger long over small details. It is therefore telling that the only crime that the Constitution makes any mention of is treason. According to article three, section three: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."
During the Cold War, the United States saw its fair share of treasonous figures, from Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to Aldrich Ames. The crimes that these people committed - such selling out US assets or giving away top secrets - often led to many deaths and major setbacks for the United States. When the government has caught US citizens spying in the past, it has imposed harsh penalties, including death to those who have merited it. In other cases, it has suspended the death penalty, prudently, allowing the spy to exchange useful intelligence for leniency.
The case of John Walker is somewhat different from recent instances of treason in the United States. Walker was not acting as a spy for any foreign power and did not have the capability to sell US secrets. Yet, he did join enemies of the United States in siding with the Taliban and receiving training from al Qaeda. In doing so, he became, in part, responsible for the actions of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
He was not, as were many ordinary people in Afghanistan, forced into service, nor did he simply live amongst the Taliban. As a US citizen, he actively participated in war against the United States. Perhaps it would have been different if he had renounced his US citizenship, but he fought as an American against a democratic, freely-elected government, and he did so with no apparent qualms.
Unfortunately for US prosecutors, the Constitution also specifies that proof of treason requires two witnesses to the crime or a confession in an open court. Since other Taliban and al Qaeda members are unlikely to aid the prosecution with its case, "proving" treason in a court of law will be a difficult task. That does not, however, mean that John Walker deserves the reduced sentence that he could receive.
His voluntary decision to try and shoot and kill US forces, coupled with his membership or affiliation with al Qaeda, merits the most severe punishment the United States can give. Since, unlike Aldrich Ames, Mr. Walker has nothing useful to offer the United States, the government should seek the death penalty if it believes a conviction is possible.
What makes John Walker's crimes so heinous is not simply the fact that he was fighting the United States, but whom he was fighting with. Not all acts of treason are equal; there is a clear difference between Aldrich Ames, who spied for the United States' greatest enemy, and Jonathan Pollard, who spied for an ally. Walker, like Ames, decided to side with an enemy whose purpose was the complete and total destruction of the United States by any means necessary. There can be no place for a man like that in society. His life should be the price he pays for his actions.
Jonathan Perle is a senior majoring in political science.
