U.S. Moves To Bring Accused 9/11 Plotters To Trial

Evidence is assembled from secret files

Source: iht.com

By David Johnston and Neil A. Lewis
Published: January 12, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration has set up a secret war room where it is assembling evidence to prosecute high-ranking Qaeda suspects, including the accused mastermind of the September 2001 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, government officials said this week.

The effort to sift the classified files of the Pentagon, FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies amounts to the first concrete steps that the government has taken to press ahead with war crimes trials of high-level terror suspects under a plan announced by President George W. Bush in a speech last September.

At the time, Bush said that Mohammed and 13 other high-level terror suspects had been transferred from secret prisons around the world to the military detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where they would be held pending trial.

The preparation of cases against the high-value operatives appears to rebut many who doubted that Qaeda suspects like Mohammed would ever be brought to trial. Critics in Congress and human rights groups had asserted that such trials would not be feasible because they would expose harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA.

Prosecutors for the Qaeda defendants will feature a mix of military and civilian personnel. Some officials said that no decision had been made about who would lead each prosecution, but others said that the trial of Mohammed would probably be undertaken principally by Justice Department lawyers, who would run the prosecution in a military courtroom in Guantánamo.

Mohammed, whose role in the Sept. 11 attacks would make him the centerpiece of the government's effort to bring terrorists to justice in a court of law, could be held responsible for about 3,000 deaths in the attacks, officials have said.

The prosecution of high-value detainees is separate from the long- planned trials of lower-level Qaeda figures, some of whom have been at Guantánamo since 2002 and who are expected to be tried before the more important terrorist suspects.

However, both high- and low-level suspects will be tried under the same rules, which are contained in legislation approved in October.

Officials said that they hoped to bring the first charges against leaders of Al Qaeda this summer or fall and that trials could get under way in early 2008. The current plans are to use the new trial procedures first against some of the lesser Guantánamo defendants as kind of a test run beginning this summer.

Those trials would involve some of the detainees who had already been charged under the previous system of military commissions that was struck down by the Supreme Court.

The initial trials of detainees held at Guantánamo will not carry the possibility of a death penalty. But officials said that they expect to seek to have some of the senior Qaeda officials executed if they are convicted.

A team of lawyers from the Justice and Defense departments, along with civilian and military investigators, has begun poring over intelligence files and interrogation reports about Mohammed's role in the Sept. 11 attacks and other potentially prosecutable crimes, like the killing of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and other terror plots.

According to the final report of the independent commission that investigated the 2001 attacks, Mohammed acknowledged under interrogation that he was a major planner of the Sept. 11 plot. The report said that Mohammed first proposed the airliner attacks to Osama bin Laden and supervised the core group responsible for the hijackings.

Other prosecutions, like the cases related to the attack in 2000 on the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors, are likely to be led by military lawyers. In preparation for the trials, the Justice Department has been quietly recruiting lawyers from the ranks of experienced terrorism prosecutors, mainly in New York and Virginia.

The new war crimes trials will operate according to rules modeled after the military justice system that were approved in legislation known at the Military Commission Act, which was signed into law last fall. The law has been criticized by some Democrats in Congress and members of human rights groups, who say that the procedures are flawed because they favor the government.

Prosecutors could use hearsay evidence or secondhand testimony, but could not use information obtained under torture. Even so, that would mean that virtually any information obtained by the CIA would appear to be admissible because, in the view of Justice Department legal opinions, none of the harsh techniques it used amounted to torture.

At their trials, the accused would have the right not to testify and would have the opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses against them. The trials would be open unless a military judge determined that they should be closed to protect classified information. Defendants would have the right to review the evidence to be used against them.

Let the farce begin

This is going to be a goddamn farce:

"The new war crimes trials will operate according to rules modeled after the military justice system that were approved in legislation known at the Military Commission Act.... Prosecutors could use hearsay evidence or secondhand testimony, but could not use information obtained under torture. Even so, that would mean that virtually any information obtained by the CIA would appear to be admissible because, in the view of Justice Department legal opinions, none of the harsh techniques it used amounted to torture."

