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Moussaoui on death, in the manner of his choosing
By Adam Samuel Hamilton Smyth
Posted: March 29, 2006
fifth plane into the White House on September 11, it must have seemed
like a dream come true to the prosecution team. Immediately the justice
seriousness of the offence.
airwaves hummed with the probability that the good people of Virginia’s
justice system would hand down death penalty, in accordance with the
seriousness of the offence.
Moussaoui embodies the only current, tangible opportunity the US has
for catharsis in the aftermath of the hijackings, and here he now is
offering himself up for far more than the justice system was ever going
to be able to pin on him, and convicting himself of a capital offence, too.
There are two problems, though, with this strange turn of events (not
including the disgraceful performance of Moussaoui’s lawyers, who
tried to prevent the accused from speaking, in the full knowledge that
this might give him enough rope to hang himself).
The first is whether or not his claim is true. Until now, Moussaoui was a
bit-player in the unfolding story of al-Qaeda and its decade’s or so of
anti-American attacks, undoubtedly involved in preparations for 9/11, but
hardly a mastermind or lynchpin of the attacks. With this latest
revelation, he has propelled himself into limelight, and stated that the
White House too was a target, suggesting a by-now unsurprising
comprehensiveness in al-Qaeda’s choice of targets: the centre of US
defence and military planning, the iconic home of global capitalism, and
now the Presidency, too.
Second, if he was going to derive any benefit from his time in court, it
was going to be thus. We should not forget the familiar, young, radical
German who pleaded guilty to high treason in 1924, got his chance to
speak out in court and made his political career on the opportunity. But
unlike the young Hitler, Moussaoui knew he had no chance of winning
over his judges, least of all by contributing to the case against him with
confessions of far more serious crimes than those for which he was
already on trial.
So why put himself in this position, knowing the only possible
sentences would be life-imprisonment or death?
There can only be one answer: martyrdom. The life of a failed suicide-
bomber cannot be a particularly fulfilling one, and it offers little by way of
immortal glory. But the death of a jihadist, albeit one not on active duty,
can at least give oxygen to the Islamist flame and act as a recruiting
sergeant for future foot-soldiers. Evidently not afraid to die, Zakarias
Moussaoui would have his death, and if not at the time then at least in
the manner of his choosing.
Like Eliot’s Thomas Becket, he seeks to meet his maker in a way that
only his enemies can grant him. We must hope that the powers that be
in Virginia see through this obvious last-ditch effort and that, however
strong (and inevitable, and pardonable) the desire for the iron fist of
justice, wiser heads prevail.
Killing Zacarias, justified though that may be, will be counter-productive.
What is more, if the Virginians pursue this blood-letting to its logical
end, the US will have to execute Moussaoui on home soil, an act which
will be perceived – by those who wish to - as a significant escalation in
the ongoing conflict.
What radical Islam needs, if it is to achieve its religious and political
ends, is publicity, never better achieved than by the spectacular deaths
of martyrs to the cause. By denying him his martyrdom the state of
Virginia will inflict on him the worst punishment he could face, that of
irrelevant anonymity. And for those who fear that he might spend his
time in prison generating cells of Islamist hardliners, solitary
confinement provides an obvious solution.
### ### ###
Adam Samuel Hamilton Smyth is a student of MA in Intelligence and
International Security at King's College, London. He blogs at http:
//nonanglisedangeli.blogspot.com
By Adam Samuel Hamilton Smyth
Posted: March 29, 2006
fifth plane into the White House on September 11, it must have seemed
like a dream come true to the prosecution team. Immediately the justice
seriousness of the offence.
airwaves hummed with the probability that the good people of Virginia’s
justice system would hand down death penalty, in accordance with the
seriousness of the offence.
Moussaoui embodies the only current, tangible opportunity the US has
for catharsis in the aftermath of the hijackings, and here he now is
offering himself up for far more than the justice system was ever going
to be able to pin on him, and convicting himself of a capital offence, too.
There are two problems, though, with this strange turn of events (not
including the disgraceful performance of Moussaoui’s lawyers, who
tried to prevent the accused from speaking, in the full knowledge that
this might give him enough rope to hang himself).
The first is whether or not his claim is true. Until now, Moussaoui was a
bit-player in the unfolding story of al-Qaeda and its decade’s or so of
anti-American attacks, undoubtedly involved in preparations for 9/11, but
hardly a mastermind or lynchpin of the attacks. With this latest
revelation, he has propelled himself into limelight, and stated that the
White House too was a target, suggesting a by-now unsurprising
comprehensiveness in al-Qaeda’s choice of targets: the centre of US
defence and military planning, the iconic home of global capitalism, and
now the Presidency, too.
Second, if he was going to derive any benefit from his time in court, it
was going to be thus. We should not forget the familiar, young, radical
German who pleaded guilty to high treason in 1924, got his chance to
speak out in court and made his political career on the opportunity. But
unlike the young Hitler, Moussaoui knew he had no chance of winning
over his judges, least of all by contributing to the case against him with
confessions of far more serious crimes than those for which he was
already on trial.
So why put himself in this position, knowing the only possible
sentences would be life-imprisonment or death?
There can only be one answer: martyrdom. The life of a failed suicide-
bomber cannot be a particularly fulfilling one, and it offers little by way of
immortal glory. But the death of a jihadist, albeit one not on active duty,
can at least give oxygen to the Islamist flame and act as a recruiting
sergeant for future foot-soldiers. Evidently not afraid to die, Zakarias
Moussaoui would have his death, and if not at the time then at least in
the manner of his choosing.
Like Eliot’s Thomas Becket, he seeks to meet his maker in a way that
only his enemies can grant him. We must hope that the powers that be
in Virginia see through this obvious last-ditch effort and that, however
strong (and inevitable, and pardonable) the desire for the iron fist of
justice, wiser heads prevail.
Killing Zacarias, justified though that may be, will be counter-productive.
What is more, if the Virginians pursue this blood-letting to its logical
end, the US will have to execute Moussaoui on home soil, an act which
will be perceived – by those who wish to - as a significant escalation in
the ongoing conflict.
What radical Islam needs, if it is to achieve its religious and political
ends, is publicity, never better achieved than by the spectacular deaths
of martyrs to the cause. By denying him his martyrdom the state of
Virginia will inflict on him the worst punishment he could face, that of
irrelevant anonymity. And for those who fear that he might spend his
time in prison generating cells of Islamist hardliners, solitary
confinement provides an obvious solution.
### ### ###
Adam Samuel Hamilton Smyth is a student of MA in Intelligence and
International Security at King's College, London. He blogs at http:
//nonanglisedangeli.blogspot.com
| (c) 2006 New Criterion Foundation, London |