Can there be any doubt that this man deserves the death penalty, and to rot in hell? where hopefully he will be relentlessly sodomized by 72 virgins with strap-ons. http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/27/moussaoui/index.html -- Moussaoui: White House was my 9/11 target Al Qaeda conspirator takes stand against his lawyers' wishes From Phil Hirschkorn CNN ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui told a stunned courtroom Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth plane on September 11, 2001, and crash it into the White House. In a day of startling revelations, an unrepentant Moussaoui also said for the first time that he knew about al Qaeda's plot to hijack planes and fly them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Under cross-examination, Moussaoui said he rejoiced at seeing the smoldering rubble and hearing a recording of a doomed flight attendant begging for her life. Moussaoui explained to jurors why he doesn't trust his defense team: "I consider every American my enemy." (Watch details of Moussaoui's testimony -- 2:14) Moussaoui's boldest revelations focused on the 9/11 plot, his role, and what he knew in advance of the terrorist attacks. "I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit, but I did not have the details," Moussaoui told jurors. Moussaoui said that while he didn't know the "precise date to the day" of the planned terrorist attacks, he knew they would come soon after his arrest in August 2001 in Minnesota. He said he made sure he had a radio in his jail cell. When the first news reports on September 11 described a fire at the trade center, Moussaoui said, "I immediately understood." 'It is smoking good' Three days later, as he was flown from a Minnesota jail to New York, Moussaoui said he saw the trade center ruins and told the federal marshals transporting him: "It is smoking good." Moussaoui testified that had he not been arrested he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane. That claim was contradicted by alleged September 11 architect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whose testimony was read from a written interrogation summary. Mohammed said Moussaoui "was never slated to be a 9/11 operative" and the sequel was on the "back burner." Moussaoui identified Reid as one of his team members. Both men lived in London in the 1990s and attended the Finsbury Park mosque, reportedly an al Qaeda recruiting hub. Reid was subdued by passengers in December 2001 when he attempted to set off a bomb in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely and Reid was arrested. He is serving a life prison term. Reid has written Moussaoui at least once during their incarceration. The courtroom was packed and silent as Moussaoui took the stand against the wishes of his lawyers. Four 9/11 family members occupied the courtroom's third row and the jurors sat at attention, their pens and notepads poised. There were no dramatic outbursts and no speeches. But by the time he stepped down three hours later, Moussaoui seemed to have undone more than four years of work by his defense team. No remorse Under cross examination, Moussaoui repeatedly expressed no remorse for what happened on September 11. Referring to Moussaoui's glimpse of trade center rubble, prosecutor Rob Spencer asked, "You were happy that happened?" "That's correct," Moussaoui said. Moussaoui also said he had "rejoiced" at hearing a United Flight 93 attendant beg for her life on a recovered flight recorder. Earlier, under questioning by one of his attorneys, Gerald Zerkin, Moussaoui dispelled the idea that he was intended to be the 20th hijacker -- the missing fifth man on Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Moussaoui admitted his "dream," sanctioned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to crash a plane into the White House, when he pleaded guilty 11 months ago to joining the conspiracy. But at that time, he said the White House attack was to follow 9/11. He testified that his knowledge of the conspiracy was compartmentalized and that he had "specific involvement only for my own plane." Prosecutors contend that Moussaoui, 37, a French citizen of Moroccan heritage, deserves to die. Had he not lied after his arrest, they contend, investigators could have uncovered the September 11 conspiracy. Asked by his lawyer why he lied, Moussaoui replied, "Because I am al Qaeda." 'You're allowed to lie for jihad' "The Prophet says, 'war is deceit,' " Moussaoui later told prosecutor Robert Spencer. "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy." After Moussaoui's testimony, the defense introduced the statements from Mohammed. Moussaoui was a "problem from the start," Mohammed said. He eventually ordered plot coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh to wire Moussaoui money for flight school and cut off ties. Moussaoui had a hard time following instructions and was "lax with operational security," sending too many e-mails and making too many phone calls, according to Mohammed's testimony. The potential targets for the second wave of attacks -- the White House, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California -- were not even finalized, he said. The only question for the jury is whether Moussaoui will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison. To condemn him to death, jurors must agree that he committed an act that contributed to at least one of the 2,793 deaths on September 11. Prosecutors contend Moussaoui's lies to federal agents who arrested him in mid-August 2001 after he aroused suspicions at a Minnesota flight school furthered the conspiracy. "I believe in destiny," Moussaoui told jurors. "I just have to speak the truth, and God will take care of the rest."
Boy, I have never seen a guy try this hard to get the death penalty. Just for that, I say we give him life in prison...wouldn't want him to have the satisfaction of being killed.
