« Negotiating PositionsMarch 15, 2003 »

“We Are Jackals Fighting In The Nights”

UPDATE: in a revised transcript released today, Khalid Sheik Mohammed confesses to the murder of Daniel Pearl: 

“I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan.”

Twisted dreams of death and destruction on a massive scale, boiled down into a fascinating but utterly dry, bureaucratic and soulless document, little more detailed than a to-do list with several big items checked off.   It starts with courtroom boilerplate and bickering, gets down to business with the confession. Then, we get to Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s perverted vision of himself, some high-minded rot.

ABC posts a pdf of 30 operations Khalid Sheik Mohammed confessed to.  Apparently he was singing like a bird, or they were aware from other sources of a lot of things that he was persuaded to admit to.  Al-Qaeda, post-911, doesn’t look so good.  Very busy with a lot of big plans, most of which didn’t get anywhere.  Some familiar, many not.  If they had accomplished half, or a quarter of this list, they could have had 10 times the effect on our economy and lives that 911 had.

Counterterrorism blog has a good quality pdf of the entire hearing here.  Lists of evidence, and some dickering over exactly what he admitted to in an al-Jazeera interview back in the ‘Stan, and other matters that seem irrelevant when you see what he is not contesting. He’s either very particular about the facts or has a strategy to incrementally diminish his own importance.  Maybe it’s true what they say about clever criminals, full of pride, unable to shut up. 

Nothing here tells us how advanced most of these plans were, how broad and deep were the networks involved in any aspects of them.  What he did, where he did it, who he spoke to and how he spoke to them, what they did, how they did it.  Who among them any of us might have crossed paths with, how close any of us might have come to any of this. 

A lot of that detail would tell al-Qaeda way too much about what our people know, but this document alone is a treasure trove that could allow them considerable ability to triangulate and figure out what KSM has said, and what others have said.  It may even include messages to them, for all we know. 

Page 21 of the full pdf, he professes his Islamic faith in lieu of an oath, states that his unwillingness to take an oath does not mean he is lying, because as he puts it with a dig at the tribunal’s president, taking an oath doesn’t mean you’re not lying. And then a ramble in broken English, where the detainee presents his own ennobled view of himself:

“What I wrote here, is not I’m making myself hero, when I said I am responsible for this or for that. But your are military man. You know very well there are language for any war. So … when I’m admitting these things I’m not saying I not did it. I did it but this is the language of any war. If America they want to invade Iraq they will not send of Saddam roses or kisses they send for a bombardment.  This is the best way if I want. If I’m fighting for anybody admit to them I’m American enemies. For sure I’m American enemies … So when we made any war against America we are jackals fighting in the nights … so we derive for religious leading that we consider we and George washington doing the same thing. As consider George washington as hero. Muslims many of them are considering Usama bin Laden. He is doing same thing … Terrorists, enemy combatants. All these are definitions as CIA you can make whatever you want … Because war, for sure, there will be victims. When I said I’m not happy that 3,000 been killed in America. I feel sorry even. I don’t like to kill children and the kids. Never Islam are, give me the green light to kill peoples. Killing, as in the Christianity, Jews, an dIslam are prohibited. But there are exception of rule when  you are killing people in Iraq. You said we have to do it … Same thing you are saying. Same language you use, I use.”

All stirring and wonderful, reasonable. It’s all a matter of language and perspective. We’re really just the same. Until you remember that virtually all his intended targets in the Twin Towers were civilians.  Every one of his intended targets in Bali and Mombasa was an innocent vacationer.  All his targets on all those airplanes.  It is inequivocably murder carried out not to achieve any military objective, rather for whatever political or symply psychological advantage and economic damage might be achieved by terror and chaos. He did it to impress people. He wraps himself in history and distortion and calls it war. It is revolting, and it is bullshit, but it is his right. He is allowed to speak and say whatever he wants in advance of the judgments that await him.  And we can look at this vile filth, and consider it for what it is worth.

So we’ve had it, this initial legal step in the establishment of Mohammed as someone who can be held indefinitely as an enemy combatant, and possibly, as someone who can be punished for his role as an unlawful combatant in the murder of thousands of innocent people, and the intended murder of untold thousands more.

ABC Blotter’s take here.

Hot Air’s roundup notes the odd omission of Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder in the admissions, though there is a later confusing reference by KSM.

Defenselink here. 

AP’s report here.

Topics: GWOT, al qaeda

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:05 am on Thursday, March 15, 2007

16 Responses to ““We Are Jackals Fighting In The Nights””

1. Mooseman Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 2:15 am

   “states that his unwillingness to take an oath does not mean he is lying, because as he puts it with a dig at the court president, taking an oath doesn’t mean you’re not lying.”

   Maybe I was reading it wrong(your statement or the transcript), but I didn’t think he said anything about the tribunal president in that statement, other than trying to get across that he would tell the truth even though he didn’t take an oath.

   I did think he was making a comment about the former President of the US when he says “You know the President he did this before he just makes his oath and he lied”.

   I’ve been known to be wrong in the past, so correct me if I am now.

2. bdfaith Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 2:42 am

   Think Uncle Sugar could have some pigskin rope manufactured for special situations like this?

3. Bill's Bites Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 2:44 am

   Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses

   KSM: I’m The Mastermind Behind AQEd MorrisseyThe military tribunal of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed turned into a brag-fest, as the captured terrorist took credit for almost every attack al-Qaeda has attempted. His admitted work goes back to 1993 and the first

4. Sister Toldjah » KSM’s confessional Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 9:01 am

   [...] more links and commentary via Jules Crittenden here. Posted By: Sister Toldjah in: War on Terror, Gitmo, September 11 | EMail This Post | Print [...]

5. Macsmind - Conservative Commentary and Common Sense Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 10:08 am

   Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses to masterminding the 9/11 attacks

   He confessed!

   “WASHINGTON (AP) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wedn…

6. The Thunder Run Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 11:06 am

   Web Reconnaissance for 03/15/2007

   A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.

7. RebeccaH Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

   So, as he’s confessed, and when he is no longer useful, can we hang him?

8. Jay Reding.com - KSM’s Confession Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

   [...] al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shiek Mohammed has confessed to dozens of terrorist plots, including the September 11 attacks. KSM apparently had his hands in everything from attempts to attack Big Ben and Canary Wharf in [...]

9. Wake up America Says:
   March 15th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

   9/11 Mastermind Confesses

   Then we have Rosie O’Donnell ( Hat Tip to Hot Air, who has the video at that link) with the typical left wing insanity that I am sure as this story progresses today, we will see much more of from others that just “don’t get it”.

10. Collective(ist) suicide | Cold Fury Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    [...] we’re awaiting the deluge, Crittenden has something to say too: All stirring and wonderful, reasonable. It’s all a matter of language and perspective. [...]

11. saltydog Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

    I wonder if this constitutes enough evidence for the apologists that this bastard is an “enemy combatant?” Or, that he is guilty of mass murder, and conspiracy to commit mass murder under any objective law, if one thinks of this as a police problem? Is his own prideful confession enough? Or will they come up with more reasons to countenance this thug–and thus, having no further honest demur, damn themselves forever to the camp of the enemy?

    I own a yardarm and hereby offer it for the hanging. Granted, it isn’t the highest yardarm, but it’s high enough to get the job done.

12. The HILL Chronicles » Blog Archive » Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one sick Bastard Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

    [...] Jules Crittenden wrote  about this evil and barbaric poor excuse of a human being: Twisted dreams of death and destruction on a massive scale, boiled down into a fascinating but utterly dry, bureaucratic and soulless document, little more detailed than a to-do list with several big items checked off. It starts with courtroom boilerplate and bickering, gets down to business with the confession. Then, we get to Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s perverted vision of himself, some high-minded rot. [...]

13. Dave Surls Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 9:20 pm

    President Roosevelt had the right idea when it came to dealing with spies, saboteurs and terrorists…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Quirin

    Note that the German saboteurs were captured in June 1942, put on trial in July 1942 and executed in August of 1942.

    It’s way past time we quit screwing around, and started providing swift, and sure justice against these Islamo-scumbags who are a thousand times worse than any German saboteurs.

    There’s only one way to deal with scum like Khalid: Fry the bastard.

14. Webloggin - Blog Archive » Khalid is One Sick Bastard Says:
    March 16th, 2007 at 9:32 am

    [...] Jules Crittenden wrote about this evil and barbaric poor excuse of a human being: Twisted dreams of death and destruction on a massive scale, boiled down into a fascinating but utterly dry, bureaucratic and soulless document, little more detailed than a to-do list with several big items checked off. It starts with courtroom boilerplate and bickering, gets down to business with the confession. Then, we get to Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s perverted vision of himself, some high-minded rot. [...]

15. Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10024 at No Man’s Blog Says:
    March 16th, 2007 at 1:25 pm

    [...] Jules Crittenden [...]

16. Reverse_Vampyr Says:
    March 16th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

    The Left: standing up with, and for, terrorists

    Our war against the militant Islamists who want to destroy America is hard enough without the assistance of the backstabbers who occupy the far Left. Anyone who thinks al-Qaeda are misunderstood or are on par with our founding fathers needs to have t…

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