Does Anyone Believe the 9/11 Mastermind Confessed?

**The An-Jel** · 03-15-2007, 02:09 PM

Quote:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, admitted to those attacks and numerous others during a U.S. military hearing on Saturday, according to an edited transcript of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday.

In a statement from him, read by a U.S. military representative, he said, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."

The transcript continues with the list of operations he was responsible for, including the Richard Reid shoe bomber attempt to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic Ocean, the Bali nightclub bombing in Indonesia, the 1993 World Trade Center attack and other attacks that were foiled. (Read transcript (PDF))

The latter included surveying the Panama Canal for an attack to destroy it and surveying suspension bridges and high-rises in New York and Chicago, Illinois, to bring them down as well.

The list of some 29 operations he was responsible for is followed by a shorter list of operations he was partially responsible for, including an assassination attempt against then-Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines. (Watch why Mohammed likened himself to George Washington )

In a later part of the statement, Mohammed likened himself to George Washington as a revolutionary.

The verbatim translation in the transcript is not always clear.

"If now we were living in the Revolutionary War and George Washington he being arrested through Britain," it reads. "For sure he, they would consider him enemy combatant."

Mohammed: Sorry I killed kids
He made no apologies for what he has done, but he did express remorse for the death of children in the September 11 attacks.

"I don't like to kill people," he said. "I feel very sorry they been killed kids in 9/11."

Transcripts of two other detainees considered "high-value" by the U.S. government -- Abu Faraj al-Libi (transcript (PDF)) and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh (transcript (PDF)) -- were also issued Wednesday. Their hearings were held Friday. The three are part of a group of 14 detainees once held in secret CIA prisons but moved to Guantanamo Bay by President Bush in September.

All three hearings were held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The three-member military panel hearings, unlike similar hearings in the past, were closed to the media and to the detainees' lawyers because of fears the detainees might divulge classified information, according to Pentagon officials.

Officials have said the hearings would last between two and three hours each, but it could take days or weeks to know what transpired, because the findings must be approved by higher military authorities.

The 14 detainees have been given military advisers but they are offering no legal assistance. Detainees are also given only an unclassified summary of the evidence against them but are allowed to have witnesses called in from out of the country to testify in their favor.

The hearings, called combatant status review tribunals, determine whether a detainee should be classified as an enemy combatant by the president to make them eligible for a military trial.

The hearings for the 14 are expected to last through April, according to Pentagon officials.

Pentagon officials said a total of six high-value detainees have now gone through these hearings. The names of the three others and the transcripts of their hearings have not yet been released.

If the political rumors are true I think Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is getting his groove on now that the Democrats have the House and the Senate on the hows and whys of not only the Iraq War but even 9-11. They seem to be intimately tied no matter how much the evidence proves other motives seperating the two from each other. Like Saddam having actually no true conspiratorial connection with Al-Qaeda. Did the Libby conviction inspire the Pentagon to release these confessions? Is the Justice Department and the FBI's abuse of the Patriot Act and the like inspiring them as well?

I personally don't see the guy falling down crying like a baby and admitting all of this without special considerations given by his captors at Guantanamo Bay.

What do you think of the timely release of these transcripts?

lauraclay · 03-27-2007, 05:30 PM

Maybe he knew he was going to die and wanted credit. Or maybe he knew he was going to die and decided to claim extra credit. Or maybe the government just wanted to save at least a little face.

Did the government ever specifically state that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were linked? Or was that just a mass assumption?

**The An-Jel** · 04-10-2007, 01:04 AM

Osama trained terrorists in Afghanistan and after defeating the Russians (this was the Soviets Vietnam mind you) the Taliban took over. Osama kept training etc etc. The CIA trained Al-Quaeda. Gave them the Stingers to takedown Soviet jets. It is amazing how silly life is... our friends become our enemies.

I'll try and find an article that shows our latest flounder:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...ws_exclus.html

If you know anything about the Afghanistan-Soviet war... O My God this gives me flashbacks.

lauraclay · 04-10-2007, 09:47 PM

Whatever happened to the days when we just snuck in there and assassinated the people we didn't like?

That article: Do you think it's moral for us to indirectly help Jundallah? I think it sends the message that we will endorse terrorist tactics as long as you're doing what we want. But is that such a bad thing? It's not like diplomacy will work....although, Iran is opening itself up recently. I'd like to know exactly who Jundallah targets. I'll look that up when I get the time. If anyone already knows....The article just said Iranians, I'm pretty sure.

TPBlodgett · 04-10-2007, 10:02 PM

I find it ridiculous that the US is still trying to be the police of the world, look what it has done for us, we give aid to and train Al-Qaeda, and look what happens, I think our foreign policy needs to be reworked. We think everyone is after us because, well, now they are after us. And its really no ones fault but ours.

But back to the topic at hand, I don't know what to think regarding this, I wouldn't put it passed out government to force someone into this to save face, but then again, maybe he did orchestrate the attacks, I don't know.

jor.pandolfo · 04-10-2007, 10:06 PM

im no longer the noob. i agree with you tim.

**The An-Jel** · 04-11-2007, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TPBlodgett

I find it ridiculous that the US is still trying to be the police of the world, look what it has done for us, we give aid to and train Al-Qaeda, and look what happens, I think our foreign policy needs to be reworked. We think everyone is after us because, well, now they are after us. And its really no ones fault but ours.

But back to the topic at hand, I don't know what to think regarding this, I wouldn't put it passed our government to force someone into this to save face, but then again, maybe he did orchestrate the attacks, I don't know.

Which attacks, lots of attacks, past and present. I fear what the actual truth is and the human toll... me and you might entail. I mean just cause we live in the country that isn't being exposed directly doesn't mean mentally we aren't being exposed to the same thing. Even spiritually, essentially this Forum in it's essence, to me.

Something feels pretty screwy here though doesn't it. As for lauraclay, yes it apparently is just about the Iranians and if this article among others which were blotted out of American news really damn fast which means this kind of news can go either way as far as the truth goes. What is the truth, find some stuff, personally from what I KNEW would happen this is pretty much the epitome of a new cold war being invented by people who want to profit off everyone else. Thats the idea I have gathered so far.

jaej · 04-11-2007, 11:56 AM

Is it constitutional for them to deny detainees legal counsel? Not that it matters..

TPBlodgett · 04-11-2007, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The An-Jel

Which attacks, lots of attacks, past and present. I fear what the actual truth is and the human toll... me and you might entail. I mean just cause we live in the country that isn't being exposed directly doesn't mean mentally we aren't being exposed to the same thing. Even spiritually, essentially this Forum in it's essence, to me.

Something feels pretty screwy here though doesn't it. As for lauraclay, yes it apparently is just about the Iranians and if this article among others which were blotted out of American news really damn fast which means this kind of news can go either way as far as the truth goes. What is the truth, find some stuff, personally from what I KNEW would happen this is pretty much the epitome of a new cold war being invented by people who want to profit off everyone else. Thats the idea I have gathered so far.

Sad isn't it? People are so bent on getting money that they have no regard for anything.

And it doesn't seem that they even acknowledge the existence of the Constitution down in Guantanamo, kind of sad really. Those people may have had something, or a lot, to do with a lot of people dying, but I wouldn't be surprised if we found out a large percentage of the people in Guantanamo Bay have nothing to do with any act of terror.

Professional Widow · 04-11-2007, 09:06 PM

He sounds like most serial killers who just want the credit for a crime w/o having to do the crime. The Zodiac did it, so why couldn't this guy?