It could all be true, it could be nothing more than the staged ramblings of a man that has been held in a black hole for four years. I am referring, of course, to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured by the Pakistani ISI in Rawalpindi in 2003. He has, since that time, been held by the United States as a detainee.
Now, before I continue, let me make plain the intentions of this entry before it’s thought that I am openly defending a man that has been linked to crimes from the planning of the 9/11 attacks to the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl. I am not suggesting that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is innocent, nor that he isn’t the devotee of a militant ideology. What I am saying, with regards to the recent release of the transcript in which he confesses to numerous crimes and plots, is that not only is the release of this information politically timely given the impact of the Libby verdict and the Walter Reid scandal, but moreso something that should be far more troubling to us all, no matter the man’s nefarious reputation or allegiances.
I will begin by saying, quite simply, that even Hermann Göring was afforded the right to a defense at Nuremberg. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, no matter your views on the subject, was not. His confessions before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing in Guantanamo Bay this month, which included confessing to the “September 11th terrorist 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 other attacks that were foiled� were all heard in a closed proceeding from which defense lawyers and the media were banned.
No matter the man’s reputation or the crimes that he is believed to have committed, during his rather lengthy confession to the power that has held him for four years, part of that time at undisclosed locations, at whose hands anything could have been done to him – his confessions, which by all accounts, were the media granted access to the proceedings, should provide the Bush administration with some much needed positive press, even though the process with which that information was obtained is entirely criminal – has done nothing more than produce a confession that is wholly tainted by the fact that the fundamental beliefs in the rule of law that the United States professes to encourage in locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan were notoriously absent.
If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is guilty of everything that he has confessed to, and was willing to confess to it, then what would the inclusion of the press and proper legal council at the proceeding have mattered? After all, his confession was released in detail by every major news organization in the world the second it was available.
Under international and human rights law, even Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has rights. And if we fail to grant those rights, then all we have permitted is the failure of justice itself. And that, no matter the crime or criminal, demonstrates our own willingness to abandon the very principles that we claim to cherish and champion. Ultimately, what separates us from the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s of the world? In this case, it’s surely not our belief in the law.
That said, it should never be forgot that once you cross that line and assume the omnipotence of being able to disregard the rights of others at will, then it should be expected that those among the disregarded with the resolve to strike back will act accordingly, by the example set.
Ultimately, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confessions could all be true. Many of them could also be false. The fact that the people can’t be sure of the authenticity of the information is, at best, a sign of the times. At worst, the harbinger of our society’s demise.
Updated: The BBC’s have your say on this topic is eliciting some interesting responses.
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I thought the saem thing - very timely indeed!
Next week they will uncover a huge warehouse full of weapons of mass destruction.
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You’re certainly bending over backwards to be careful here, and that’s probably the wisest course.
When I saw the headline at CNN last night, very similar thoughts came immediately to mind.
Can American authorities be relied upon any more to tell the truth these days?
He’s very likely guilty, but there’s no sense of fair play in any of this.
Especially since we now know that the military has no qualms about using torture as a means to an end.
And after Saddam’s hanging, anything short of finding Bin Laden is anti-climatic.
But the aspect that struck me the most was when they mentioned the horrible murder of Ron Pearle, and I thought “that is so American, right out of ‘Murder She Wrote’, gather up all unsolved crimes and end the show with a quick confession, tying up loose ends in a neat package that clears the inbox and dispenses with the need for a trial. And the US can kill this man and even another fifty from that novelty deck of cards, but we may never be able to wash our hands of the mess that’s been started.
At least not in our lifetime.”
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Exactly put in that last paragraph. Even if the confessions are true, and the intentions noble, there’s been too much crying wolf to be able to trust again; especially when the shadows of secrecy have become so visible.
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I’m sure you really hate receiving comments like this, especially given the seriousness of the topic, but you write amazingly well. Have you thought of doing freelance opinion editorials for a larger newspaper?
