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The Brian Lehrer Show / June 06, 2008 / Open Phones: Should the U.S. Execute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?
Open Phones: Should the U.S. Execute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?
Friday, June 06, 2008
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who says he planned the 9/11 attacks, was arraigned yesterday in a military courtroom in Guantanamo. He has said he wants to be "martyred." Listeners, what do you think? Should he be put to death? Comment below.
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I don't like the death penalty because it's a free pass. the worse criminals should suffer years in jail and die old and senile, besides he will be claimed as a hero by fundamentalist if my tax dollars kill him.
Absolutely not. The best move is to deny this criminal his martyrdom with life in jail without possibility of parole. I wish our homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh were rotting, forgotten in jail for years to come.
The guy has been tortured in Guantanamo for years-- no wonder he wants to die.
No. I am opposed to the death penalty for anyone - it is one of the few unnuanced positions I take. It is about us - not him.
No. I am opposed to the death penalty for anyone - it is one of the few unnuanced positions I take. It is about us - not him.
If he was going to be executed anyway, then I say do it. If that wasn't on the table, then absolutely not.
I oppose the death penalty -- period. Even some of the Nazi war criminals were _not_ executed.
(By the way, George W. Bush cooked up the plot that has lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Should he be sentenced to death?)
It's not even about giving him what he wants or not, but about #1, not to use the death Penalty at all and #2, because it would energize terrorists all over the world.
This was the same issue with Zacarias Moussaui (sp?). There are plenty of ways to punish someone--particularly, life in prison--without killing them and thus giving them exactly what they want. Look at how Saddam Hussein's reputation in the Muslim world improved when we killed him.
Regardless of any argument, I don't believe anyone has the right to put another person to death.
Don't do it. He just wants attention. Let him live with the knowledge of what he has done. Let's look at the larger picture of how 9/11 was allowed to happen by the Bush administration and is fueling the war. KSM is just a pawn in the powers that be's game. Don't give him the time of day.
The US should not execute Khalis Shaikh Mohammed (KSM). Not becuase he requested and welcomes, but because the state should not be the arbiter of life and death. Life in prison is much worse punishment then an escape through death. Let him rot. On top of that, why would we grant his martydom to fufuil our revenge quota.
No death penalty! Force him to watch Fox News for the rest of his life!
He's probably scared to death what might be done to him in prison. I think he should not be put to death for the reasons you, Brian, gave. Why make him a martyr for the cause? We would be playing right into his/their hands.
We should have his organs harvested and donated to save American lives. Put his death to good use and make sure he knows his death will save american lives.
No, we should make him watch repeats of Maid in Manhattan.
I don't believe in the death penalty, so he should not be executed. I also think it is a much greater punishment for him to stay alive and not meet his desire for martyrdom.
No way...don't give him what he wants. I'm all for the death penalty, but I'd much rather see him sit and rot for years than have him martyred. I can only hope the courts see it the same way...
We shouldn't execute him. There should be a speech about how we are going to do the "bigger thing" and the U.N.'s universal human rights, then he should get 3000 consecutive life sentences, spend life in prison, and, when he finally dies in prison, he should be cremated so he never makes it to heaven.
Why spend money in keeping this crazy person alive? He will be a Martyr to those who are as crazy as him. Give him his wish!!!
Put him in general population in one of those prisons in the middle of California where the Aryan nation brotherhood controls everything.
I'm against the death penalty under any circumstances, including this one. Let's not descend to the urge for vengeance. KSM should get life without parole (as should KBR execs).
He wants to be a martyr, don't let it happen. If any thing we should give him a light sentence and try to convert him to capitalism. That would deal an even harsher blow to fanatics. He should be treated as well as possible to show we're above it all.
This man was tortured an cannot be tried in the states. Where and when is it legal?
