I’m a little behind the curve here since this is almost old news now but a couple days ago, the BBC website (as well as CNN, Fox News and the others) was plastered with news that Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind to the 9/11 attacks, had confessed to his crimes. I was a little tickled to see this as the man was arrested some four years ago. Arrested perhaps isn’t the right word since it generally applies if the suspect is in custody awaiting his day in a court of law. In this case, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed (KSM henceforth) had been held at undisclosed locations (by US intelligence in former East Bloc countries, Pakistan and some Arab states, a process lovingly called extraordinary rendition) for some 1400+ days before news of his confession broke forth.
Now let’s all be clear, there is no doubt in my mind KSM is a dirty terrorist (he is Pakistani, studied under several fanatical personalities, took part in the mujahadeen war against Russian forces in Afghanistan, has made contact with Osama Bin Laden, was active in Al-Qaeda and so on). I do, however, sincerely doubt the veracity of the facts put forth by the White House and KSM’s interrogating team.
They would have us believe that in addition to confessing to planning the 9/11 attacks, KSM also said he masterminded the foiled attack by the Shoe Bomber (Richard Reid), personally beheaded the reporter Daniel Pearl (which incidentally was omitted from the original transcript of his confession but subsequently released), attacks on Heathrow airport, the Empire State building, the 2002 Bali bombing, an attack on a Kenyan hotel and the Panama Canal, assassination attempts against the former Pope and President Musharraf and more. 5cents has learned from reliable sources within the CIA that KSM also confessed to being the creator of baby-sacrifice to gain sexual prowess, the practice of growing a coat of body hair to make guerilla warfare more like gorilla warfare, and apparently once sodomized Satan at a brothel in downtown Jalalabad.
In short, KSM would appear to be evil incarnate, a Dr. Evil of sorts. I’m actually surprised he didn’t ask for one billion gazillion dollars (cue Dr. Evil voice) at some point. Some people say torture as a means of extracting information is necessary in these times of war. For starters, most of us on the planet are not at war. Secondly, under no circumstances can it be assumed that torture will result in credible information. If you’ve ever had a younger sibling who your tortured (or rather gave a nookie to until he/she confessed) you know the only information forthcoming is what you want to hear as opposed to the actual truth.
What I struggle to believe is that the White House actually expects most of us to fall for this crock of shit. I mean, how stupid do they think the general populace is? Accepting confessions under torture (or any other form of duress) is tantamount to admitting that the current legal system in place (court of law, trial before your peers) is only for the “good guys” and the “baddies” are damned from the start. It’s all so reminiscent of the McCarthy purges from the 1950s. Either way, KSM should be locked up for a long time, but let’s not get carried away with what he supposedly confessed to. Remember, Osama is still at large and no one knows where the fuck the smug bastard is. And let’s not forget how this unholy mess all started; a search for nuclear weapons.
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