"America, you lost. I won."

[duckman]

hxxp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/moussaoui;_ylt=Ao3tebf_2x2vyVpBV7V73M2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ

Moussaoui Gets Life for Role in Sept. 11
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN and MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writers
19 minutes ago

Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui escaped the death penalty Wednesday as a jury decided he deserved life in prison instead for his role in the bloodiest terrorist attack in U.S. history. "America, you lost," Moussaoui taunted.

After seven days of deliberation, the nine men and three women rebuffed the government's appeal for death for the only person charged in this country in the four suicide jetliner hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

Three jurors said Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot, and three described his role in the attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.

Moussaoui, as he was led from the courtroom after the 15-minute hearing, said: "America, you lost. ... I won." He clapped his hands as he was escorted away.

Some victims' families said he got what he deserved.

Carie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque, died on hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center, said her mom didn't believe in the death penalty and would have been glad Moussaoui was sentenced to life. "This man was an al-Qaida wannabe who could never put together the 9/11 attacks," Lemack said. "He's a wannabe who deserves to rot in jail."

Rosemary Dillard, whose husband Eddie died in the attacks, said of Moussaoui: "He's a bad man, but we have a fair society." She said of terrorists: "We will treat them with respect no matter what they do to us."

From the White House, President Bush said the verdict "represents the end of this case but not an end to the fight against terror."

The verdict came after four years of legal maneuvering and a six-week trial that put jurors on an emotional roller coaster and gave the 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent a platform to needle Americans and mock the pain of the victims' families.

Judge Leonie Brinkema was to hand down the life sentence Thursday morning, bound by the jury's verdict. Offering assurance to the losing side, she told prosecutors: "The government always wins when justice is done." Moussaoui smiled at that.

Prosecuting attorney Paul McNulty told reporters: "The jury has spoken and we respect and accept that verdict."

The jury did not reach the unanimity required for a death sentence against the man who claimed a direct role in the Sept. 11 attacks even though he was in jail at the time on immigration charges.

During the trial, no one contested the contention that Moussaoui came to the United States intending to do harm and that he received flight training toward that goal. But his lawyers contended he was an al-Qaida outcast who was not trusted with the knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot.

Outside the courthouse, defense attorney Gerald Zerkin said of the jurors: "It was obvious that they thought his role in 9/11 was not very great and that played a significant role in their decision."

The jurors agreed unanimously Moussaoui "knowingly created a grave risk of death" for more than the intended victims of Sept. 11 and committed his acts with "substantial planning" — accepting two of the aggravating factors necessary for a death sentence.

But they did not give sufficient weight to those findings to reach a death sentence, balancing them against mitigating factors offered by the defense. No jurors, however, accepted defense arguments that Moussaoui was mentally ill or that he wished to be executed to achieve the radical Islamic vision of martyrdom.

When the verdict was announced, Moussaoui showed no visible reaction and sat slouched in his chair, refusing to stand with his defense team. He had declined to cooperate with his court-appointed lawyers throughout the trial.

When the jurors came into the room, a couple of them looked directly at Moussaoui but most did not, looking at the judge instead. They all wore sober expressions. One dark-haired young man shook his head no before the verdict was read.

When the judge asked the jurors if their verdict was the same on all three counts, the forewoman, a high school math teacher, was joined by several other jurors in answering, "Yes."

The verdict was received with silence in the packed courtroom, where one row was lined with victims' families.

The jurors were divided on the 23 mitigating factors in the case, from whether the defendant's role in the Sept. 11 attacks was only minor — three said his role "if any" was minor — and whether the Moroccan was subject to racism as a child — three said he was.

The closest the jurors came to unanimity in finding mitigating factors was on two questions. Nine found that Moussaoui's father had a violent temper and physically and emotionally abused his family. Nine also found that his unstable early childhood and dysfunctional family resulted in his leaving home.

In their successful defense of Moussaoui, his lawyers revealed new levels of pre-attack bungling of intelligence by the FBI and other government agencies. By the trial's end, the defense team was portraying its uncooperative client as a delusional schizophrenic. They argued he took the witness stand to confess a role in Sept. 11 that he never had — all to achieve martyrdom through execution or for recognition in history.

They overcame the impact of two dramatic appearances by Moussaoui himself — first to renounce his four years of denying any involvement in the attacks and then to gloat over the pain of those who lost loved ones.

Using evidence gathered in the largest investigation in U.S. history, prosecutors achieved a preliminary victory last month when the jury ruled Moussaoui's lies to federal agents a month before the attacks made him eligible for the death penalty because they kept agents from discovering some of the hijackers.

But even with heart-rending testimony from nearly four dozen victims and their relatives — testimony that forced some jurors to wipe their eyes — the jury was not convinced that Moussaoui, who was in jail on Sept. 11, deserved to die.

The case broke new ground in the understanding of Sept. 11 — releasing to the public the first transcript and playing in court the cockpit tape of United 93's last half hour. The tape captured the sounds of terrorists hijacking the aircraft over Pennsylvania and passengers trying to retake the jet until it crashed in a field.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you guys think? Was it a fair sentence?

Personally, I think the bastard got what he deserves and I hope he likes rotting in a cell for the rest of his sorry existence.

[Dutch]

I hope he gets what he deserves in prison. The punishment is just fine with me. May he rot in hell.

[SirFozzie]

What do you guys think? Was it a fair sentence?

Personally, I think the bastard got what he deserves and I hope he likes rotting in a cell for the rest of his sorry existence.

Agreed, plus it denies him being a martyr.

[terpkristin]

I don't believe in the death penalty, so this is fine by me. But in this case, I think it's actually more appropriate for him NOT to be put to death. I mean, he did what he did on at least some level because he thought he'd be a martyr, no? Suicide bombers (and similar) usually at least have some motive to the effect that they will be welcomed into the afterlife because they gave themselves up for the cause against the evil they're fighting. So to kill him "early" would almost be too kind, I'd think.