Brown-nosing aside, that is of huge concern. While it’s conceivable that he had a role to play in all or most of those listed, the question of how the confession was obtained is troubling. And, if obtained under duress, then how widespread are these practices?
Not to mention, if the confession has been obtained after all this time the concept of indefinite detention starts looking easier to sell.
Then of course, there’s the libertarian in me who thinks I should be able to watch an elected official take a dump if I so choose. Shaded government operations, regardless of the reasoning, is always something that should make everyone uncomfortable.
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I wonder when the U.S. Government will confess to funding Mr. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed through our intermediaries in Saudi Arabia…?
Oops… Oh yeah, I forgot… we don’t want to get too close to the truth of what actually happened…
I guess we’ll just ignore the evidence that the Saudis played a significant if not dominant role in the 9/11 attacks, and that through the House of Saud we have supported and funded the Muslim Brotherhood and fanatical Wahhabis for the past 50 years…
Nothing to see here, move along…
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I knew you’d say something Roy.
In the immortal words of Leonard Cohen:
Quoting Matthew Good:
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couldn’t have said it better myself….
Anything spoken by any governmental agency should be taken with a grain of salt…..Don’t believe everything you read, hear, or see….
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My response to you Matt is, in the words of the Saddam Hussien’s character in South Park; “Relax man, take a rest”. You seriously need to take a rest from your persoanl war on the U.S. Government. Wake up dude, every government is corrupt to a certain degree, and if you look at the situation objectively you can easily see that the U.S. government is one of the LEAST corrupt governments in the world. Oh please, great and mighty Matthew Good, forgive this poor peasent from disagreeing with you.
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You have every right to disagree, absolutely.
What I enjoy is that when you write things like this…
Quoting Matthew Good:
…I don’t even have to present a counter argument.
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At least now we know who the father of Anna Nicole’s baby REALLY is.
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“… the fundamental beliefs in the rule of law that the United States professes to encourage in locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan were notoriously absent.”
Yeah, the hypocrisy of the west. It seems that it is ok for the US to act immorally, all in the name of the greater good. The question is whose greater good??? It sure isn’t for the good of anyone outside the US.
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I was thinking the same thing when I read the story as well. It could be true, and even if it is, the absence of the media or his right to a defense, or even a proper trial, makes any report on any confession he makes sound completely illegitimate. If the United States really had cold hard evidence against some of these guys, you would think that, if only from a PR standpoint, they would in fact make sure these detainees were found guilty both in the court of martial law and public opinion. The fact that isn’t happening, makes me even more skeptical.
Either way, the whole charade of justice surrounding these 14 Guantanamo hearings is a joke.
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I think the simple fact that his trial was not conducted in a fair and open manner says it all.
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Osama Bin Who? Looks like a nicely played bait and switch to me. Now the Bushtard will be able to claim victory on the 911 front with out sending a family friend to prison. Thats ok, no one really thinks about Bin Laden that much now anyways.
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“in the words of the Saddam Hussien’s character in South Park; “Relax man, take a restâ€?. You seriously need to take a rest from your persoanl war on the U.S. Government. Wake up dude, every government is corrupt to a certain degree, and if you look at the situation objectively you can easily see that the U.S. government is one of the LEAST corrupt governments in the world”
Bobby: An interesting thing about the statement you’ve made is, I think, that it is a commonly held opinion among many. I’ve heard it countless times that “sure governements are corrupt, but hey, at least we aren’t THAT bad”. Corruption in the government is absolutely intolerable to any degree. We can not allow corruption to become the status quo, because when there is corruption, democracy fails by default because those meant to be leading us begin leading their own interests. I think you’d be shocked to find exactly how corrupt the U.S government is. Anytime anything in this war has gone wrong not a single person has stepped up to take full accountability for it. Not Rumsfeld, not Cheney, not Bush or anybody else in his administration. It is always pawned off on some subordinate and its truly pathetic that we allow it to continue. The fact that the military commissions act was ever allowed to be thought of let alone drafted and written to law is a testament to how corrupt the government is. They have stripped the rights of their people entirely. Least corrupt indeed.
