WaEx: GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will appear in a Guantanamo Bay courtroom this week, more than 18 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks he is alleged to have masterminded and a year before he will finally face a jury.
In the nearly two decades since 19 al Qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center buildings, the side of the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people, the five men believed to be responsible have yet to face a trial.
The U.S. government alleges that the plotters carried out a criminal conspiracy in planning and executing the 9/11 plot, listing the names of all 2,977 victims killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in the 90-page 2011 charging sheet. The five, who were arraigned in 2012, were also charged with attacking civilians, hijacking, terrorism, violations of the rules of war, and more.
Mohammed, dubbed “KSM” and described as “the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks” in the 9/11 Commission Report, was a close ally of al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and will be on trial alongside Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al Shibh, Ammar al Baluchi, and Mustafa al Hawsawi.
Now 55, he looks much different than he did in the famous post-capture scowling picture of him in 2003 when he was overweight, mustached, and disheveled in a stretched T-shirt partially covering his hairy back. Now, he shows up in court in traditional Pakistani clothing with a white tunic and turban, as well as a dyed-red beard and, sometimes, a camouflage vest.
The era-shaping events of Sept. 11 brought more than 160 people — victims’ families, the prosecution, five defense teams, the judge and his staff, military members, more than a dozen journalists, and roughly a dozen nongovernmental observers — to Cuba on a charter plane that took off from Andrews Air Force Base outside D.C. on Saturday morning. Mohammed’s defense team is led by Gary Sowards, who represented the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, whose domestic bombing campaign killed three people. read more
Why has this guy not been executed???
WOW! Murders 3k people and gets pampered for the rest of his life.
He has a platoon of lawyers from the ACLU and SPLC all of whom are eager to help him get away with the charges.
@gin blossom – not to mention the democrats covering for terrorists. If our govt. had been serious about fighting the threat – we would not be still dealing with this BS almost 20 years later. Instead we had an islamic terrorist sympathizer/Iranian islamist plant for a president for 8 years, who aided and abetted their growth and financed them US taxpayer money. And the dems are still trying to protect them.
I’ll kill him for free and look him in the eye as I do.
He needs to be treated backwards. First you skin him out, then you kill him.
I’m not anywhere close to as nice as gin blossom. I’d go 101% comanche on him.
Gladys-
“we had an islamic terrorist sympathizer/Iranian islamist plant for a president for 8 years”
Lets not forget the previous plant who milked the crisis for himself and his war industry pals.
He’s no worse than hillary clinton and obama, and eric holder: between iran, libya, egypt and gun running to cartels, they killed WAY more innocent people.
He should free to swim in Guantanamo Bay as part of an ecological test.
To see how hungry the sharks are for Middle Eastern Meat.
He should be made to spend the rest of his worthless life at Gitmo wearing a bumble bee costume (ala John Belushi) and watching endless videos of Barack Hussein Obama playing golf, basketball, and frolicking in Hawaii or at his 15 million dollar seaside mansion.
Khalid just pawn in game of life!
….and he will get a trial in which he will be accorded all of the rights and protections of a US citizen. Rights and protections that were denied our president during the sham impeachment process.
He belongs in a cell with Rosie O’Donnell and Hillary.
…which must be why you keep using that photo of Rosie O’Donnell.
@judgeroybean: The problem is – all three probably would like it.