Moussaoui Gets Life

[Alex]

So far as I understand without his confession the feds didn't have much to go with. Though they could certainly prove that he approved of what happened on 9/11 and would like to participate in future 9/11s.

[innerSpaceman]

If by that it's meant they could "prove" it because he said so, then they can also "prove" I'd like to kill George Bush with my own hands. 'Cause I would. And I say so.

Should I expect life in prison for this thought of mine, or will execution be the proper punishment for my wayward mind?

[Alex]

Well, if someone actually did kill Bush and then you said "I participated in the planning of that" you'd probably find yourself in some trouble.

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, I would hope they'd need more than my word for it ... especially if I exhibited plenty of other signs of being a delusional maniac.


Sheesh.

[Alex]

I agree. But if you're willing to stand in front of a judge and plead guilty to having done it then you'll probably end up convicted a fair amount of the time, especially if you were actually a part of the group that killed the president and part of discussions to kill the next president, and applauded the group that actually killed the president.

His hands are hardly clean, they're just not (in my opinion, a lot of people disagree) quite as dirty as he and the government say.

[innerSpaceman]

And just how, I wonder, did they prove he was a "member" of al Queda? Did he know the secret handshake?


I'm honestly curious to know what the actual evidence was, beyond his confession, if there was any. I tried paying attention to the trial in the press, but I read no mention of this aspect of the case.

[Alex]

Well, Moussaoui wasn't just some weirdo that popped up after 9/11. Keep in mind that he was already in jail on 9/11 resulting from suspicious activities at an American flight school. He'd been under surveillance by French intelligence since the mid-90s because of his radical activities. He was a previous associate of Richard Reid (the shoe bomber) and had lived in Indonesia in a house owned by a member of al Qaeda which is a home where several of the actual 9/11 hijackers had stayed for a while on their way to America.

He was wired the money from flight school from an al Qaeda financier (since captured and in U.S. custody). That same person told the Feds that he had met with Moussaoui to plan operations but ultimately it was decided not to use him for 9/11.

I don't think anybody seriously doubts the connection between Moussaoui and al Qaeda, just the connection between Moussaoui and 9/11 specifically.

[innerSpaceman]

cool beans. thanks. I still think he got a raw deal.


Nothing compared to Sammy Alarian, though.

[Not Afraid]

Moussaoui Gets A Life

[scaeagles]

Interesting new development.

Moussaoui wants a new trial

He wants to repeal his guilty plea and now claims he was not at all involved with 9/11 and in fact lied about it on the stand.

"Moussaoui wishes to withdraw his guilty plea because when he entered the plea his 'understanding of the American legal system was completely flawed'," his lawyers said in the motion.