47 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 2 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: Garbage In Garbage Out

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   1 comment
Message David Cox

WASHINGTON: Senior Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has apparently confessed to masterminding the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States during a military hearing at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, US officials said on Thursday.

The suspect, known by his acronym as KSM, is considered to have been the terrorist network’s third in command behind Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

KSM was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and handed over to American authorities who say that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are still hiding in Pakistan’s tribal territory.

The Pentagon has released a transcript, which quotes KSM as confessing: “I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z.”

The Pentagon identified KSM as a Pakistani national and said that during a military hearing, he confessed to planning a string of other attacks, including the 1993 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, a nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, and a failed attempt to bring down US airplanes using shoe bombs.

In all, KSM said he helped plan at least 28 separate terrorist attacks, which killed several thousand people.

In a section of the statement that was blacked out, KSM also confessed to the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

The confession came in a statement he gave to a military hearing last Saturday at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The hearing was to determine whether KSM and 13 other prisoners meet US authorities’ definition of an enemy combatant, and can be kept in custody for another year. (From The Dawn, Pakistan)

I wonder if that section of the statement that was blacked out is the part where he screamed I’ll confess to anything you want if you’ll just take the electrodes off my genitals. This case is exactly to the point of the torture issue, when you do things in secret prisons behind closed doors and beyond prying eyes you get the results you want but the results are totally worthless. Like a game of Russian roulette the winner gets nothing he didn’t have already.

So is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a criminal mastermind? The Pakistani’s say so but of course when you offer cash bounty’s for Al Queda members your just as likely to get that man who lets his chickens run loose in your garden or that owes you money or once called your son stupid. Solzenitsyn commented in Soviet Russia if you lived in an apartment building it was important to get along with your neighbors. Or one of them might go to the KGB and tell them of the late night political meetings you were holding. Then as the agent was applying the electrodes to your genitals you could try to explain about the bitchy old woman down stairs but to no avail for these men want confessions not sad stories and would settle for no less.

It is entirely possible he is guilty of every charge but without a fair trial and with the use of torture the defendant has the benefit of the doubt. Under torture he would confess to making the Yankee’s lose the World Series to the Red Sox or that it was he that leaked Valerie Plame’s name to Robert Novak.

Hypothetically if he is not guilty and just some shlub picked up to take the fall then what of the real Al Queda number three? It would be so easy to subvert US counter intelligence by dumping phony Al Queda operatives all supplied by the Pakistani intelligence service. You remember the Pakistani intelligence service don’t you? The same people that brought you the Taliban and the same people who wired Mohamed Atta $10,000 the week before 9/11? You know the country where they think Osama Bin Laden hiding?

If however he is guilty and he knows he’s caught and the jig is up why not brag about your crime and make himself into a martyr? This is what Herman Goering did he denied nothing, “I was a soldier and I was at war” but again with torture if the suspect is too free or too willing to confess then what is he really hiding? Like a carpenter without a square an error of and inch going in is a foot and a half coming out and can never be corrected without completely starting over.

Suspects supplied by sources that are waiting for payment who’s own motives and loyalties are themselves suspect. Our if we were to put it in a mathematical form lets call Pakistani intelligence M for Moe then add US military intelligence which we will call L for Larry then add the Bush administration which we will call C for Curley. Now class, please work this equation and tell us what is the probability of success? M+L+C=?

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

David Cox Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

I was born and raised in Chicago in a liberal Democratic home my Grandfather was a labor union organizer my Father a Democratic district committeeman my Mother was an election judge. My earliest memories were of passing out Kennedy yard signs from (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Fair Tax: The Mother of All Dumb Ideas

Baby Boom Gone Bust

I Know ! Let's Rape Grandma!

Masjid Al Hedaya and the American Dream

My Last Day of Work

The Flat Tax is Flat Stupid

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend