A Win In The War On Terror
May 04, 2006
"America, you lost, you lost," gloated Zacarias Moussaoui, fists clenched in triumph. He's wrong, and here's why.
Moussaoui all but begged for martyrdom. In the death-penalty phase of the prosecution against him he sounded like the prosecution's star witness. Many observers were sure the Algerian-born terrorist would be executed. Moussaoui had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
But a jury saw through the scam, and considered such factors as his troubled youth and a history of psychosis in his family in deciding against the death penalty. Put another way, the jury considered the character of the crime and the character of the defendant, and decided Moussaoui was damaged goods and that it would be unjust to kill him.
That's no victory for Moussaoui. The man who wanted to be hated was, in fact, pitied. A jury of ordinary people heard testimony about the horror of 9-11, and no doubt recalled their own fears and anxieties arising from that day. Then that jury deliberated, calmly, and without letting passion and prejudice foul their judgment. The result was not a decision to respond to hate with hate, but to understand.
This verdict is one of the most hopeful things I have seen since 9-11. We've been stampeding around under the lash of fear-mongers for five years, and now, suddenly, a group of ordinary folks have said "enough is enough."
Even Moussaoui knew this was no win. All his fist pumping and trash talking at trial took place after the judge and jury had left the room. Even he had respect for the decorum of the court, showing that at some level the notion of the rule of law is not foreign to him.
Moussaoui is now destined to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. It is a sad but necessary outcome.
We won an important battle in the war on terror with the Moussaoui verdict. Call it a triumph over fear and hate.