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John Kozubik - john@kozubik.com - http://www.kozubik.com
On the morning of September 11, I was awakened by my alarm clock telling me of an airplane flying into one of the towers of the world trade center. Although I had been to New York City many times, I had never visited those twin towers, but I had an idea of what they looked like. I imagined the scene of a private plane - some propellor driven machine whose pilot had suffered a heart attack. Perhaps a publicity stunt gone horribly wrong.
I thought to myself what a mess it would be, and pondered the nightmare of looking up from the sidewalk and seeing fallen wreckage falling onto the New York City streets.
As I finished dressing I heard the words "commercial jet liner". Then the crash of the second plane into the other tower was reported. I ate a small breakfast as the president addressed the nation from a public school he was speaking at. I had to get to work.
Joe Biden's Defense Department approved a plea deal Wednesday for three of the conspirators behind the attacks of September 11, 2001. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will enter pleas before the military commission at Guantanamo Bay next week. //
The Pentagon announcement Wednesday didn’t include details, but a person familiar with the deal said that it involved a life sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty, but the torture of the defendants while in Central Intelligence Agency custody had clouded proceedings for years. //
President Biden learned of the plea bargain Wednesday, a National Security Council spokesman said.
“The president and the White House played no role in this process. The president has directed his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter,” the spokesman said. //
The only reason we are going through this is because of a direct usurpation of congressional power by a crazed Anthony Kennedy and four fellow travelers. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 specifically placed review of the act outside the purview of the Supreme Court as allowed by Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the US Constitution: "with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make." The actions of the Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush should have resulted in Bush telling Kennedy to take a long walk on a short pier, and impeachment proceedings should have been brought against every federal judge who agreed to touch the case. But, alas, that would have required courage.
So, the final curtain is coming down on 9/11 and the Global War on Terror. Thanks to the Defense Department's total lack of transparency, it looks like that curtain will go down with as much controversy as when it came up.