Of course, Cheney already admitted they tortured KSM.

Looks like the October Surprise for 2008 is already in the works.

CAN DEFENDANT PRESENT 911 TRUTH EVIDENCE AT TRAIL?

CAN DEFENDANT PRESENT 911 TRUTH EVIDENCE AT TRAIL?

i.e. Can he bring evidence of controlled demolition, stand down, etc. at trial to prclaim his innocence?

Not likely

I really doubt it. With so much on the line, the elites will leave nothing to chance. Just look at the Hussein "trial".

This show trial is going to be controlled by the military. It's clear from the story above that the Military Commissions Act was designed specifically for this trial and to help Bush Co. avoid being tried as war criminals.

If the military lawyers can use "hearsay" and evidence gathered under torture, they are effectively using the interrogation reports that informed the 9/11 Commission Report as actual evidence, even though the FBI has admitted the evidence it has against the 19 accused and OBL would NOT stand up in a real court of law.

Let's find a public way to press for this

Given appropriate efforts, it might well be possible to force this issue.

SO HIS TRIAL....

SO HIS TRIAL.... ....Will be about as fair as Galileo's trial.

I agree

I think 9/11 coverup was a, if not the, main purpose of the Military Commissions Act. Moussaoui was convicted on this kind of evidence, but the Supreme Court might have eventually overruled the Fourth Circuit.

Fantastic idea! The defense should play "Loose Change" at the

trial!

TRUTH EVIDENCE AT TRIAL ?

Im sure most of these "terrorists"that are being held at guantanamo have gone from the battle field long ago...(before 9/11 truth was anything)....strait to solitary confinement..and are therefore unaware that 80% of Americans (and the civilized world) support a new investigation into 9/11.

Maybe the lawyers (appointed to defend them by our military)....ahemm.. cough........ will clue them in....NOT

ON THE OTHER HAND..

If Khalid Shiek Mohammed is the great Mastermind genius clubberment say he is...maybe he's got it figured out!

You dont even have to be a genius to know that buildings dont fall as fast as gravity...without explosives

http://www.911blimp.net/prf_FreeFallPhysics.shtml

WoW

Leaves you slack-jawed, don't it?

MikeJr

Yep

I must admit my naivete. I can't believe this is happening here and now. It's events like this that place my entire state education in bold relief.

Exactly! A blatant kangaroo court for the whole world to see!

!

But you have to admit...

This could become an opportunity. Get our legal minds working on this one. Any lawyers reading this? How can we break this one open?

Obviously, those in charge will resist, to say the least. Let them. Devise a strategy that overtakes that, a strategy that takes into account what they wiil do, before they do it.

Start by pressuring Congress

Bush would veto repeal of the Military Commissions Act, but it would send a message to the Supreme Court. This is my personal opinion and not intended as legal advice.

Tell your Congressman why----you want an open public trial of the 9/11 suspects.

Any prosecution in a real court would likely be brought in Virginia in the Fourth Circuit, which allowed written "testimony" without cross-examination in the Moussaoui case that other courts might not have allowed.
The defense might be given more leeway to introduce other evidence in a real court.

It not impossible that KSM would cop to planting explosives in the towers. Bush hinted at him saying that a few months ago. Who knows who KSM really is or was, and whether the KSM on trial will really be executed, or will released after his execution is staged. I put nothing past these people anymore. I know this sounds ridiculous, and I hope that the credulity of the American people has increased since 9/11.

It is clearly Bush & his henchmen who should be put on trial!

And I hope that day comes soon!

Cut the rotten branches, then the leaves will follow.

We can't reach those rotten leaves anymore, and many branches are rotting inside in places also. There is now danger to anyone walking under the branches of that tree.

By only removing some rotten leaves (as is often done by the tree itself), the infection will grow large again.

Cut the rotten branches, then the leaves will follow.

Within a few years there will be new, healthy sprouts.

