Moussaoui's Admission: He Was to Hijack 5th Plane

[Vince278]

Originally posted by DaShi
I doubt you can trust anything he says. Wasn't Al Qaeda trying to separate themselves from him because he was too unstable?

How bad do you have to be to be considered unstable by Al Qaeda?

If he wants to be a martyr, tough. I say he should get life in a federal prison with a 350 pound angry New Yorker as a roommate.

[techumseh]

They're going to execute him. That's why they needed the "confession".

[ajbera]

Moussaoui and Reid were such f*ckups they probably would have managed to crash into one of the other hijacked planes had they been able to hijack one themselves.

Y'know, that would be an interesting idea for a film. Now that we're starting to see films dealing with 9/11, a nice black comedy dealing with the Stooges of Al Queda could be a hoot.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by techumseh
Why would Moussaoui admit to such an unlikely scenario, when the result would only mean a clear conviction and an inevitable death sentence? Remember, until this last minute confession, the US prosecution was seeking his execution based only of his knowledge of the plot and failure to disclose it to the authorities. Far better, far cleaner to persuade people that he was an actual highjacker that had been foiled.

Um.. isn't it quite obvious as to why he'd confess without being tortured? Death would be easy compared to the abuse he'd get in an American prison. Secondly, he'd be remembered as a martyr.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Um.. isn't it quite obvious as to why he'd confess without being tortured? Death would be easy compared to the abuse he'd get in an American prison. Secondly, he'd be remembered as a martyr.

That is less plausible than the torture hypothesis, although they may have used those arguments to get the confession from him.

What's clear is that he admitted to something he didn't do and he did it at the last minute. You're a lawyer - why would his attorney put him on the stand at all, let alone have him implicate himself in something the prosecution wasn't even alleging during the trial? There's something not right about this, whether there was torture or not.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That is less plausible than the torture hypothesis

The loons are out.

[KrazyHorse]

techumseh

The loons are out.

[techumseh]

Excuse me, but which country employs torture on a widespread basis, against "terrorists"? The loons may be out, but the ostriches still have their heads in the sand.

Btw, you are both inclined to avoid taking the main argument head on and use little put downs as a lower risk alternative.

[Last Conformist]

If they wanted to kill him, they could've made him confess something less crazy.

[Arrian]

Actually, it appears to me that Imran already tried the high road. As usual with you, it did not pierce the loon bubble, so he gave up.

This dude is a nutbag who pretty clearly wants to die. I actually hope we disappoint him there.

-Arrian

[Odin]

Originally posted by notyoueither
The loons are out.

[Odin]

The f*cker wants to be a martyr. Just toss him in jail, the rest of the inmates will make is life a living hell.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by techumseh

Why would Moussaoui admit to such an unlikely scenario, when the result would only mean a clear conviction and an inevitable death sentence?

Given his past behaviour, and what other terrorists have said about him, he's probably just plain crazy. He would probably claim he killed Clinton and Bush if he was asked.

This is a different situation then say, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali,, who was just sentenced to 30 years in jail on terrorism charges based on a "confession" obtained by Saudi security forces, who of course never, ever torture people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/national/nationalspecial3/30terror.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[techumseh]

I want to repeat my question to Imran. I think it's a reasonable one:

What's clear is that he admitted to something he didn't do and he did it at the last minute. You're a lawyer - why would his attorney put him on the stand at all, let alone have him implicate himself in something the prosecution wasn't even alleging during the trial? There's something not right about this, whether there was torture or not*.

*Italics added for all the loon spotters out there.

[Arrian]

MacMahon also warned the jury that it cannot believe anything Moussaoui says, including his stunning admission in court that he was to have been a fifth pilot hijacker on Sept. 11. Moussaoui and his court-appointed attorneys have been at odds for years.

Moussaoui is trying to make himself look more important than he was, MacMahon said, and he suggested that Moussaoui may also be overstating his role to ensure a death sentence and obtain martyrdom through execution rather than spending the rest of his life in prison.

"He's trying to write a role for himself in history when, in reality, he's an al-Qaida hanger-on," MacMahon said.

MacMahon is the defense counsel, btw.

-Arrian