Why not give the POS what he asked for?

[IEATV8S]

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said Thursday that he would welcome the death penalty for his confessed role as mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time," Mohammed told a military judge who warned that he faces execution if convicted of organizing the attacks on America. "I will, God willing, have this, by you."

The former No. 3 leader of al-Qaida and four alleged co-conspirators were being arraigned Thursday in their long-awaited first appearance before a war-crimes tribunal. All five face death if convicted of war crimes including murder, conspiracy, attacking civilians and terrorism in the 2001 attacks, which killed 2,973 people.

Mohammed wore thick glasses and a turban and stroked a bushy gray beard, in stark contrast to the disheveled hair, unshaven face and T-shirt he wore when he was captured in Pakistan in 2003.

Appearing calm as he propped his glasses on his turban to peer at legal papers, Mohammed also grinned and exchanged a few words with someone at the defense table occupied by Waleed bin Attash, who allegedly selected and trained some of the 19 hijackers who turned airplanes into missiles in the attacks.

The arraignment of the alleged al-Qaida co-conspirators begins the highest-profile test yet of the military's tribunal system, which faces an uncertain future. The Supreme Court is to rule this month on the rights of Guantanamo prisoners, potentially delaying or halting the proceedings.

It also carries some strategic risk: the military is trying to minimize the chance that Mohammed will be able to spread al-Qaida propaganda in courtoom speeches. The judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, announced a 20-second delay in the closed-circuit video feed to prevent classified information from being disclosed outside the courtroom.

It is the first public appearance for Mohammed since his capture in Pakistan in 2003. He was held in CIA custody at secret sites and then transferred to the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006, where the exact location of his cell also is top-secret.

Mohammed's defense team has said he may have suffered cognitive impairment from harsh interrogations in CIA custody. The Bush administration acknowledged in February that Mohammed was waterboarded — a technique that involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his or her cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning.

The Supreme Court struck down the commissions as unconstitutional in 2006. Congress then altered and resurrected them, but they have remained mired in confusion over courtroom rules, dogged by delays, and challenged repeatedly as unconstitutional.

Military commissions have been conducted since George Washington used them after the end of the Revolutionary War, but this is the first time the United States has used them during an ongoing conflict, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Tom Hartmann, a top tribunal official.

Army Col. Steve David, chief defense counsel for the tribunals, said the military commissions are "fundamentally flawed."

"We will zealously identify and expose each and every (flaw)," Davis said Wednesday.

The defense attorneys accused the U.S. of rushing the trial to influence this year's presidential elections. They recently asked Kohlmann to dismiss the case and remove Hartmann, who was accused of political meddling by a former chief prosecutor for the tribunals.

Hartmann has insisted the trials will be fair, and said he has not been asked to recuse himself from the upcoming trial.

Journalists were allowed to see the closed-circuit TV feed from a nearby press room. Some other observers including Fang A. Wong, a senior American Legion member, also were allowed to see the arraignment, which comes seven years after the attacks.

"I'm from the New York area, and I have been waiting for this for a long time," Wong said as he waited to be searched by soldiers before entering the tightly guarded court complex.

Guards were near the men but no firearms were to be allowed in the courtroom, said Army Col. Wendy Kelly. Mohammed and the other four detainees can be restrained by retractable leg chains hidden underneath the raised courtroom floor if they become unruly, she said.

With less than eight months remaining in U.S. President George W. Bush's term, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both say they want to close the military's offshore detention center.

Obama opposed the Military Commissions Act that in 2006 resurrected the military commissions, but McCain supported it.

The modular courtroom can be taken down and "sent to Fort Bragg, Fort Lewis, or any installation that needs a big courtroom," Kelly said.

The military expects the joint arraignment of the five to last just one day. The prisoners will be formally notified of the nature of the charges, will be told of their rights to attorneys and will be given the opportunity to enter a plea, though they do not have to enter one, Hartmann said before the hearing began.

The other defendants are: Ramzi Binalshibh, said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida leaders; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew and lieutenant of Mohammed; al-Baluchi's assistant, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi.


Where's that outraged ACLU?

[SGRIM]

In this particular case, I wouldn't I would keep him alive and hoped he lived to be 100+. I would replay the videos of all the cruelty he caused and the screams and cries of children without their parents 24hrs a day!

He wants to die and go to 100 virgins or what ever

[KILL4PEACEUSMC]

death is a cop out. I say let the PIG ROT

[IEATV8S]

I'll agree if we can WATERBOARD him everyday for 8 hours!!!!

