Four years of torture elicts 9/11 confession
After 4 years in Gitmo, the alleged mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheik Mohammed,has confessed to planning the strike on the WTC and also copped to just about every terror attack in the last 30 years. Forgive me if I don't heave a huge sign of relief that we got the "bad man" though. Knowing what we do about the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and considering what Padilla endured in US prisons, one would think after four years of relentless "alternate interrogation" the man would have copped to starting the Spanish inquistion if it would have stopped the torture.
As my friend Michael van der Galien points out, it's just as difficult, or more so, to believe the confession of guilt from a tortured man as it is to believe the protestations of innocence from an convicted killer.
This confession may well be accepted and glorified as proof of some kind of victory by the remaining White House cheerleaders who support the occupation but for the rest of the world, including myself, these "confessions" will be tainted by the manner in which they were obtained.
Not to mention the convenient timing of the announcement, just as the FBI and Justice department's abuse of NSLs is being scrutinized. Anybody want to bet that the White House will claim the NSLs or some other disputed domestic surveillance program will be credited in having obtained evidence against Khalid?
As my friend Michael van der Galien points out, it's just as difficult, or more so, to believe the confession of guilt from a tortured man as it is to believe the protestations of innocence from an convicted killer.
This confession may well be accepted and glorified as proof of some kind of victory by the remaining White House cheerleaders who support the occupation but for the rest of the world, including myself, these "confessions" will be tainted by the manner in which they were obtained.
Not to mention the convenient timing of the announcement, just as the FBI and Justice department's abuse of NSLs is being scrutinized. Anybody want to bet that the White House will claim the NSLs or some other disputed domestic surveillance program will be credited in having obtained evidence against Khalid?
Labels: Guantanamo, Terrorism
posted by Libby Spencer at 7:43 AM
5 Comments:
no, he said as much before he was taken into custody. in fact, ramzi yusef, the perpetrator of the 93 attack, is his cousin. I read a book called "masterminds of terror" which is where this al jezeera reporter goes and interviews ramzi binalshib and muhammed and asks them about all this stuff. muhammed is not a real muslim and when he attempts to make a scary terrorist video in the authors presence, they laugh at him.
I don't understand why this info is being released now though.
The guy was crazy when they got him and after all these years of torture you can be sure he didn't get more sane Lester. But I did read somewhere today that he was making up plots to make the AQ look bigger when he first got caught.
I think this nonsense is being released now to draw attention away from the fiasco that is Iraq and in some lame attempt for the Bush adminstration to boost ratings. Bush can't seem to get it through his head that the lies and subterfuge has come unraveled and he's not fooling anyone. Not any more.
I think you're right Rocky. It's just another silly ploy to distract the public.
I haven't read the book, but I have read reviews which indicate the 4 years of torture did not bring out any new news... is this correct?
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