The jury quite correctly spared Zacarias Moussaoui the death penalty–denying him the martyrdom he sought–and instead sentenced him to life in prison.
Please, please, PLEASE put him in with the general population. Whoever makes these kinds of decisions, please, do it. Put him in with the rest of the criminals. I’m sure the punishments they’d come up with for him would be far less merciful than the death penalty would have been.
PAD
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I am opposed to the death penalty. I also think this case was decided correctly. (Not mutually exclusive, I could only say that I would not have executed Timothy McVay because of my belief, but within the law, as it stands, he certainly deserved the death sentence)
But my question is PAD, if you don’t think he should get the death sentence, but wish to put him in a place he will certainly get killed, isn’t that the same thing?
It seems like Bush sending prisoners to countries where they will be tortured and then saying “we don’t torture.”
Either you think he deserves death or you don’t.
Jeez, why let the inmates in genpop kill him? Then we can’t trot him out annually for the terrorist version of “don’t do drugs” commercials. Hey everyone, look at the scruffy man in the cell. He’ll still be there next year too! Don’t be the scruffy man.
I am soooooooooo thankful for this verdict. I really didn’t want to live in a nation where one could be put to death for not telling the FBI everything they wanted to know.
I agree w/ u, PAD
Joe V.
I think he needs to be locked away in a manner, where his presence and message are never heard from again. I don’t want to see him trotted out yearly like Charles Manson for some 20/20 “exclusive interview” where he gets the attention he so desires.
Peter, my initial impulse on hearing the decision was pretty much the same as yours, but frankly I’m not all that sure that he couldn’t find a couple of like-minded fellow prisoners who might help assure that his throat wasn’t cut in the first week or two. But after thinking about it, I’m a lot happier with the idea that he’s going to spend life imprisonment in solitary, with just an hour a day out of his cell. That way, he doesn’t become a martyr to the cause, nor does he get to espouse his political beliefs to anyone but himself. I couldn’t think of a better fate.
I think I heard that he’ll be serving his sentence in solitary.
Whatever, he’ll probably be an old man by the time he gets to his 72 virgins.
No one’s calling Peter a God-and-America-Hating Liberal. I have hope.
What I don’t get is why the verdict didn’t say what everyone else is thinking. The man deserves to die. Painfully. But my thoughts are that he’s being forced to live because (with the exception of righteously angry families of 9/11 victims and a not-so-sensible government) no one wants him to achieve martyrdom.
Ultimately, however, I think what I want to see is that whatever punishment is forced upon him gets him to realize that what he did, what his friends did, and what he believes is wrong. The man isn’t a warrior for Islam, he’s a slave to evil but only he can free himself.
He would not have been considered a martyr. He would have been regarded as a fool who was caught and put to death by the enemy.
He should be put to death.
He will now be used for bargaining purposes. If his freedom is ever, somehow, secured by our enemies through means of negotiation he will be punished (murdered).
I am satisified with the decision.Not that I am opposed to the Death penalty under certain circumstances.My problem with the case from the beginning was it seemed we wanted to execute this guy for not cooperating with the FBI.
Maybe I am naive but he is a bad guy,this isnt comics books and movies where the villain tells his evil plan for the good guys to thwart.Maybe if some more attention was paid to warnings ,intel ,and other evidence they would have known what he was up to.
Any who here is hoping he fades away into oblivion and obscurity to never be heard from again.
I’d like to see him get the Josh Lyman sentence.
What he wants, what many of us want him to have, and what he actually deserves…well, that’s the three-edged sword right there.
For myself, I’ll say this: he got not what he wanted, but what he deserved. May he remain trapped in obscurity thereby until the day he realizes the true nature of his choices and acts(if he ever does).
I’m incredibly surprised. I would have thought that the country as a whole would be obsessed with death as vengeance. Live and learn.
(For the record, I oppose the death penalty for many reasons, but I was convinced that there was no way in hëll that he’d be spared the death penalty. Let him be forgotten; let all murderers rot in obscurity.)
Tom, I just re-read “Isaac and Ishmael”. There is a certain temptation and poetry in that idea…but humanity will, I suspect, have to forgo both.
I would have had a difficult time giving him the death penalty as well–he seems crazy. Not crazy in the crazy evil Bin Laden way, just crazy in the “Voices tell me to blow up things” way. A figure to be pitied. Were he a rabid dog we’d shoot him, without any fanfare but being human we should let him live.
Anyone who is upset over his “I won and America lost!” decleration–don’t be. He would have had the same or similar statement had he gotten the death penalty. He’s been performing the Zacarias Moussaoui Show and the worst thing that can happen to him now is to stop being the center of attention. Solitary will be hëll for him. Don’t be surprised if he occasionally pops up in the news claiming to be willing to give more information, anything to get a little attention again.
This is kind of an aside, but I’m beginning to dislike the idea that prisoners should be doling out justice that the courts didn’t see fit to. Like wanting someone to kill Moussaoui, depsite the fact that he didn’t get the death penalty. If he should be killed as a result of his crimes, he should be killed by the State. If he shouldn’t be killed by the State, he shouldn’t be killed by a prisoner.
