He gets to keep breathing, albeit from the putrified air of a notorious max security prison. Apparently the jury believed there were mitigating circumstances, among them his seemingly marginal role in the 9/11 plot.
Indeed, his dedication as a Mujahadeen should come under suspicion now. Despite all his earlier rhetoric supporting the cause of international jihad, of which he was gladly willing to die for, his parting words were, “America, you lost. I won“. Some martyr.
The jury found that he wasn’t crazy, and claims they didn’t allow him to live because he begged to die. Looking back on similar terrorist cases in America, shoe bomber Richard Reid and Murrah conspirator Terry Nichols, likely Moussaoui’s future prison-mates, both received life sentences. World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef also got life despite killing six and hoping to kill sixty thousand. Meanwhile Murrah trigger man Tim McVeigh got the chair. Terrorism verdicts can be weird.
However, we are talking about the only suspect on trial for 9/11. It’s likely the phrase “mitigating circumstances” will stick in the craw of more than a few family members. And yep, he probably scammed the court (and some little-known pundits) by his eleventh hour dramatics about wanting to die, but as stated, that seems to prove his small time stature. Personally, I’m ok with the verdict based on his overall importance to the movement, which was small.
If there’s a silver lining to a life sentence it’s that we’ll probably never hear from him again, whereas a death sentence would keep him in the news for years through the appeals process, etc. Either way the taxpayers are saddled with the bill. Considering all the options, perhaps this is the best way to take care of people like Moussaoui in the future.
