Associated Press Again Fails to Identify Atta as "Alleged" 9/11 Hijacker

UPDATE: The Washington Post actually refers to this trial as a "9/11 Trial" in its headline.

German-Syrian believed to have known 9/11 hijackers sentenced to 12 years

"DAMASCUS, Syria: A German-Syrian dual national believed to have known the Sept. 11 hijackers received a 12-year prison sentence Sunday from a Syrian court, a Syrian human rights group said.

The Higher State Security Court on Sunday sentenced Mohammed Haydar Zammar to life in prison for membership in the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization. But the court immediately commuted the sentence to 12 years, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said in a written statement."

While the crime here is apparently belonging to a "banned" organization, the way AP reports this story fails to identify the fact that the "September 11 hijackers" in question are "alleged" terrorists until tried properly. The AP story says,

"Zammar lived in Hamburg, Germany at the same time as lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and is alleged to have introduced him to al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan."

So, to summarize: Associated Press turned this story of a man convicted of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood into a "9/11" story, because the man is "believed to have known" the "alleged" terrorists of 9/11. Believed by whom, I wonder?

Show "Huh?" by JamesB

my point, jamesb

I can't read your comment, James, because it was voted down; but let me explain this blog post to you, because apparently too much time at SLC has impaired your ability to reason.

The press continue to refer to Atta as the "lead hijacker," but no trial has ever established this (and by trial I don't mean some farce like the military tribunals endorsed by the Military Commissions Act). Imagine if you were accused of a crime, maybe even through evidence that looked quite damming and was made public. Should the press refer to you as a criminal before trial?

The second point here is that these AP stories try to associate unrelated trials with 9/11, to give the appearance that some form of legal authority agrees with the official story. The Post even calls this unrelated trial a "9/11 trial" in its headline, which is a butchery of journalistic standards. No one accused of committing the crimes of 9/11 was on trial here. And, since when is it a crime to "allegedly" know someone who has been "accused" of a crime?

Sorry, JamesB, but I would rather live in a society of laws than your society of premature public defamation.

Show "Hey genius, you know you can" by JamesB

Time on your hands, James?

"The perpetrators of the terrorist attacks on the United States must be brought to justice."

Daryl A. Mundis, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 96, No. 2, April 2002

“The hijackers also left no paper trail. In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper either here in the U.S. or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere that mentioned any aspect of the September 11th plot.”

Robert Mueller, FBI Director
April 19, 2002

There is "no hard evidence" connecting Osama Bin Laden to 9/11.

- The FBI

“I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people.”

Osama Bin Laden in Ummat, Urdu-language daily newspaper based in Karachi, Pakistan
28 September 2001

“To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origins of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance” (172).

- 9/11 Commission Report

What, no insults?

What's the matter, James? Shocked that, yes, there should be a trial of the perpetrators of 9/11? Shocked that this author, writing in a journal devoted to law, doesn't think military commissions are an appropriate venue for such a trial?

I know: A society governed by the rule of law is a real bitch.

Hey, I knew someone who went

Hey, I knew someone who went to high school with and possibly knew olympic skater Tonya Harding.

Does that mean I have to worry that I might be tried as an accessory to Nancy Kerrigan's assult?

Impeachment. Accountability. A better world.

Anyone for tenuous?

..........................

"Tenuous"--yeah,

"Tenuous"--yeah, right--you've got it. ;-)

Impeachment. Accountability. A better world.