A terrorist’s fair deal

Editor’s Note: In the eyes of a compliant mainstream corporate media, this latest US military court settlement coming out of the Gitmo gulag looks “fair”. Consensus reality merchants may all all turn to look at each other and nod in agreement, “Yes, it’s a very fair deal for a terrorist”. Now imagine the US has declared domestic Marshall Law and these same military courts have become the de facto law of the land, and it’s you or your family member in the dock with domestic terror charges hanging around their neck. This ‘fair deal’ means you are guilty until proven innocent, tortured during time served, you will wait 9 years for your trial, no jury is allowed, and in the end, you are forced to plea bargain in order to avoid a life sentence. According to the US watchdog press, this would constitute a “fair deal” in the 21st century. Any Americans who support Kangaroo military courts are simply endorsing their use in America in the near future. Those who do, should not complain when they become a reality within our shores. They are simply the farthest thing away from what our forefathers dreamed of for this once great nation.

Washington Post
March 5, 2012

MAJID KHAN, a 32-year-old former Baltimore resident, admits that he volunteered to work for al-Qaeda and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He acknowledges funneling $50,000 to operatives who used the money for a deadly bomb attack in Indonesia. And he told a military court last week that he had plotted with Mr. Mohammed to blow up gas stations in the United States.

Military prosecutors at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Mr. Khan has been imprisoned, now have secured a fair but appropriately tough plea deal that should smooth the way for a military trial of the alleged 9/11 perpetrators.

Mr. Khan, who has been in U.S. custody since 2003, pleaded guilty to five counts of violating laws of war, including murder and attempted murder; if convicted at trial, he could have faced life behind bars. The plea calls for Mr. Khan to remain incarcerated for no more than an additional 19 years as of the date of the plea bargain, but only if he testifies truthfully against other high-value detainees, including, most likely, Mr. Mohammed. He could face 25 more years behind bars if he does not hold up his end of the bargain.

In securing the guilty plea, prosecutors drove an appropriately tough bargain. Mr. Khan cannot seek credit for the years he has already served at Guantanamo. He cannot sue the government or challenge his conviction because of alleged torture. As Mr. Khan acknowledged in a military hearing last week, he can be detained as an enemy combatant after he completes his criminal sentence if the government decrees it is warranted, though the government (also appropriately) recognizes Mr. Khan’s right to challenge such an indefinite detention in a federal court.

Read full report here

This article was posted: Monday, March 5, 2012 at 9:51 am

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