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Thursday, May 15, 2008

And here I thought Zacarias Moussaoui was the 20th hijacker
Posted by Jill | 5:48 AM
How many 20th hijackers have there been now?

And the Bush record of bringing those responsible for 9/11 continues apace. Charges against another suspect have been dropped because of the Bush torture policy:

U.S. authorities have long considered Mohammed al-Qahtani one of the most dangerous alleged terrorists in U.S. custody, a man who could have been the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, plot if he had not been denied entry into the country.

But yesterday, amid concerns about using information obtained during abusive military interrogations, a top Pentagon official removed Qahtani from the military commission case meant to bring justice to those behind the vast Sept. 11 conspiracy.

Susan J. Crawford, the appointed official who decides which cases will be heard in the largely untested commission process, dismissed the charges against Qahtani while affirming those against five other alleged terrorists to stand trial at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Prosecutors reserve the right to charge Qahtani again, and the military says it can hold him without trial for the duration of the counterterrorism wars. But his defense lawyers and officials familiar with the case say it is unlikely that Qahtani will face new charges because he was subjected to aggressive Defense Department interrogation techniques -- such as intimidation by dogs, hooding, nudity, long-term isolation and stress positions.

Those techniques were later rescinded because of concerns about their legality. In 2005, an official military investigation concluded that Qahtani's interrogation regimen amounted to abuse.

Officials close to the case said Crawford's office was reluctant to sanction the charges against Qahtani because prosecutors had little evidence against him outside of his own coerced confessions, a point that most certainly would have become a central issue at trial.

"Their case was only based on evidence derived from torture," said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, who represents Qahtani. "In six-plus years, the evidence comes down to what they beat out of him. The prosecution evidence was entirely unreliable and inadmissible."

Crawford has not commented publicly since taking over as the top official for military commissions, and a Pentagon spokesman said yesterday she has not explained her decision. Officials close to the case said the office's top legal adviser, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, concluded in an analysis that Qahtani's case was too weak to prosecute.

"Decisions relating to joining several accused are based upon such factors as the nature of the offenses, the evidence and applicable rules of procedure," said Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.

"My guess is that they will never charge him at all," said Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, a lawyer with the Heritage Foundation and former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs. "It may be next to impossible to prove a case against him without what came out of his mouth."


And this is why torture makes a mockery of the legal system. But then, we have a president and an Administration who have made a mockery of the legal system, the offices they hold, the Constitution, and the nation. This is just one of their many travesties.

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