"'Those who remember Moussaoui from his loudmouth displays at London mosques, and who trained with him in Afghanistan, describe him as a man who enjoyed exaggerating his own importance. He claimed to be a particular favourite of Osama bin Laden, which none of the al-Qaeda captives verify.
'He liked the idea that London had provided al-Qaeda with a small army of would-be suicide bombers, and that he would be the first to die. He continually boasted about wanting to be a martyr for al-Qaeda."
It would appear, that Moussaoui might just get his wish. Despite the judge's best efforts to insure that he gets a fair trial (in spite the ineptitude of the prosecution team), the prosecution seems to have made sufficent case to persuade the jury to condemn him. But to what? Life on the American Dole? Or death? Given his rantings in court, I'm not sure which would be worse for him. However...
There's a slight problem. It appears we (meaning the U.S. Dept. of Justice) have no corroborated evidence implicating him. We've nothing more than his own dubious trial testimony, which contridicts everything he said when he was arrested and which remains to this day, undocumented and unsubstantiated. It would be bad enough to lock someone away for life without parole. But I suspect there's a problem with executing someone when there's no 'smoking gun'.
Don't get me wrong, I have no particular like for this character. I suspect I would sleep quite comfortably at night, secure in the knowledge that the world had one less problem on our hands if the jury puts him to death for his (purported) participation in the events surrounding 9/11. But to do so would make us no better than those who have oppressed millions under similar fictions, just in recent history.
We must not let our own fears drive us to be that which we claim to fear. To do so will deprive us of the high moral ground that we so often retreat to, especially when we're waving our flag.
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