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I appreciate the response I received from Mr. or Mrs. “cfile2″. When someone responds by putting forth a strong and valid argument, rather than insulting me and insinuating that I might be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby, I always appreciate it.
I just feel that all human beings are capable and highly likely to use power for selfish means, as the U.S. Government has clearly been doing. I just don’t see hope in the “hippy protestors” to save the day, and with all due respect to Matt Good (as he is a smart guy and a terrific musician), I just see this site as another means of ineffective “hippy protest”.
I’m not saying that I have all the answers, but I just don’t think that picking on the biggest bully is the right way to solve the many problems we have in this world. America is the biggest and toughest bully there is, but I don’t think it’s the worst. I also think America IS the greatest country in the world and I have many reasons to believe that to be so. I know I’m probably the only member of this site to believe this (as most seem to be Matt’s “yes men”) but I hope that doesn’t call for childish name-calling or the insulting of my intelligence. There should be more people like Mr. or Mrs. “cfile2″.
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Is that all you have as an argument, that solutions are not offered? Have you read this blog for a long time, checked it’s archives before making that claim? Have you any real, substantial knowledge of US covert and foreign policy history? What leads you to automatically assume that the United States is the greatest country in the world? You can employ terms such as “hippies� if you prefer, if it justifies your position to you. You can also claim that the people that comment here are little more than yes men, which, in a far greater context, means that hundreds of millions of others that share the same point of view must be as well. So what is it to be? If you’d care to comment on this entry, on the detainment of individuals held in legal limbo and in conditions that every human rights organization on the planet, including the UNHRC, has complained about, then do so. If you are unable to do so, then what is the point of even commenting if it is simply to accuse me of disliking something that, in fact, claims to be against the very same things in principle.
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I wonder if he shot and killed Pat Tillman too? Oh wait, we got 3 or 4 answers on that little incident already, my bad. I can’t believe he left out confessing to Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake/ Tsunami on Christ’s birthday. Man, that’s worth at least 73 virgins. And what about hiding Bin Laden in the Border Mickey’D’s in Pakistan?
One guy is doing all of this? ok, thanks Dubya…nice try.
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OK OK OK….I think I have heard everything!!! I think that the US government may not be the most corrupt government in the world, but its in the top 3 (Russia, China, USA) You make the call on where it rates.
I will say this as well….What the US Government tells the population of the world in newspaper, broadcasts, bulletins etc etc, is one thing, but what they are actually doing behind the scenes is another. They want us to think they are doing things for the greater good, but in reality it’s all a bunch of horse shit!
Not one country is perfect or better than the next, but they deceive us with lies. MattGood.org is a place for people like myself to express our frustrations, and to let others know, that there are alot of people thinking the very same thing. No, as a group we can’t “defeat” the “bully” but it takes one voice. Here we are voicing our opinions, “we won’t stand for the crap that is being handed to us” We need to stand up and at least be heard.
One more thing, if we don’t do anything, then we can only blame ourselves for how bad its going to get.
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Mr. cfile2.
Matt, you pretty much said what needed to be said but I have 2 things to add:
1) I am not Matt’s yes man I just happen to share many of his views on issues of the day
2) Why shouldn’t we be picking on the biggest bully? There are many sides to the war going on right now and the human rights violations of all nations involved have been addressed on this site. The U.S has made repeated claims that it is the greatest nation on earth and that everybody looks up to them. If that is true, then any corruption and any human rights violations that take place within thier government are particularly harmful. Is this what we are meant to look up to? A nation that laughs in the face of the Geneva conventions and resorts to water boarding as an acceptable tactic? I’d liken that to the boy who has a wife beating father as a role model.
As I said before, if our leaders start pursuing their own interests, and not the interests of their nations and of our global community, democracy fails and we are left with little more than suspicion and bitterness and a world full of people with nothing but contempt. The U.S needs to check itself and perhaps instead of pursuing the goal of being the greatest nation on earth, we can all work together and form a global community that is based on mutual respect for our differences. Forgive me for being hippy with a pipe dream.