Legally, no he doesn't deserve the death penalty under current law for a variety of reasons, too boring to go into when compared with the rantings of an insane individual.
Bassaoui! No, him. Aside from his nasty taunting, a lot his statements today (and throughout) seem to be deliberately fabricated and inconsistent (Richard Reid the shoe bomber and him being a tag-team for example - that partseems pretty blatantly a lie for various logistical reasons - the Government knows it and they've never pushed the theory. (In addition, the fact that Mousse is the first of two "20th Hijackers" is also clearly false, and the government knows it, which is why they caught the other 20th hijacker and declared him such.) Now Moussaoui's legal team (or as Mousse refers to them in courtpleadings, THE PIGMAN) is in the unbelievably bizarre position of having to impeach their own client who's deliberately trying to get himself killed. This is even more wacked out than a standard pro-se case. The whole thing is a mockery of the justice system (and ultimatley a waste of time, IMO) and I bet everybody involved -- Brinkema, the prosecution, THE PIGMAN -- goes home and takes a shower every night and tries to forget that they had to participate in it.
If you have to ask, you'll never know! If killed he will instantly become a martyr for AQ. I would be interested in how the trial is being covered in the Arab press. I think it would be better if he spent life in jail.
yeah, the reid thing seems far fetched, but they have corresponded since they were both captured, and did belong to the same mosque, so who knows? i wan't aware of a second 20th hijacker tho, who are you referring to? in any case, if infact he did have prior knowledge, that alone serves to condemn him i recommend he be sent to saudi, ala "the sum of all fears" (IIRC), to be beheaded, live, on al jazeera.
Did he/they really think they could pull off another hijacking within a reasonable time frame after 9/11? That's wacked...
Muhamad Al Qahatani, this story broke about two years ago. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/20/possible.hijacker/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3989726/ ...not under our legal system.
You certainly raise a good point, and that has been my contention all along as well. This guy might have been an extremists and an Al-Qaeda sympathizer and might've even tried to take a part (or was supposed to take a part) in the whole grand plan for 9/11, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's trying hard to get the death penalty, knowing fully well that he's convicted anyways and he would like to have some self-satisfaction in thinking that he's dying as a 'martyr'.
The factual story regarding Moussaoui are really not in dispute. The story in a nutshell is that Moussaoui was a wannabe AQ guy, as well as heinously unstable mentally. So he got connected in the underground, tried to hook up with the hijackers crew (it's unclear how much he knew beforehand despite his posturing today, it's obvious he gets off on pretending to be an inside man), and they essentially rejected him o ut of hand (I can't recall the exact evidence on this, it's testimony or emails or something from the guys who did it). The reason why the rejected him is the same reason why he's been acting incoherent and incriminating himself today: the guy's a bona fide nut. Now, what we want to do in that case is unclear. He's not really a conspirator so conspiracy liability doesn't work (after all, he was rejected from the conspiracy). He's not really an accomplice for the same reason. So the government came up with this new theory (Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com does a good job explaining it in a few articles from past weeks) based on a failure to act, wrapped up with a very tenuous causation element. In short, it's a pretty dramatic expansion of the law of criminal liability and goes against one of the major tenets of criminal law (generally, there is no liability for acts of omission), and gets very complicated. That's just one hole in the Titanic though. There's all sorts of other issues (using secret testimony and denying the const. right to confront accusers, the overrideing issue of Moussaoui's insanity, the circus with his pro-se/counsel situation, his general torpedoing of his own case, the prosecutorial shenanigans, his "I'm not guillty but pleading guilty" plea). The case is a goddamned minefield of appealable issues, and I'm shocked Brinkema has let it go on this long (probably fear of being painted as a terrorist symphathizer is one part of it).
Everyone assumed after 9/11 that the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was heading for the White House. Assuming Moussaoui knows what he is talking about and is not lying, you would assume that they weren't going to hit the White House twice. I wonder where that plane was heading.
Throw him in jail for life and give him priest visitation only. If he converts to Christianity, he'll be asking for forgiveness. By then it might not matter anymore, but he'd be a great example to his former buddies. Though public demand might gas him anyways.
I'm not a lawyer but can one even get the death penalty for attempted murder? Life without parole would also show the world that the US isn't the barbarians that they think we are. It would go a long way to show the "compassionate conservative" side. Justice would be served and no one can claim the US is blind for revenge.
A question that I haven't seen raised, but would like to see addresssed somewhere is the following - - as it's a given that a lot of Mousse's testimony is, exaggerated and/or fabricated in order to further his attempt to kill himself - what's the prosecutor's responsibilities at this point? If he knows that Moussaoui is up on the stand giving testimony that is likely to be false (and committing another felony while doint it) - is he under any ethical obligation to prevent the giving of false testimony even though it furthers his interests?
