9/11 Defendants Charged by U.S. Military at Gitmo
By James Gordon Meek
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba - A military court at this remote U.S. outpost is in the process of a grinding hearing in which five Sept. 11 plotters are being charged with murdering 2,973 Americans. It’s the first time Al Qaeda “military commander” Khalid Shaikh Mohamed, facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh, USS Cole mastermind Walid Ba Attash, and money men Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi have been seen publicly since their individual captures.
I was in the courtroom for a tour last night and sat in the courtroom observation gallery this morning with about 30 other civilians, who were the first people outside the U.S. government to lay eyes on the defendants since the CIA took custody of them years ago. It was damned chilling to see Mohamed, known as KSM, laughing and holding a thugs’ reunion in the courtroom.
I have posted an early report at the New York Daily News’ website, along with Mouth of the Potomac Blog posts about KSM’s first portrait in five years, the bizarre and eerie experience of sitting in his chair in the courtroom last night, and the admission by a top general that it was “a mistake” to not invite a pool of 9/11 victims’ family members to attend the historic hearing in the politically controversial military commissions.