9-11 Defendants Want to Plead…

In a sudden change of pace, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators in the attacks of 9-11 wish to plead guilty at a pre-trial hearing.

That by itself was enough to start me to wonderin’…. but wait – there’s more….

Mr Mohammed said he would postpone entering his plea until an investigation into the mental state of two of his co-defendants was complete.

I wonder what the standard for competent is in this case…

The five men face death sentences if convicted of roles in the 2001 attacks.

Ok, so if they plead guilty, they’re not mentally competent.

For the first time, nine relatives of the 9/11 victims were flown to Cuba by the US military to watch Monday’s pre-trial hearing.

Strike Two.

The five said they had made their decision “without being under any kind of pressure, threat, intimidations or promise from any party.”

And they said it in unison, in a deadpan tone.  Strike three.

When asked by the judge if he was prepared to enter a plea of guilty to all the charges should he be allowed to, Mr Mohammed said “yes”.

“We don’t want to waste time,” he added, according to the AFP news agency.

You have to hand it to these alleged terrorists: they certainly are considerate of our legal system.  Maybe they’re trying to make use believe they’re just really nice guys instead of terrorists.

“We want everyone to plead together,” he said.

More courtesy and consideration for the legal system and the families of the victims.  If only Dick Cheney and George Bush had this degree of consideration…

At a previous hearing in June, when told he faced the death penalty, Mr Mohammed said he had been looking to “be a martyr for long time”.

Yup – he’s not competent to stand trial.

Mr Mohammed was held at a CIA secret prison, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and a practice known as “waterboarding”, which simulates drowning, until he was moved to Guantanamo Bay two years ago.

… where they favored attaching electrodes to his testicles and burning him with lit cigarettes.

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck, ok?

The death penalty is much too good for the perpetrators of this nightmare.  Unfortunately they need to go a few rungs higher on the ladder.  They will be easier to run through the legal system after they leave office in January…..