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Dr. Grier blogs about Narcissism and other current topics.>
Trial in New York City.
November 23, 2009
Much has been in the Media about the upcoming trials of five terrorists in a civilian New York court, and specifically about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
Mr. Mohammed and one of the codefendants in the case were “captured” by Pakistani and U.S. Intelligence in an apartment on the first of March 2003, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, near Islamabad. His other codefendants were likewise “captured” by Pakistani Intelligence Officials in Karachi, Pakistan.
Mr. Mohammed was a known terrorist with a long history, and he was detained and then according to Wikipedia rendered first to a CIA Black Site, and then to Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo for short) in September 2006 where he has remained until now.
What is the psychological profile of a man who has committed one act of atrocity after another? Is he mentally ill? Is cruelty a mental disorder?
Mr. Mohammed is an unconscionable extremist who exploits zealots and the psychologically vulnerable to die for “the cause”. According to psychologists, his mental health is debatable.
He believes that the ends justify any and all means. He feels no remorse. Displays no conscience.
His violence, he says, was functional and necessary — it was the language of war.
He compares Osama Bin Laden to George Washington: a man leading the fight for independence.
The decision to try Mr. Mohammed in a civilian court of law has caused controversy because it gives him a global forum to state his views, and it grants him the dignity that he never granted his victims. His lawyers plan to blame American foreign policy for the actions of Mr. Mohammed and to put the Bush Administration on trial for the abuse Mr. Mohammed allegedly suffered at the hands of the CIA. Without a good judge, or maybe it is better to say that without the right judge, the trial has the potential to spiral into a meaningless black hole.
Below are the facts as best as I can tell. I’ll have just a few more words to say after you read the history of what led us to where we are at this moment.
1. The Bush Administration defined an enemy combatant as "an individual who was part of or supporting the Taliban or al Qaida forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners. This includes any person who committed a belligerent act or has directly supported hostilities in aid of enemy armed forces." Because the U.S. was prosecuting a Global War on Terror, this broad definition made sense. It did not matter from where someone might engage in hostilities, only that he did so.
2. During a hearing before a Military Commission that was to determine if Mr. Mohammed was indeed an enemy combatant, he admitted responsibility for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, 9/11, decapitating Daniel Pearl, the shoe bomber operation, attempted assassinations of former Presidents Carter and Clinton and the Pope, and a host of other operations that had they been successful would have wreaked havoc across the Western world.
3. During that same hearing, Mr. Mohammed claimed that he had been tortured while being questioned by the CIA concerning the whereabouts of “UBL” (Osama Bin Laden). It was striking — I have chosen that word very carefully — to read Mr. Mohammed’s testimony that he was disturbed at being mistreated. This from a man responsible for purposely killing thousands without the slightest tinge of conscience, to include the brutal slaying of Daniel Pearl.
4. Under the Bush definition, Mr. Mohammed and his codefendants were declared enemy combatants.
5. Mr. Mohammed and his four codefendants were arraigned before a Military Commission on the fifth of June 2008. On the nineteenth of January 2009, the defendants discussed their participation in the attacks on 9/11 during a pretrial hearing and alleged they had been tortured. A 120-day continuance was granted at the request of the new Obama Administration.
6. On the thirteenth of March 2009, the Obama Administration did away with the designation of enemy combatant. “New rules will have to be developed to fit al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners who were previously designated as enemy combatants," they said.
7. Hence under the Bush Administration, Mr. Mohammed had been declared an enemy combatant. Under the Obama Administration’s ruling, this was no longer true; there were no enemy combatants.
8. The Obama Administration’s ruling identified who could be detained at Gitmo. It also introduced two new categories of detainees: “terrorists” who contributed to the 9/11 attacks; and “members of forces” who engaged in hostilities against the U.S.
9. Under this new definition, Mr. Mohammed and his four codefendants were declared terrorists, while the other 235 detainees at Gitmo were now former members of hostile forces. (How many of the total number had been declared enemy combatants under the Bush Administration to the best of my knowledge has not been published.)
