This was a man who was complicit in the murder of nearly 3000 people. There wasn't much question of guilt as he openly proclaimed it. Frankly, he deserves to be executed. Can't help but agree with Peggy Noonan here, this seems to be a 'dizzy failure of nerve'.
This is what the jury announced yesterday. They did not doubt Moussaoui was guilty of conspiracy. They did not doubt his own testimony as to his guilt. They did not think he was incapable of telling right from wrong. They did not find him insane. They did believe, however, that he had had an unstable childhood, that his father was abusive and then abandoning, and that as a child, in his native France, he'd suffered the trauma of being exposed to racial slurs.As I listened to the court officer read the jury's conclusions yesterday I thought: This isn't a decision, it's a non sequitur.
And yet they chose a lesser punishment. I'm not one of those calling for him to be drawn and quartered. I'm completely fine if he doesn't suffer at all. Gas chamber or lethal injection are fine with me. But he really does deserve to be put down. If any case calls for execution, it's this one.
But isn't life in prison really a harsher penalty? That really doesn't matter to me. I wasn't looking for the worst thing I could do to him, I wanted the most appropriate measure of justice. When there is no doubt of guilt and the crime was heinous, the most appropriate answer is execution. That's my honest opinion. I wouldn't use the death penalty in a knee-jerk fashion but this case calls for it.
But won't we just be turning him into a martyr? Possibly. But let's do a little thought experiment here. Imagine that you're a recruiter for terrorists. What would you do in this situation? If he's executed, you present him as a martyr. If he's not executed you present America as soft. 'Don't worry if they catch you, they're too weak to kill you.' Either way it's folly to make this type of decision based on how it'll be represented by your enemies. They will always twist your words and actions to their own benefit.
I expect his time in prison will be short anyway. It wouldn't surprise me to hear about another prisoner killing Moussaoui. Nor would I shed a tear. Is it wrong that I hope it happens before the inevitable book deal?
2 comments:
I am fairly certain you are right and he will be executed in prison by fellow prisoners soon enough. That is what seems to usually happen.
I disagree with you though about execution. I think death for him is WAY too easy. I'd much rather know that he is living in a tiny box, with virtually no human communication or interaction and left to think that he failed because he wasn't turned into a martyr...I can't spell that word..hmph.
I think his last outburst in court was a bluff. He would've much rather died.
I really do hope that his human contact is very very minimal.
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