parallels should be drawn to Stalinist show trials

Pentagon Drops Charges Against "20th Hijacker"

Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake at 6:54 AM on May 13, 2008.

Harsh interrogations likely caused the Pentagon to abandon its prosecution of Mohammed al-Qahtani.

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Heckuva job on not following the 'quaint' Geneva Convention against Torture:

The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent.

But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, decided to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani and proceed with the arraignment for the other five, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, the Saudi's military lawyer.

And just why did they dismiss the charges now?

The attorney said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal until discussing the case with lawyers for the other five defendants. Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

I feel a chorus of 'Proud to be an American' coming on. Excuse me while I take my anti-treacle medication.

The charges were dismissed without prejudice -- but not the torture of course -- so they could be refiled at a later time.

But why this is occurring may be considered in context with what is happening with the other five individuals:

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, confirmed the case was proceeding against the five defendants and that their arraignment will be within 30 days of the charges being served at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...

The five defendants include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the terrorist attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people, and Ramzi Binalshibh, who is said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida leaders. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of them.

Must get these trials on camera and before the election and all, if at all possible. But al-Qahtani being tried would clearly be embarrassing because his confession was the product of torture which he later recanted. The evidence of his guilt must be very tied to the torture-produced confession.

The alleged torture, which he detailed in a written statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel.

'God bless the U-S-A!'

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Zero Confidence [Report this comment] Posted by: QQOblivion on May 13, 2008 8:12 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I think the other five defendants, at least most of them, were tortured as well. By the way, I have ZERO confidence that the right people are in custody here. I mean, how are we to trust the "evidence" gathered from ANY of these suspects? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Aren't you glad we have a Global War on Terror? [Report this comment] Posted by: channing on May 13, 2008 8:29 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I mean, a few hundred billion here, a few hundred billion there, a million casualties, a destabilized world political order, our precious Patriotic Act, our comforting Fatherland, I mean Homeland Security monolith, our uninvestigated War Criminal administration and their ties to Al CIAda, Enron, DuBai's new Halliburton... ahh, Mission Accomplished, but not one conviction for "Terrorism". Isn't Fascism Great? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Hey, weren't we told that the "20th hijacker (9/11) was... [Report this comment] Posted by: jvaljon1 on May 14, 2008 3:43 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...the Algerian, what's-his-name, Zacharias Moussaoui or something? That brought the number of Saudis to (as Bush put it) "just" 15. So now we got Number 16, alQuatar or something, a SAUDI. That makes 16 SAUDIS. I looked Iraq up on the map. It shows a common border with Saudi Arabia and the Kirkuk oilfield does seem to also border Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Royal Family, are fast family AND business partners of the Bush family. NOT of Americans--one of Prince Bandar (bin Sultan al Abdul-Aziz, if I get the creep's whole name right, and who cares--)'s wives PAID FOR 9/11. Bandar is now Oil Minister I believe. Bandar is a SAUDI. My point? SAUDIS planned, did the 'heavy lifting' and CARRIED OUT 9/11. These are BUSH FRIENDS. The IRAQIS--who Bush/Cheney LIED US INTO INVADING ON THE SPURIOUS CHARGE AMONG OTHER LIES, THAT SADDAM WAS INVOLVED IN 9/11--had absolutely zilch and zero to do with 9/11. Yet BushCo, cynically realizing that (alas!) most Americans 1) couldn't tell one Arab from another even if the latter were wrapped around with their respective countries' flags--and, 2) that we still trusted BushCo, who had miles and miles of lies yet to go before we woke up to the criminal sleazebags who'd grabbed our Government (not once, but TWICE!)--BushCo in fact blamed Saddam for 9/11, and we trusting souls who still thought of Bush as an American (and a few of us who even after his machinations v/v the 2000 elections became known, STILL thought of him as our actual president!!!!), bought his lies hook, line and sinker, just in time to hear him call on his 'fellow Americans' to invade--NOT the architects of 9/11--but their deadly enemies THE IRAQI PEOPLE!!! (How do I know all this? My uncle, deceased these many years, was a rug dealer for a major NY Department store, and each year spent 6 weeks to 2 months traveling the whole Middle East, getting to know who was who in the rug trade, who to say with and WHO TO AVOID, etc--and passed his knowledge onto his whole large family. So that we ALL knew that Bush was lying when he FIRST opened his mouth after 9/11, and fingered Saddam for that). That alone is reason enough to 1) GET OUT OF IRAQ, and 2) NUKE RIYADH--and in the meantime, tell Prince Abdullah or whoever runs the Aramco cartel now, that, no, Bush won't be giving him the smart-bomb technology he's been wanting for so long, since Bush is gonna be impeached along with all the Senators who have been spending their time--not on America's business, but strictly on protecting this crook and his cohorts in the White House. Not in a perfect world--just, in a halfway decent one--just, in the America that we USED to be before our enemies made "LIBERAL" and "DEMOCRATIC" into dirty words (Wait till THEY see what WE do with "NeoCON!")--just, in the America that was, where we hit OUR ENEMIES and NOT THEIR ENEMIES. There's an Arab proverb to that effect--the Arabs must be laughing every time they think of how dumb we were to EVER have listened to that bred-in-the-womb LIAR, Bush, and his sidekick, "I had 'other priorities' than the Vietnam War, so I never did learn how to shoot even a shotgun, so if you come hunting with me you do so at your peril..." Dirty Dick (aka Shotgun) Cheney. So far, however, they both look to get away with their crimes. It seems that We the American People, only impeach those who lie to us about their sex lives. Every OTHER crime--that's OK. So--we get what we deserve. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] parallels should be drawn to Stalinist show trials [Report this comment] Posted by: whealeydj on May 14, 2008 8:49 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] and Bush's show trials in Guantanamo. We should all reread or read Darkness at Noon and 1984. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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