10. A second 120-day continuance was granted at the request of the Obama Administration, and in November the Attorney General announced that the defendants would be relegated to a civilian court of law in New York for trial as terrorists.
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So now you have the sequence of events, the facts.
For completeness, the testimony taken from Mr. Mohammed at the hearing to determine whether he was an enemy combatant under the definition prescribed by the Bush Administration is provided below.
As you read his testimony, you can sense the pride Mr. Mohammed felt as he laid out in detail the many acts of terror for which he claimed responsibility. He does not view himself a hero because of his actions, he said at his hearing with sincere humility.
Mr. Mohammed calls himself a “military man”, not a terrorist. Were it my decision, I would therefore have left him in front of a Military Commission, and after he was found guilty and executed, I would have made a subdued announcement to the American people that “Justice has finally been done.”
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“I hereby admit and affirm without duress that I was a responsible participant, principal planner, trainer, financier (via the Military Council Treasury), executor, and/or a personal participant in the following:
1. I was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation.
2. I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z.
3. I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of
me on the Internet holding his head.
4. I was responsible for the Shoe Bomber Operation to down two American airplanes.
5. I was responsible for the Filka Island Operation in Kuwait that killed two American soldiers.
6. I was responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, which was frequented by British and Australian nationals.
7. I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing the New (or Second) Wave attacks against the following skyscrapers after 9/11:
a. Library Tower, California.
b. Sears Tower, Chicago,
c. Plaza Bank, Washington state.
d. The Empire State Building, New York City.
8. I was responsible for planning, financing, and follow-up of Operations to destroy American military vessels and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Port of Singapore.
9. I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing for the Operation to bomb and destroy the Panama Canal.
10. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the assassination of several former American Presidents, including President Carter.
11. I was responsible for surveying, planning, and financing for the bombing of suspension bridges in New York.
12. I was responsible for planning to destroy the Sears Tower by burning a few fuel or oil tanker trucks beneath it or around it.
13. I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the operation to destroy Heathrow Airport, the Canary Wharf Building, and Big Ben on British soil.
14. I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction of many night clubs frequented by American and British citizens on Thailand soil.
I5. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the New York Stock Exchange and other financial targets after 9/11.
16. I was responsible for planning, financing, and surveying for the destruction of buildings in the Israeli city of Blat by using airplanes leaving from Saudi Arabia.
17. I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction of American embassies in Indonesia, Australia, and Japan.
18. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the Israeli embassy in India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, and Australia.
19. I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of an Israeli 'EI-AI' Airlines flight on Thailand soil departing from Bangkok Airport.
20. I was responsible for sending several Mujahedeen into Israel to conduct surveillance to hit several strategic targets deep in Israel.
21. I was responsible for the bombing of the hotel in Mombasa that is frequented by Jewish travelers via EI-AI airlines.
22. I was responsible for launching a Russian-made surface-to-air missile on EI-AI or other Jewish airliner departing from Mombasa.
23. I was responsible for planning and surveying to hit American targets in South Korea, such as American military bases and a few night clubs frequented by American soldiers.
24. I was responsible for financial, excuse me, I was responsible for providing financial support to hit American, Jewish, and British targets in Turkey.
25. I was responsible for surveillance needed to hit nuclear power plants that generate electricity in several U.S. states.
26. I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing to hit NATO Headquarters in Europe.
27. I was responsible for the planning and surveying needed to execute the Bojinka Operation, which was designed to down twelve American airplanes full of passengers. I personally monitored a round-trip, Manila-to-Seoul, Pan Am flight.
28. I was responsible for the assassination attempt against President Clinton during his visit to the Philippines in 1994 or 1995.
29. I was responsible for the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul the second while he was visiting the Philippines.
30. I was responsible for the training and financing for the assassination of Pakistan's President Musharaf.
31. I was responsible for the attempt to destroy an American oil company owned by the Jewish former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, on the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia."
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