Similarly, pretty much every cop show I see these days practically gloats over the idea that the Bad Guy will be raped when he gets put in jail. It’s almost like it’s supposed to be a part of the punishment – “You will be taken from this place to a place of confinement, where you will be traded for cigarettes by your new cellmante”.
Quite frankly, prisons shouldn’t be places where murderers get to murder, and rapists get to rape.
Anyway, ObTopic: Moussaoui bad man, life-without-possibility right sentence, justice done.
If Moussaoui is killed in prison, there will be a tsk-tsk prosecution and conviction about how this isn’t the American way and shame that someone took matters in their own hands.
Pul-leeze. Stop Two-Minute Hating on someone and be shocked that someone goes over the top when they don’t get ‘the justice they deserve’.
BTW, Moussaoui is a warm live body which can be put in jail. If we could reanimate any of the hijackers so that we could execute them, we would.
Well, a local news company is saying Moussaoui will spend the rest of his days in solitary confinment at a federal prison here in Colorado.
So, no such luck.
Although, considering he wanted to be made a martyr, and we’re not going to do that, this is probably for the best.
Which makes me wonder, since we’re not making him a martyr, how we “lost”, as he said yesterday.
I’d have no trouble giving him his martyrdom.
“You want to be a martyr?”
“Yes, for Al…”
BLAM
“Anyone else want to be a martyr?”
“I d…”
BLAM. BLAM.
“Any more?”
Which makes me wonder, since we’re not making him a martyr, how we “lost”, as he said yesterday.
In his eyes, we lost either way.
In the eyes of the world, we lost, because we’ve sent a clear message to the rest of the terrorists that we’re pûššìëš. We’re the country that wants to be liked. I’d rather go back to being feared.
In the eyes of the world, we lost, because we’ve sent a clear message to the rest of the terrorists that we’re pûššìëš. We’re the country that wants to be liked. I’d rather go back to being feared.
Feh. Killing Moussaoui does nothing to do that. Only an idiot would think that.
Being EFFECTIVE internationally would do that. We are far from that…
The reason animal control officers kill rabid animals, or bears and pumas that develop a taste for human blood, is to prevent future deaths. The same rationale applies to the death penalty for humans, doesn’t it? Individuals who are put to death are seen as particularly heinous killers who probably cannot be rehabilitated, and who, if given the opportunity, would probably not hesitate to kill again. Moussaoui gives every indication that he falls into this category, so it seems that by sparing his life, the state has failed to protect its citizens.
Most of you seem to assume it is Moussaoui who will be on the receiving end of a shiv in prison, but it could very well be him who does the killing. Face it… if he kills a person or two in the slammer, he may end up getting his death penalty — and the martyrdom that he believes that goes with it — after all.
I’d like to see him get the Josh Lyman sentence.
?????
What some people seem to be forgetting about becoming a martyr is that THEY WANT TO DO IT. They WANT to die. They WANT to be a martyr.
Korvar: Amen to that.
Sasha: Check out the script for the West Wing episode “Isaac and Ishmael” for a deeper understanding. Particularly Josh’s comments on a fitting punishment towards the end of the last act. It’s included in Aaron Sorkin’s scriptbook for Seasons 3 and 4 of that series, which should still be available or special-orderable from most bookstores.
1I’m glad that he is denied the chance to die a martyr for his cause. He is an unapologetic monster. He should be shaved(depriving him of his precious beard) and raped in prison for the rest of his days.
Ed Hopper: But my question is PAD, if you don’t think he should get the death sentence, but wish to put him in a place he will certainly get killed, isn’t that the same thing?
Luigi Novi: I don’t think Peter was talking about him being killed. I think he was talking about the other inmates doing a Doctor Light on his terrorist ášš.
Zacarias Moussaoui is a pathetic little man. For someone who has never managed to kill any infidel, he talks pretty large. But that’s all he ever managed to do with his life: talk. Whether his crazy man routine is for real or just an act, he failed at his one chance to be the martyr he supposedly dreamed of being.
I agree with Bill: Toss him in solitary and deny him any media access. Let him rot for the next 50 years wondering how he is going to get his 72 virgins now.
I’d favour a slightly different approach here. Not so much “use the other convicts to do our dirty work” but rather “use martyr-boy as a crash test dummy”. There’s been a lot of talk (hysteria) in the UK media recently about prisoners being released early because they are apparently rehabilitated, and then going on to commit further crimes (rape/murder). So, I’d like to see all the people who are up for early release put in the same cell block with people like Moussaoui. If they kill him, that means that they’re not eligible for release, so they get their sentences extended. If they don’t kill him, that means that they’ve learnt some self-control, so they can be safely released. Either way, the rest of the population is better off.
“Let him rot for the next 50 years wondering how he is going to get his 72 virgins now.”
Editorial cartoon in Canada has him in his cell as guards bring in posters of nubile young ladies. As they are pinning them up on the wall, one guard explains “just a look at some of those 72 virgins you won’t be getting.”