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“According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in. They said al Qaeda’s toughest prisoner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess.”
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866
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How does one define corruption in this sense? Is it better to be overt about one’s corruption, such as Robert Mugabe is, or is it better to lie a population into an illegal war while using human rights as justification for removing a despot while employing stratagems in an ambiguous global war that causes a global decline in human rights and an increase in arms proliferation, preemption, and unilateralism?
Can corruption be defined by Israel’s refusal to admit that it even has a nuclear program, or allow the UN to investigate that possibility, when it and others demand that Iran must be stopped at all costs and use the UN to do their bidding when Palestinians have absolutely no ability to use the UN for purposes of aiding their struggle?
China has for decades occupied Tibet, Russia is still in the Caucasus, where it points to American actions in the war on terror as justification for its policies in Chechnya and elsewhere in the region, the government in Khartoum remains in power and supports the Janjiweed militias primarily because they control the oil and China is their biggest customer, Somalia has seen US influence return to support those they once combated a decade ago while they use the Ethiopians as proxies and get to sell some weapons on the side, the US trades nuclear technology with India, who has the bomb, and who has also not ratified the NPT, while Iran has ratified the NPT but is denied the right to nuclear energy. The contradictions and corruptions are countless. The point is, who has the power to ultimately influence, to take the lead in altering the trend?
Abraham Lincoln once wrote that he would rather move to Russia where despotism wasn’t concealed rather than live with democratic hypocrisy. He was the first Republican president of the United States. What the hell has happened since is anyone’s guess.
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Sonny,
To add to that, I’m a psychology major and I’ve done some extensive reading on false confessions and manufactured memories. It can take just 8 hours of intense interrogation to get someone to produce a false confession to a crime of murder. Imagine: what confessions can one get from someone through water-boarding?
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If the Americans were so sure their accusations were legit, the actual confession would have been open to media, and they would’ve had a chance to get some legitimacy back into their administration… but a transcript from some guy with nothing to lose is all they could cough up.
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Look what we got him to admit to after four years of sheer inhuman torture and the drought of his soul!
It must be true.
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If you seriously want me to tell you why America is the greatest country in the world, I will. It would just take me a long time to write all the reasons so I won’t for now. I was, in my own way commenting directly to your opinion of the Khalid Sheek Mohomod case, but I don’t care about that right now so I won’t comment any further. I just would like to say that neither the demoncrats nor the green party are the answer because they are weak on defense and the bad muslims are gonna have an easier time killing us (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the bad ones hate Canada too). I have read a lot of stuff on this site and it seems like bitchin and complaining about Bush and the Americans is all you hippies like to do.
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Hippies and bad muslims. those guys is ruining everything! It’s just a shame that nobody told anybody in the Bush administration that people who Bobby refers to as bad muslims were intent on attacking the U.S. before they actually did.
wait,
my bad.
Somebody DID tell them.
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You may want to read this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070315/terrorist-plots
okgirls2003:
Here’s one for you: All governments lie to their populace. It’s a fact. So to say what they do is “horseshit” shows your naivette. How do you know it’s horseshit? The answer is you don’t, your just assuming. And Always remeber, when they start rounding up the undesireables for treason in facsist states, they always kill the political dissidents and academics first.
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@ BobbyHaven
I don’t want to start a flame war here, but there’s no way that post was real. People like that don’t really exist. Did you just say “bad muslims”?
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@ BobbyHaven
“because they are weak on defense and the bad muslims are gonna have an easier time killing us”
To quote Lewis Black: Are you fucking RETARDED????
Weak on defense? And your empirical data on this was from a double-blind sample right? Please, enough of staid rhetoric. It’s old and tired and doesn’t stand up under scrutiny. Always remember, on Sept 11,2001 GEORGE BUSH was the President. Wow, he really protected you that day. Maybe if he hadn’t of ignored Richard Clarke’s warning, or better yet, wasn’t on vacation for most of the first 9 month’s of his Presidency, MAYBE, just MAYBE, it wouldn’t of happened!
