Mr Al-Qaeda
‘HOW we love celebrity. While the trials of OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson filled the newssheets, Zacarias Moussaouis moment in court is no big deal, a footnote to come after Oscar news and Tessa Jowell.
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Moussaoui is the only person in America so far charged over the 9/11 attacks on New York. And since he was locked behind bars in 2001, the 37-year-old French citizen of Moroccan descent has been waiting for what he must have thought would be his big moment.
And to ratchet up his reputation, Moussaoui has already pleaded guilty to six counts, three of which carry the death penalty, as the Indy reports.
So there he is in a courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, preparing to say something that will guarantee him a warped kind of fame in both the heartlands of Islamic extremism and America.
In response to the charge that he failed to warn authorities of the plot to hijack four passenger aircraft and fly them into landmark buildings, Moussaoui will seize his chance to be a somebody and claim it was all his idea. He knew everything. His name will live long after his death. This is the man who has stood before the court and said: ‘I am al-Qa’eda.’ He thinks big.
Only, he denies any prior knowledge of the 9/11 plot. Edward MacMahon, Moussaouis court-appointed lawyer, wants the jury to take a look at the man.
As the Telegraph says, McMahon wants the jury to see Moussaoui as a naive dreamer, and that he had no link to the September 11 attacks. ‘That is Zacarias Moussaoui in a nutshell,’ says MacMahon. ‘Sound and fury signifying nothing.’
Is talking about how bad a man you are the same as being one? Of course it is not.
(British police might like to consider this as they question four Bradford University students arrested last Friday night on suspicion of involvement with the al-Qa’ida network.)
So what do we make of Moussaoui, whose fate is being decided by a jury required to answer the following question: should the accused be put to death by lethal injection or imprisoned for life?
Jail him for the duration of his natural and forget about him? Or let the State kill him and run the risk of turning him into a martyr.
As MacMahon puts it: Please don’t make him a hero. He just doesn’t deserve it. But what does he deserve?’
Posted: 7th, March 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
