Pentagon releases censored tape of 9/11 suspect

Alleged mastermind's justification for waging jihad against U.S. omitted

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has censored an audio tape of the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks speaking at a military hearing — cutting out Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s justification for waging jihad against the United States.

After months of debate by several federal agencies, the Defense Department released the tape Thursday. Cut from it was 10 minutes of a more than 40-minute closed court session at Guantanamo Bay to determine whether Mohammed should be declared an “enemy combatant.”

Since the March hearing, Mohammed has been assigned “enemy combatant” status, a classification the Bush administration says allows it to hold him indefinitely and prosecute him at a military tribunal.

Officials from the CIA, FBI, State Department and others listened to the tape and feared it could be copied and edited by other militants for use as propaganda, officials said.

“It was determined that the release of this portion of the spoken words of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would enable enemies of the United States to use it in a way to recruit or encourage future terrorists or terrorist activities,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. That could put U.S. lives at risk, he said.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (Arabic: خالد شيخ محمد; also transliterated as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, inter alia, and additionally known by as many as twenty-seven aliases^[3]) (b. March 1, 1964, or April 14, 1965) is a prisoner in U.S. custody for acts of terrorism, including mass murder.

In March 2007, after four years in captivity, including six months of detention at Guantanamo Bay, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — as it was claimed by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing ^[4] in Guantanamo Bay — confessed to masterminding the September 11th attacks, the Richard Reid shoe bombing attempt to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic Ocean, the Bali nightclub bombing in Indonesia, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and various foiled attacks.^[5]

September 11, 2001 attacks

Interrogations of Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (captured in 2002 and 2003 respectively) allegedly revealed that Mohammed was the instigator and prime organizer of the attacks. His cousin, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, was one of the attacks' major financiers.

The first hijack plan that Mohammed presented to the leadership of al-Qaeda called for several airplanes on both east and west coasts to be hijacked and flown into targets. His plan evolved from an earlier foiled plot known as Operation Bojinka, which called for 10 or more airliners to be bombed in mid-air or hijacked for use as missiles. Bin Laden rejected some potential targets suggested by Mohammed, such as the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles.^[16]

In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot.^[15] A series of meetings occurred in spring of 1999, involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef.^[15] Bin Laden provided leadership for the plot, along with financial support.^[15] Bin Laden was also involved in selecting people to participate in the plot, including choosing Mohamed Atta as the lead hijacker.^[17] Mohammed provided operational support, such as selecting targets and helping arrange travel for the hijackers.^[15]

After Atta was chosen as the leader of the mission, "he met with Bin Ladin to discuss the targets: the World Trade Center, which represented the U.S. economy; the Pentagon, a symbol of the U.S. military; and the U.S. Capitol, the perceived source of U.S. policy in support of Israel. The White House was also on the list, as Bin Ladin considered it a political symbol and wanted to attack it as well." Outline of the 9/11 Plot Staff Statement No. 16

"Bin Laden had been pressuring KSM (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) for months to advance the attack date. According to KSM, bin Laden had even asked that the attacks occur as early as mid-2000, after Israeli opposition party leader Ariel Sharon caused an outcry in the Middle East by visiting a sensitive and contested holy site in Jerusalem that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Although bin Laden recognized that Atta and the other pilots had only just arrived in the United States to begin their flight training, the al-Qaida leader wanted to punish the United States for supporting Israel. He allegedly told KSM it would be sufficient simply to down the planes and not hit specific targets. KSM withstood this pressure, arguing that the operation would not be successful unless the pilots were fully trained and the hijacking teams were larger." Philip Zelikow's testimony before the 9/11 Commission

In a 2002 interview with Al Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda, Mohammed admitted his involvement, along with Ramzi Binalshibh, in the "Holy Tuesday operation".^[18] Mohammed was arrested on March 1, 2003 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.^[19] Mohammed ultimately ended up at Guantanamo Bay.

In March 2007, Reuters reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to playing a role in the 9/11 terror attacks during a secret hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[5] "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement read Saturday during a Combatant Status Review Tribunal at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.^[20] His confession was read by a member of the U.S. military who is serving as his personal representative.^[21]

Reid "shoe bombing"

According to al-Qaeda operative Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, who was captured and interrogated in Oman in 2003, Mohammed had sent al Qaeda operative Richard Reid on a mission to bomb an airline.^[22] Jabarah also indicated that both he and Reid reported to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

 Daniel Pearl murder

According to a CNN interview with intelligence expert Rohan Gunaratna, "Daniel Pearl was going in search of the al Qaeda network that was operational in Karachi, and it was at the instruction of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that Daniel Pearl was killed."^[22] On October 12, 2006, Time magazine reported that "KSM confessed under CIA interrogation that he personally committed the murder."^[23] On March 15, 2007, the Pentagon released a statement that Mohammed had confessed to the murder.^[24] The statement quoted Mohammed as saying, "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."^[25] Bali nightclub bombings

 Bali nightclub bombings

        Main article: Bali nightclub bombings

Mohammed was also indirectly implicated in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. In 2006, the Associated Press reported Col. Petrus Reinhard Golose of Indonesia's counterterrorism task force, in which he asserted "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was personally involved in setting up the courier system . . . in which money [to fund suicide bombings] was carried from Thailand to Malaysia and finally to Indonesia's Sumatra island."^[26]

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after capture

   Where is this criminal and why is he being held from justice in an American court of law? After four years of detention and probable torture hasn't the Bush Administration extracted all the intelligence that can be had from this Islamic fanatic and murderer? Let the evidence we have against him be presented in a public court, let him have his say in court, be sentenced, executed or imprisoned. (If he becomes a martyr to other Islamic fanatics, so be it. Saddam Hussein is a martyr to many Sunni Iraqis but that didn't deter the Bush Administration from having him executed.)  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in my opinion needs to face American justice not Bush Administration detention (protection?). Khalid Sheikh Mohammed owes a big debt to American society.

tags: khalid sheikh mohammed  bush  911  al qaeda  debt  

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