Monday, June 30, 2008

US Charges Terrorist in U.S.S. Cole Bombing

Awesome.  I hope we got a lot of information out of him first.

The Pentagon said Monday it is charging a Saudi Arabian with “organizing and directing” the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole — and will seek the death penalty.

Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, legal adviser to the U.S. military tribunal system, said charges are being sworn against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi of Yemeni descent, who has been held at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006.

(7) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1802 hrs
Law + Military + Politics + Politics - General

  1. I’m sure he’s full of helpful information…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 30, 2008 at 2007 hrs


  2. All I can say is that waterboarding works.  He confessed after he was waterboarded and who knows what other information he gave up.  Good for the interagators.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 01, 2008 at 0149 hrs


  3. Does it concern you at all that his confession was obviously coerced?  Even a teeny tiny bit?  It concerns me.  Both because he might be guilty and because he might not be.

    Posted by scott on July 01, 2008 at 0805 hrs


  4. Sure waterboarding works. The suspect will tell you exactly what you want to hear every time.

    Guilt or innocence doesn’t matter as long they have a confession. I’m not saying al-Nashiri is innocent; he may very well be guilty as charged. But a confession gained by torture? If we execute a man based on a confession gained by torture, we’re going to join a not so select club of barbarous nations.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 01, 2008 at 0835 hrs


  5. I would not support trying him solely on the basis of a confession.  I suspect that there’s more hard evidence than that.

    Posted by Owen on July 01, 2008 at 0855 hrs


  6. At least they are continuing with charges.  It is appalling that charges have been dropped against an alleged member of the 9/11 cell that tried to enter the country with some of the 9/11 hijackers. 

    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1169322,00.html

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15361462/

    If our government isn’t going to pursue charges against one of the conspirators of the worst crime ever committed in this country because the interrogation techniques used against that suspect ruined the case we need to hold the interrogators accountable. 

    The history of the war on terror is going to be defined not by the crime that started it, but our reaction to 9/11.  Historians are going to have a dim view of the actions taken by this adminstration.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 01, 2008 at 1117 hrs


  7. Water boarding works?  Um, then why do even our military and CIA say, continually, that torture never actually yields useful intel?  To secretly justify it’s use while distracting a squeamish public? Or maybe because the military and the CIA haven’t actually seen the results?  After all, we’ve outsourced our torture of suspected terrorists—and Owen, you always seemed suspiciously uber-American to me—to private corporations and consultants. 

    Maybe they’re not sharing the technical methodologies?

    hiho
    Mp

    Posted by Mpeterson on July 01, 2008 at 1655 hrs


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.