A recent attempt by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to dismiss legal settlements for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants implicated in the harrowing 9/11 attacks was rebuffed by a U.S. military appeals court, an American official revealed. Could it be that Austin is too lenient or just soft-hearted towards those who have caused tremendous pain and suffering to this nation?
The original plea agreements were designed to see the three men plead guilty to their roles in the devastating 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks, in turn, escaping potential death sentences—a rather questionable moral trade-off. These attacks, amongst the most lethal in our nation’s history, took almost 3,000 innocent lives.
The very attacks that led to the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq under the ‘war on terror’ banner, championed by then-President George W. Bush, were carried out by these individuals. The plea agreements seem to gloss over the magnitude of the impact they’ve had on history and our national psyche.
Late into Monday night, the military appeals court finally issued its verdict. After two years of state-sanctioned discussions, military prosecutors and defense attorneys for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the supposed architect of the attacks, and his co-defendants, saw the plea deals publicly revealed last summer.
Some see these plea agreements as a convenient way to resolve the drawn-out and legally complex proceedings against the defendants at the U.S. military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, one could argue that this perspective seems to prioritize ease over serving justice.
The pretrial trials for Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi have been extending for over a decade. The proceedings have mainly focused on the influence of the accused’s treatment during their early CIA detention, impacting the integrity and eligibility of evidence in the case itself.
Days following the announcement of the plea agreements, an order to nullify the deals was released by Austin. Astonishingly, Austin claimed that the final authority over any plea agreements, effectively vetoing the possibility of execution for the defendants, should lie with him. It’s a misguided stance that reflects the current leadership’s misplaced priorities.
Defense attorneys argued back stating that the Defense Secretary was legally incapable of overriding an already approved decision from the highest Guantanamo court authority. A valid question arises here about the ethical lunacy to consider negating justice for such heinous crimes.
Interestingly, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, the judge presiding over the 9/11 case, declared Austin without the power to dismantle plea agreements already under process. A testament to Austin’s overreach and bold maneuver that was rightfully checked.
The denial led the Defense Department into launching an appeal to the military court. These actions were eerily silent on the gravity of the offences, striking yet again on the administration’s soft stance towards serious threats.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced the return of Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi, one of Guantanamo Bay’s longest-held detainees, to Tunisia. He was green lit for transfer by U.S. authorities over a decade ago, making the detainee population drop to 26 from nearly 700 men at its summit following the 9/11 attacks.
The Defense Department commented that ‘Today, 26 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board, seven are involved in the military commissions process, two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.’
All this happens while Austin tries to override the system to nullify plea agreements. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Austin escalating his attempts to annul the deals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; yet another illustration of how out of touch our leadership seems to be with the pursuit of justice.
In conclusion, these maneuvers expose a worrying tendency in our defense leadership. Acting in ways that seem to downplay the gravity of heinous crimes like the 9/11 attacks serves no one but those who seek to harm us.