(* human society is more complex than this little fable, but it still serves a point)

Aren't secret trials, torture, secret evidence obtained through

torture, phony hearsay evidence, etc., all the things our forefathers gave their lives to abolish???

that, and delayed and secret trials

Amendment VI - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Not to take away from our forefathers, but a lot of these ideas long precede the American Revolution in English law.

I heard somewhere...

... that they're building a media centre at Gitmo. If we get reports, transcripts, etc. that would be great - lots of new evidence to use against the 9/11 Commission. For example, just say KSM admits he attended the Malaysia meeting, or that Saeed Sheikh provided some money for the plot...

Not even a show trial

Because it will be secret, so nothing to "show."

Then he will be executed. Then all the unanswered questions will be buried with him. Like with McVeigh.

But but did he say he did it? Did he tell you how? Did he tell you how he beat the U.S. Air Force, the CIA, the FBI, and the entire multi-billion-dollar U.S: military-intelligence with just a few lap-dance-loving whiskey-swilling box-cutter-carrying Arabs that disappear from flight manifests but leave their passports (at least the ringleader's) on top of the pile of steel and concrete rubble they made disintegrate into thin air?

Why shore, he did, but a course we caint tell ya. That's top secret. Might give other terrorists some hints.

But but sir, you're so incredibly incompetent that it would hardly make any difference at all what else the terrorists know. It is impossible to do a worse job protecting the country than you have done. How about just satisfying our curiosity, just so we can feel you are not crooks, liars, thieves, and mass-murdering monsters. Wouldn't it be nice to restore a little faith?

Naw. Everbody'll ferget in a few days.

secrecy

why is the "evidence" so secret anyway? According to the official li(n)e, it wasn't high-tech codes that were broken or anything, but merely BOXCUTTERS used in an "oh-so-unimaginable-by-the-Bush-administration" way that all the trillions spent for the military were in vain to stop it.

So we'll never learn how the boxcutters were smuggled on the plane, not to assist future box-cutting terrorists.

The whole trial has to be top secret to prevent any information "leak". Maybe one smart court guard will make a CELL PHONE VIDEO like with Saddam. Then Bush will call it an 'outrage' and suggest life in prison for the one who made this damn cell phone video! - never mind it will actually show how fraudulent and baseless the trial was.

Also let's not forget that KSM and other folks were CIA in the first place. Osama's last interviews before he dies in 2001 indicated he had quit his ties to the CIA, but KSM might be a "confessor" like Moussaoui, that happily goes to jail/death row, his system stuffed with Prozac etc.

ybbs

does anybody know whats going on at yourbbsucks.com? It seems to be down

working on it... sorry...


"We've been offered a unique opportunity and we must not let this moment pass."

— George W. Bush - State Of The Union Address - January 29th, 2002

RE: torture

It's widely confirmed that al Queda has been a CIA provocateur asset for decades (since it's inception). In light of that, the torture of captured so-called al Queda and or Taliban suspects is a curious activity. One can only speculate: is it to extract every bit of info. known to every individual detainee so as to avoid letting any testimony into the public record, at trial, that would undermine the myth of al-Queda's mission and Islamofascism? Any thoughts on this?

Gitmo = psyop

My opinion is that the torture is not directed at "terrorists" at all -- but at the general public. It's a form of intimidation and mass mind control. Think about it: the devils at the Pentagon know fully well that the hapless goat herders at gitmo have nothing to do with thier pet project "Al-Qaeda" -- so why torture them? It's a psyop. Mind war. They want to convey the impression, first of all, that there is a "war on terra"; secondly they want to showcase their brutality and therefore project strength to the world and -- most especially -- to would-be dissidents in the "homeland". Finally, the torture may be viewed as a provocateur op a la p2og -- good way of recruiting new patsies and making the war on terra more "real".

If you google "torture inc.: america's brutal prisons" you'll see that torture is a mainstay in the US prison system and has been for a long time. It may not be very effective at gathering intelligence, but it is an excellent way of terrorizing people and keeping them under your control. Torture is as "American as apple pie" and has been used by the CIA since its inception, especially in Latin America. Again, not so much to extract information but to terrorize the public.

