The Department of Defense announced on Wednesday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, identified as the architect behind the fatal al-Qaida attacks on September 11, 2001, has consented to admit guilt. This acceptance presents a potential resolution to an investigation that has been prolonged for almost two decades, following an event that altered the trajectory not only of the United States but much of the Middle East, and claimed the lives of thousands.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, together with his two alleged associates, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are anticipated to declare their guilt at the military tribunal situated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as early as the forthcoming week. The defense team has suggested these individuals receive life sentences as a reciprocal agreement for their guilty admissions, as detailed in the correspondence shared with the kin of close to 3,000 victims who perished during the September 11 attacks.
The agreement between the prisoners and the U.S. comes over 16 years following their initial accusations for their involvement in the al-Qaida-led operation. The resolution further comes two decades after radical militants captured four commercial airplanes to serve as weaponized fuel-filled projectiles, directing three of them towards the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
The fourth hijacked airplane, commandeered by al-Qaida operatives, was directed towards Washington. However, a brave attempt by passengers and crew to seize control of the cockpit drove the plane to a crash landing in a field in Pennsylvania. This act set off what later was termed by the administration of President George W. Bush as the ‘war on terror’, leading to U.S. military intrusions in Afghanistan and Iraq and lengthy U.S. operations against radical extremist groups in other parts of the Middle East.
The retaliatory actions of the United States after the attack resulted in the dethroning of two governments, devastation of communities and nations stuck in the ensuing conflict. These actions also indirectly encouraged the popular 2011 Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian governments in the Middle East. Back in the United States, the attacks ignited a significant shift towards a more rugged militaristic and nationalist bent in American society and culture.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as per claims by U.S. officials, is considered to have conceived the idea of utilizing airplanes as destructive weapons. He purportedly gained consent from the al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden, to scheme what would transpire as the 9/11 hijackings and resultant killings. U.S. personnel executed Osama bin Laden in 2011, and they apprehended Mohammed two years earlier, in 2003.
While under CIA custody, Mohammed underwent waterboarding 183 times and was subjected to other forms of torture and forceful questioning. Ironically, the use of torture has created a significant hurdle in U.S. efforts to try these men before the military tribunal at Guantanamo, because of the prohibition of evidence associated with torture. Obstacles such as these, combined with the remote location of the courtroom, have delayed proceedings.
Daphne Eviatar, one of the directors at Amnesty International USA, welcomed the recent developments in hopes of some level of accountability for the attacks. In addition, she called upon the Biden administration to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which still houses individuals seized during the so-called ‘war on terror’. Some of these individuals have been cleared, but are still awaiting the bureaucratic green light to transfer to other countries.
Eviatar added that ‘the Biden administration must also take all necessary measures to ensure that a program of state-sanctioned enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment will never be perpetrated by the United States again.’ On hearing news of the plea agreement, Strada, the national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, expressed relief that the guilty parties were prepared to admit their guilt.
Yet, from her perspective, the plea agreement means that justice is still far from being served. ‘For me personally, I wanted to see a trial,’ she shared. ‘And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment.’
Michael Burke, one of the numerous family members who received the notification of the plea deal from the government, condemned the sluggish pace of justice and the current outcome. Burke’s brother, Fire Captain Billy Burke perished in the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center; for him, the delay and the future sentences of the defendants felt unsatisfactory.
He compared the long-drawn-out proceedings of these trials to the much more efficient Nuremberg trials, which took ‘months or a year’. Hence, he found it both disgraceful and puzzling that, over two decades later, the perpetrators had not been convicted and sentenced for their heinous crimes.
Drawing a grim picture of the prevailing sentiment, Burke said, ‘I think people would be shocked if you could go back in time and tell the people who just watched the towers go down, ‘Oh, hey, in 23 years, these guys who are responsible for this crime we just witnessed are going to be getting plea deals so they can avoid death and serve life in prison.’
Burke’s brother, Capt. Billy Burke of the New York City Fire Department, made the ultimate sacrifice on that fateful day. He ordered his crew to exit the North Tower but stayed behind on the 27th floor, accompanying two individuals who were unable to evacuate: a man confined to his wheelchair and the latter’s friend, as the elevators had ceased functioning.
Reflecting the lingering sentiment of many affected families after these longstanding proceedings, many still desire more than a simple admittance of guilt – expecting complete justice with a full trial and due punishment for the culprits. Yet, the perpetual delay in delivering justice and the current plea deal leaves a bitter aftertaste, hurting the sensitivities of those who had to endure the irrevocable loss inflicted by the events of September 11, 2001.
Despite the monumental impact of these terror attacks and the shockwaves sent through societies worldwide, the delayed legal proceedings and the consequential plea deals strike a mournful tone of disillusionment, leading many to question the efficacy of justice systems in dealing with terrorism. Yet, it opens a dialogue about the importance of swift justice and the unforgettable trauma sustained by countless lives affected by these acts of terror.