Congratulations, your an unquestioning patriot, democracy’s greatest enemy.
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Raoul:
Thanks for keeping your composure buddy, but to answer your question; no I’m not retarded.
But it sure seems like you know all the answers and no doubt some of our Country’s greatest minds are sub-par comedians who’s only gimmick is wagging his stupid finger like Lewis Black (George Carlin makes Black look like the retard). So why don’t you go ahead and explain why North Amercia and the rest of the world is going to be a safer place with Hilary Clinton as President. Take your time pal. No rush.
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Did I say North Americas would be safer under Hilary? Did I say I’ve got all the answers? Did you post a definitive statement saying “because they are weak on defense”? That to me sounds like someone who thinks they know it all and can’t tell the difference between bloated rhetorical spin and hard facts.
Believe what you want pal, it’s your life, not mine. George Bush and his crew have kept no safer than than you were before 2000, in fact your NOT as safe as you were. But believe everything they tell you.
As to the the Lewis Black/Carlin comparison, like I care what you think. Carlin makes most stand-ups look like their standing still. Thanks for your news flash though. Now, back to your unquestioning patriotism.
Now, please explain how 9/11 happened while Bush was protecting you.
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And of course the backdrop to what may or may not be reliable information is that fact that Mr. Mohammed did not give up this information because his interrogators kept saying “Please” for 4 years. Surely another reason his confession is being paraded out in public - in violation of the norms of warfare which are to spare prisoners of war ‘public humiliation’, and isn’t it the Bush Administration that keeps on insisting this is a “WAR”? - is to set the next stage in their erosion of the thresholds against torture. “See,” the apologists of that which they say they are fighting against will now say, “our methods are vital - we’ve got the number one operational mastermind of Al Qaeda to tell all”. Sure, after the kind of stress on the human constitution that has likely reduced him to the other side of sanity. And did it save lives? The capture, simply, has undoubtedly. But the torture? Not likely. All of the souls tortured by regimes to date that have used the rationale of necessity (to save lives) no doubt outnumber the numbers actually saved, likely by great orders of magnitude. Any real such numbers we can never know, but the ‘ticking time bomb’ scenario works its wonders, including the wonder that few seem to reflect that justifications for torture are always about the ‘foreign’ terrorist, for whom it is deemed acceptable in mainstream US discourse now to do what it takes to get information and save lives. But do they reflect upon whether they would themselves want to retain the protection of being innocent until proven guilty? Do any of them say of an American citizen arrested on suspicion of terrorism, “well, torture him and see what we get out of him?” “But this is war” is the response. Well, guess what? The laws of war presume that prisoners have useful information - in fact, we all KNOW they do. Any soldier could at the minimum say where his regiment might be attacking next. And guess what? The rules of war still forbid the torturing of prisoners, let alone mistreatment. Thus the Bush Administration’s attempt to define those it captures as neither prisoners of war, nor criminals entitled to due process - they are, in short, defined out of human existence. With no body of law that thus need apply. Would that they could get away with such lawlessness in pursuit of the rest of their agenda, not that they haven’t had disturbing successes no one could have dreamed they would have gotten away with but 6 years ago, from outing their own spies (traitors) to spying on their own people in the most brazen violation of a clear law one could limagine. Quite a sight to watch the devolution of the world’s most powerful democracy into nothing less than authoritarianism. At the least, you’d think the Republicans would be smart enough not to set up an absolutist presidency that could be turned over to Hilary or that other fella they’re not exactly going to be wanting in office. Stay tuned….
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the bad muslims…..
saying george carlin is better than black is like pointing out that the sky is blue…though carlin hit is stride and has since slowed down….except for Jersey Girl…that was art.
wow….
ummm Matt….it’s been a while since i commented and far be it from me to say how the site should be run but out of curiosity - why are you entertaining this circus?