The level of evil at play with the whole Gitmo psyop is really quite fantastic, even for the neocons. We're dealing with a level of calculated depravity here to rank with Timor Lame, Vlad the Impaler and Ivan the Terrible. "Slightly to the right of Genghis Khan", as Schoenman is fond of saying about the Democrats. Sick fucks the lot.

Agree with everything in

Agree with everything in your post. Don't want to keep you guessing, eh?

This is all a logical extention of what Orwell called power worshipers will go if not stopped: torture, rape(a type of torture) and murder. Another way of putting it is "might makes right".

I find it interesting when confronting abusive authority in the real world( writing letters to police cheif about individual problem officers, sending said letters to every rag in town until I get a reasonable reponse--don't make Jenny start writing letters!) that framing the problem as myself being the authority, who has RIGHT to use up to and including lethal force against anyone threatening to assult me, civilian or otherwise--works far more effectively than arguing civil rights or potential police brutality.

The combination of internatizing power has the right to be used AND the fact, on the local city level, Mayors and police chiefs still believe they are the good guys, makes for an amusing back track: either, "yes, ma'am, your absolutly right you have a right to defend yourself, no one should make you think you might have to do that, we'll look into it! OR "This problem you alledge I will pass on, ma'am"--and once the letters start flying it is scrupulously "ma'am" with the general tone of "please don't sue us".

Its all about power. Mind, I 'm comfortable doing this because I have NO criminal record. Also, I'm not asking to be "rescued": my whole point is you better back off, bitch, because I WILL back up my right to be physical safe.

When we are holding authority accountable we need to use the language of our own individual moral authority, not the language of conciliation--there is no truce with murders and torturers; the message to the bastards is not "please don't abuse us"--the message is: "Behave or else!"

Impeachment. Accountability. A better world.

Yes, it is psyops. And it also serves up to the country...

once again, hoax masquerading as "justice".

Not real justice befitting the crime. On the contrary.

Simply more of the same-oh /same-oh ad hoc plans issuing from the real murderers / traitors of 9/11...all with lies backing other lies (and mixed in with a fair portion of truth so the gullible American people can swallow and believe it).

This fits nicely with their "Dumbing Down of America" that has been going on for so many decades now.

Abu Ghraib same?

Abu Ghraib may have been the same kind of psyop.

I bet...

Khalid will use his "right not to testify". They should bring him forward, and put him on trial publicly. Just like they did for Moussaoui. I don't know about anybody else, but I would like to see him.


"We've been offered a unique opportunity and we must not let this moment pass."

— George W. Bush - State Of The Union Address - January 29th, 2002

Khalid and Motassadeq

Khalid is one of the key witnesses whom the US refused to allow to testify in Motassadeq's trial (see my Blog), the result of which got him 15 years in prison. Who can explain the logic of that, much less the legality.

Well, I guess I can. They were afraid to hand over K. to a German court for fear they might learn something they weren't supposed to. We can be 100% sure that in a military tribunal no one will learn anything they're not supposed to.

Does anybody think the Police State is still in the future? We are already there and have been since Selection 2000.

WHERE IS THE REVOLUTION!!

What are they hiding?

Exactly. I'm beginning to think another strategy we might use is the "What are they hiding?" mantra. Instead of talking about physical evidence, maybe sometimes we should hammer away at the secrecy surrounding 9/11. Why did they not want it investigated? Why did they initially refuse to testify, and only later testify but not under oath (or independently)? Why won't they allow KSM to testify in public in a proper (NOT a military) court of law? Etc.

Even those who do not think 9/11 was an inside job must at least grant that this administration behaves like a police state and pisses on the constitution.

Padilla's lawyer(one of his

Padilla's lawyer(one of his previous lawyers? Don't know how many he had.) was one of these people--born and raised conservative who was stunned when she wasn't allowed access to her client.

Good ideas.

Impeachment. Accountability. A better world.

Hopefully, there will be at

Hopefully, there will be at least one smart Defense attorney who will try to disprove the official 9/11 conspiracy theory.

