9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed appears in court for first time since COVID-19 shut case down

[Valin]

The Washington Examiner

Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter

September 07, 2021

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will likely appear in court in the death penalty case’s pretrial proceedings for the first time since February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic largely shut down the specialized island war court operations in Guantanamo Bay.

In the two decades since 19 al Qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center buildings, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people, the five men believed to be responsible for the planning and execution of the plot have yet to stand trial . The key question of whether confessions obtained by the FBI after their CIA custody should be admissible remains unresolved.

Khalid Sheikh 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 Osama bin Laden and was repeatedly waterboarded during numerous sessions while in U.S. custody. Mohammed is being tried alongside four co-defendants: his nephew, Ammar Baluchi, who sent money transfers to 9/11 hijackers inside the United States; alleged hijacking trainer Walid bin Attash; 9/11 facilitator Ramzi bin Shibh; and al Qaeda money man Mustafa Hawsawi.

The defense teams are seeking to throw out confessions that the five men made to FBI "clean teams" at Guantanamo Bay after they had been subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques," considered torture by many, at the CIA black sites. The 9/11 pretrial hearings were paused in February of last year as the prosecutors and defense teams battled over a variety of legal issues and took testimony related from those involved in interrogating the accused plotters, including multiple days of testimony  by two of the three men known to have waterboarded Mohammed. The judge must rule on whether confessions  made to the FBI will be admissible.

(Snip)

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Why hasn't this question been answered many many many years ago.

[Geee]

11 minutes ago, Valin said:

Why hasn't this question been answered many many many years ago.

Each administration has been playing musical chairs to see who might the one to have to face the music if it should all go wrong. 

[Valin]

12 minutes ago, Geee said:

Each administration has been playing musical chairs to see who might the one to have to face the music if it should all go wrong. 

 

If you have Very Good Lawyers (and the DOJ Should) and good strong *Evidence, it shouldn't Go Wrong.

* For the record Nothing Done to get this evidence (despite What The NY Times (a former newspaper) says.

[Geee]

34 minutes ago, Valin said:

 

If you have Very Good Lawyers (and the DOJ Should) and good strong *Evidence, it shouldn't Go Wrong.

* For the record Nothing Done to get this evidence (despite What The NY Times (a former newspaper) says.

🙏 - but have we not been shocked before?? 

[Valin]

3 hours ago, Geee said:

🙏 - but have we not been shocked before?? 

 

For many of us Shocked is the new normal. At least once a day, I'll read a story and say WTH!