And it is a pity that we can execute them only once, rather than 2,998 times.

The Pentagon has charged six detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials said Monday they'll seek the death penalty in what would be the first capital trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal system.

"These charges allege a long term, highly sophisticated, organized plan by al-Qaida to attack the United States of America," Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, the legal adviser to the tribunal system, told reporters. He said a total of 169 charges were sworn against suspects "alleged to be responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks" in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Hartmann said the six include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the attacks in which hijackers flew planes into buildings in New York and Washington. Another hijacked plane crashed in the fields of western Pennsylvania.

The case here is likely to be air-tight, given the time it took to build it and the efforts made to create a tribunal system that is the equivalent to what our troops receive under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And any sentence less than death will certainly appear inadequate due to the crimes committed against this nation by these terrorist bastards.

Now the timing of this will make for some interesting politics. These guys are quite clearly guilty -- but no doubt some diseased segments of the body politic are going to want them let off due to issues related to Gitmo and waterboarding. That response of the presidential candidates will show who is serious about national security against terrorism and who is not.

Posted by: Greg at 11:00 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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