For example: if the Prosecutor introduces the Official 9/11 Commission Report as evidence. The accuracy of the report can be challenged and all of the evidence that indicates that it was a compilation to support the insurance claims as filed by Mr. Silverstein and his associates for the WTC Complex rebuilding can be introduced.

The evidence could also include the eyewitness testimony that was omitted; Dr. Jones' paper and evidence about the towers coming down with controlled demolition; the lack of sufficient aircraft debris in Shanksville and at the Pentagon; Mr. Silverstein's remarks about "Pull-it"(WTC-7 can also come to light); the facts that don't add up regarding all of the reported flights and faked passenger lists; a lot of the other evidence indicating that the US government was either directly or indirectly involved to disprove charges that their clients were innocent because the conspiracy that they are being charged with is the real myth.

If the Prosecutor presents the same pictures of the Shanksville ditch as they did in the last trial the Defense could remark that there were no passengers bodies nor luggage shown, etc.

The Defense should be able to subpoena the "hijackers" who were reported seen alive after 9/11, a person from Boeing to identify the second plane that hit a tower, American and United Airlines representatives to explain why some of the flights were not scheduled and why they did not come forward with that information on 9/11, insurance company officials could perhaps explain why they paid claims before they investigated, the NYC & Port Authority officials can be asked why they let all of the evidence be removed from the biggest crime scene in history.

Since as late as December 30, 2006 there was a report that more human remains were found at ground zero. I hope the police finally designated that area as a crime scene and will start an investigation. I wouldn't want to rent space in any building that was built on an area that still has human remains.

BUT there I go again dreaming that the lives that were lost & those that have obtained illnesses from 9/11 will finally get some justice.

I share your hope, but

What's more likely: A drugged, beaten, and mindfucked KSM, kept in solitary confinement for three years and without the help of legal aid, will be dragged in front of a military tribunal having been told a host of private lies guaranteeing his release if he just shuts up. Hearsay and allegations derived by torture will be admitted as "evidence", and the press will gleefully report all of it without blinking at the circumspect details.

Anything that means anything will be classified as "state secrets" and will never see the light of day. And people like us will be pining for the release of these "secrets" thirty years from now.

We need a rich, powerful proponent. When Kennedy stood up to the military-industrial complex, he was just that: independently wealthy and connected. But others like him have learned their lesson since his assassination.

Simuvac, this does seem true, but...

Some true heroes have stood up in the past, even knowing they would be assassinated. Biographical details show that Martin Luther King knew what was coming. So did his mentor-in-spirit, M.K. Gandhi. Big enough causes seem to call out the best in some folks. Let's hope for that here.

I gather that Kennedy stood up to the CIA, and that was what sealed his fate. For the innards of this 9-11 one to be revealed, someone will have to risk the same, it appears.

I keep bringing up Dan Ellsberg as an example. He nearly went to prison for leaking the Pentagon Papers. In this 9-11round Kevin Ryan has stood up, and Steven Jones too, and both lost their jobs for it. It is not a small thing.

Others may now follow suit, who knows. We can all hope that they do. I wish we could find a way to support that, and encourage it. Can you think of any?

waiting for a crisis

Ellsberg came forward years late, even by his own admission. That won't be good enough this time. We seem to be locked into an endgame, because, understandably, the middle class is unwilling to part with the comfortable existence they have (for now), and the upper class has never had it so good (in all of human history).

So, we seem to be waiting for a crisis to make the decision for us. The problem with that strategy is potentially twofold: (1) a real crisis (environmental, for example) will probably force people to elect the closest dictator, in order to create the appearance of stability; (2) a staged crisis, such as 9/11 and its inevitable follow-up, will probably work in favor of whoever staged it (as 9/11 is currently doing).

And so we are at an impasse. Why sacrifice now what you can be forced to lose later, right? We are collectively edging forward on that thin ice, hoping it supports the weight of our fear just a little longer.

Pentagon threatening law firms

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR200701...

The deputy asst sec def for detainee affairs said that corporations should boycott firms that represent "terrorists."