I don't really mean this to be a post about death penalty pros/cons. Just my opinion.

/tk

[albionmoonlight]

And had we sentenced him to death, he would be bragging about how we lost and he won because we gave him the martyrdom he wanted. It was a no-win situation.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Dutch

I hope he gets what he deserves in prison.

If you mean ass raped by Bubba, it won't happen. He'll get to sit in a room alone for 23 hours and only let out for one hour of exercise. If we're lucky, someone might shank him in the prison courtyard.

[terpkristin]

Darnit, Fozzie beat me to the martyrdom bit.

/tk

[albionmoonlight]

dola--SF and tk beat me to it.

[sabotai]

Whatever keeps him from his 72 virgins.

[SirFozzie]

Hell, it may not be politically or religously correct, but when this dude dies of old age in 2060 or whenever... cover him in pig skin when he dies. Wrap the dude up like a giant football...

[illinifan999]

Why wait till he dies?

[duckman]

I say we offer him only pork products for food just for giggles.

[Deattribution]

I say we ask him in oh about 15 years who 'won'.

[ISiddiqui]

I say we just treat him like another prisoner. Give him absolutely nothing to be able to claim martyrdom status. He's just another scumbag and nothing special. That'd probably be a greater punishment for him than getting killed by some Christian on the prison yard or wrapped in pork or whatever.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by duckman

If you mean ass raped by Bubba, it won't happen. He'll get to sit in a room alone for 23 hours and only let out for one hour of exercise. If we're lucky, someone might shank him in the prison courtyard.

Actually 23 hours a day in a room with nobody to talk to is a pretty solid life sentence for this assclown. May he live just long enough to die of misery.

[Young Drachma]

We gave that guy too much attention.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

We gave that guy too much attention.

As far as that guy's vantage point is concerned, that's about to change dramatically.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

... That'd probably be a greater punishment for him than getting killed by some Christian on the prison yard or wrapped in pork or whatever.

I don't think the pool of prisonfolk willing to shank him on the yard would be limited to Christians. Pretty much anyone alive on September 11th, would be eligible. Heck a guard might see to it. I too hope he gets a life of relative annonymity in prison, but I certainly won't shed a tear if someone figures out a way to slice his liver in two.

[Karlifornia]

I can't say I'm jealous of the guy's sentence. I agree with whoever said "We'll see who won in 15 years"

[MrBigglesworth]

I'm anti-Bush, so I'm upset that this revolutionary is in jail, I think we should just apologize to him and send him home.

[Logan]

How long does it take for someone subjected to that Chinese Water Torture thing to die?

[stevew]

Somehow I think this dude is a lot more minor than he gives himself credit for. It's almost like he was set up by his own people to be caught, as sort of a cautionary tale for what would happen to you if you weren't devout. I fear for every fruitcake like this that they have caught that there will be 20 more, lying dormat till the time is right.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Logan

How long does it take for someone subjected to that Chinese Water Torture thing to die?

The rest of his Life?

[Joe]

we should infect him with cancer

[molson]

Originally Posted by stevew

Somehow I think this dude is a lot more minor than he gives himself credit for. It's almost like he was set up by his own people to be caught, as sort of a cautionary tale for what would happen to you if you weren't devout. I fear for every fruitcake like this that they have caught that there will be 20 more, lying dormat till the time is right.

I tend to agree with this. I get the the feeling that they're laughing at us because THIS is the guy we caught.

I wonder what he'll be like in 30 years....With no exposure to whatever forces it is that brainwashed him, maybe he'll feel guilt at some point.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by MrBigglesworth

I'm anti-Bush, so I'm upset that this revolutionary is in jail, I think we should just apologize to him and send him home.

Last time I checked, this was not a political thread. Go away.

[flere-imsaho]

Agree with most of the sentiments here. Not granting the death penalty avoids costly appeals and further publicity, as well as keeping him from becoming a martyr.

Originally Posted by Logan

How long does it take for someone subjected to that Chinese Water Torture thing to die?

I don't believe the point of that form of torture is to kill someone, but rather to make them go insane.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Agree with most of the sentiments here. Not granting the death penalty avoids costly appeals and further publicity, as well as keeping him from becoming a martyr.



I don't believe the point of that form of torture is to kill someone, but rather to make them go insane.

Yeah...insanity first, followed by eventual drowning.

[Mac Howard]

One of my arguments against the death penalty is that a lifetime in gaol is the greater punishment. Just see that he "excercises" for an hour every day amongst the other prisoners

[stevew]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Hell, it may not be politically or religously correct, but when this dude dies of old age in 2060 or whenever... cover him in pig skin when he dies. Wrap the dude up like a giant football...

I don't think we are willing to do what it takes to win, we wouldn't have the balls to do something like that.

[Suburban Rhythm]

While I can argue either way for life or execution, what bothers me most is the reasoning used by the jurors.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060504/...e_us/moussaoui

Nine jurors found that Moussaoui suffered a difficult childhood in a dysfunctional family where he spent many of his early years in and out of orphanages.

I am pretty sure I wanted a sweet new Huffy when I was 7 that I didn't get, but I didn't plot flying a plan into a building to recover from it.

[duckman]

I like what the judge said to him before sentencing: "You will die with a whimper."

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

he did what he did on at least some level because he thought he'd be a martyr, no?

Except this guy did not really DO anything that harmed anyone.

He wanted to be a terrorist, but frankly, was too stupid to be a good one.

[ChiMatt]

Exactly, who cares what this guy says? He's just plain crazy.

The real people that planned this and were caught, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, should be on trial here not this clown.