[KILL4PEACEUSMC]

yea something suttle. perhaps parasites in his food so they can make there way into is spinal cord fluid. Turinging him into the the midless F that he really is.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by KILL4PEACEUSMC

yea something suttle. perhaps parasites in his food so they can make there way into is spinal cord fluid. Turinging him into the the midless F that he really is.

X2... we think alike

[Gothmog]

some people obviously prefer death to torture

[MY T FAST]

Originally Posted by Gothmog

some people obviously prefer death to torture

its too bad the 2,973 people he killed didn't have a choice. they just got killed because this D-bag is insane. Let the punishment fit the crime, he killed all those civilians with an explosion, light the bastard on fire, put it out just before he dies. repeat as necessary (2x a week), .

funny how when people are against torture, death penalty, etc. they never really consider how the victims of the madman never got those considerations, and the victims were innocent.

[quick85]

i'm with shane.......

[SGRIM]

Originally Posted by Gothmog

some people obviously prefer death to torture

I do not consider him a person... Monster maybe

[Weester]

Bath him in pigs blood!!!

[Gothmog]

Originally Posted by MY T FAST

its too bad the 2,973 people he killed didn't have a choice. they just got killed because this D-bag is insane. Let the punishment fit the crime, he killed all those civilians with an explosion, light the bastard on fire, put it out just before he dies. repeat as necessary (2x a week), .

funny how when people are against torture, death penalty, etc. they never really consider how the victims of the madman never got those considerations, and the victims were innocent.

I'd like to know what comes out in the trial....oh...no trial...just torture and straight to sentencing?.....oh...nevermind
remember Clinton actually caught tried and convicted people who attacked us, something Bush can do

[IEATV8S]

Originally Posted by Gothmog

I'd like to know what comes out in the trial....oh...no trial...just torture and straight to sentencing?.....oh...nevermind
remember Clinton actually caught tried and convicted people who attacked us, something Bush can do

Gee, that's what a military tribunal does, and does real well! F the ACLU, the whiny little insignificant liberal faggots, and the wasting of million of dollars on useless trials!

Matter of fact, let's just take all those prisoners held, put them up against a wall and kill them! If not guilty, Allah will give them 72 virgins for their pleasure on the other side! Oh, that's right Liberals don't believe in GOD or Allah, ........ Oh well!!!!

I understand the sharks in Cuban waters, REALLY enjoy, Arab meat, It's got FLAVOR!!!




I can almost FEEL the heat rising in all the little "FLUFF POTS" out there!

[MY T FAST]

Originally Posted by Gothmog

I'd like to know what comes out in the trial....oh...no trial...just torture and straight to sentencing?.....oh...nevermind
remember Clinton actually caught tried and convicted people who attacked us, something Bush can do

my point was, do the victims of these crazy ass muslims, get a trial? no, they just get killed. so why the hell can't we return the favor? they do get a trial, via, as EAT said, a military tribunal. i will NEVER understand the misplaced sympathy from retards like yourself. why not be sad for the 27xx people that these bastards killed?

only a f***ing liberal could turn a terrorist into a victim.

Gee, that's what a military tribunal does, and does real well! F the ACLU, the whiny little insignificant liberal faggots, and the wasting of million of dollars on useless trials!

Matter of fact, let's just take all those prisoners held, put them up against a wall and kill them! If not guilty, Allah will give them 72 virgins for their pleasure on the other side! Oh, that's right Liberals don't believe in GOD or Allah, ........ Oh well!!!!

I understand the sharks in Cuban waters, REALLY enjoy, Arab meat, It's got FLAVOR!!!

very well said sir.

to hell with every one of those sumbitches. (the ACLU and the terrorists)

[BlownZ]

I say kill him quietly and move on. The bigger spectacle we make out of it then the more satisfaction he gets.

[Turbo RX-6]

Put him in a cell for life with a guy named Bubba and a case of KY Jelly.

[IEATV8S]

I heard some one on the radio this morning saying that we should just kill him. He gave his reason. If he is held for life, the terrorists will ALWAY remember him, and put it into their heads that SOMEDAY, they can rescue him. He becomes a symbol for them. If he's put to death, he's a martyr, and will be remembered for awhile, but like all martyrs, will be forgotten in a year or 2!

Makes sense, especially seeing how the American people remember the 9/11 terror!