The Pentagon disavowed this, but a message was sent.

Ninegen - thanks for the link

Interesting article and I agree the message is out.

Do you know where I can get a list of the lawyers and firms that represent the detainees?

Firms listed on Keith Olbermann's show

According to Talking Points Memo, Monica Crowley, "conservative radio host and former Nixon groupie" has done a FOIA request, and that is what deputy asst sce def for detainee affairs Stimson was commenting on.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011910.php

It seems it will be published soon and the right wing noise machine will start trashing the lawyers for representing "terrorists." (They are accused terrorists.)

Professor Turley slams Stimson's statement on Olbermann's show, which I now see names the firms, but the individual lawyers:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/13/pentagon-shocked-that-lawyers-d...

They are all huge corporate firms. I would not be surprised if conflicts of interest arose if the official story is questioned. United and American Airlines come to mind.

Ningen - once again I owe you thanks

I have printed out the other side of your links.
At least I have something to start with.

I'm a forensic accountant and would love to get involved somehow. In 2006 I finished quite an interesting case of bank fraud that involved a large national bank. Someone opened my eyes to the 9/11 questions and I have been trying to get involved ever since. Currently I am waiting for a FOI reply from the Port Authority regarding a reported insurance settlement for WTC 3 in December 2003.

The reason secret evidence is required is...

The people being held in guantanimo didn't do it! They are totally innocent. They could, in fact, defend themselves with available internet material (but, that wouldn't be permitted, huh?).

Anyone who cares to look, the fuselage of UA 175 came through the north face of wtc 2 after the impact. No debris came with it. The fireball appeared later, at first surrounding the fuselage.

The sources of the above stills are YouTube videos:
FOX affiliate WNYW's HIGH5 helicopter "live" shot
CNN Superstation
CBC C-Span

Problem is, as verified in the NIST report:
(NCSTAR 1-5A, WTC Investigation)
figure E-14 on page lxxviii,
figure 7-31 on page 117 and le piece de resistance est...
figure 7-32 also on page 117,
Nothing broke the north wall; no hole.

The only conclusion I can reach is, since the fuselage was faked, so were the planes.

For people who wish to "enjoy" this further, virtually all the images have been altered by animators;
Satan
and
Winnie the Pooh
appear in this video attributed to CNN

My best guess is that the real perpetrator of the murders of 911 was none other than the
Queen as a hag from Snow White.
She was at the scene and we all know she is truly evil, killing innocents in order to maintain her public face!

The monster must be stopped.

That's some great shots there ....

Very revealing.
That's some great material for people to study.
So they can understand how a sophisticated media psy-op is managed.... military style.

It will be interesting to see and hear troll reaction to that post.
Let's see if that "emperor with no clothes" draws them out ..
Or scares them off.

Anyone who is giving the corpoarte networks a pass, a get-out-of-jail-free card,..... on the mass murder and media mind-rape of 9/11 ..... has to be suspect in my opinion.

Because the MSM (and fake "alternative media") were central to the psy-op. Essential to it.

The pyrotechnics, destruction and mass murder were strictly staging effects and live props....for the mass media psy-op.

Anyone in this "movement" (or outside of it) who is conscioiusly shielding the media from exposure, /
when such exposure of their full role in the psy-op would lead to their criminal prosecution
(Nuremberg style ... like Julius Streicher and Alfred Rosenberg)
has to look mighty hinky .. don't they ?

Anyone trying to suppress this stuff or ignore it or shield people from it .....
well... figure it out for yourself.

Thanks - it has been a long journey

I am a serious fan of Winnie the Pooh who appears in this video attributed to CNN but, I was most impressed with the use of the foreground building in creating the hood of the Queen as a hag from Snow White.

I am glad you mention Nuremberg, because over at YouTube, where I am collecting insults, I have said that I will chase down every "accessory after-the-fact" shill who is being paid like a "Jew chasing Nazis."

If we ever reorganize our government, we need an investigative arm, that is totally independent of every one else and first swipe at the budget.