Brian,
The process at Guantanamo is so flawed that unfortuantely we cannot know with any certainly that KSM actually is the criminal he claims to be. With the restrictions on evidence and lack of a rigorous defense, it is entirely possible that KSM is engaging in a sick ego trip be claiming responsibility for something he didn't do. Killing him will do nothing if this is the case...
I would like to know more about his role and the facts and accomplices. I would like to see a real, fair trial. And then determine about the death penalty. But that is too late, his torture and disappearance for 5 years has tainted everything and his subsequent execution will just be seen as vengeance and victor's justice.
Life in prison, if he is found guilty.
Also, if he is indeed a "co-conspirator" then why not an open trial where we can see the "evidence" that has been collected against him. It seem's too convenient that it is a Military Tribunal, where I hear that the defendants are not getting a fair trial.
Ooh, and i agree with this very articulate lady. 9/11 was an inside job.
Why would we ever give him what he wants? Prison for life, solitary confinement.
I think you put him in a room with a rope, or a pill, or some other means... and you let him do it himself.
He should be kept in prison for life. He should also be treated with kindness. What better revenge than to bring this fanatic back to reasonableness and understanding. Could any punishment be better than if he came to understand the horror of his crime? He should also be treated with kindness because we should be better than fanatics.
I think we should not fulfill his wish. We should lock him up in High security prison. Let's give him another 15-30 years to thinks about what he did.
To keep him alive simply because he wants death is to play into the radical Islam's warped view of death as honorable. We live by different ieals here in America and should kill him like we would any person of any creed who did what he did.
"T" (?), he should stay at your house. You need some serious mental help.
The creation of a martyr would be one more stupid mistake in the sorry history of the "War on Terror". Why do their recruiting for them?
He should be tortured American style. Sentence him to death, let him appeal, reverse the sentence, new trial, resentenced, new appeal, reversed, up to the supreme court, affirmed, motions to delay, etc, etc, etc.
Basically, like most on death row he sits for decades and keeps having the possiblity of death dangled in front of him. And he has to deal with lawyers for the rest of his natural life.
Marcel Proust said it best.
"Love is a reciprocal torture."
I don't like to execute people who say it is their hearts desire. Who knows if it would inspire others.
But, if we do. We should build a tall building on an island somewhere and put him on the top floor, and then lite it on fire with Jet fuel and let him suffer. Some might say that is torture, but it's an eye for an eye, and then everyone gets their way. He dies as a Martyr (in his eyes) and some people get the feeling of revenge.
I am against the death penalty.
But I don't see how you can even ask that question until the man has been given a proper trial. If anything undercuts the death penalty, it is a trial with evidence obtained under torture and without due process.
Are we worse off because the '93 attackers of the WTC were properly tried and convicted and are serving their sentences?
Can we arrange for Dick Cheney to shoot him in the face?
Only if he admits that he killed JFK, RFK, and MLK jr.
From a purely strategic perspective, why would you execute such a valuable intelligence asset? I'm envisioning a Hannibal Lecter/Clarice Starling situation, where KSM could provide intelligence that would actually prevent an attack.
never!!!!!!!!!!let him waste away in a federal prison...a single occupancy cell, locked up for 23 hours per day.
In the spirit of the caller asking for fresh innovative ideas, I think he should be kept in prison and forced to publicly commit every transgression posible against Islam.
If the man is found guilty, in some sort of unexpected "fair" trial, he should be kept alive. My recommendation is that he be placed in a very large plexiglass container, open at the top but so tall-sided that he couldn't possibly get out, in which he could be seen at all hours of the day, in some very large public arena (like MSG) with high bleachers surrounding the container. From the bleachers, the public could spit on him. this should be maintained until he loses his mind.
maybe he should be forced to watch 90210 reruns for 12 hours a day until he is brainwashed into loving capitalist ideals and then returned to poison the terrorist well.....
How many "martyrs" have they got already? Do they keep track, maintain some sort of pantheon of saints?
The conversation so far ignores the legal requirements. Our gov would have to _ask_ for life instead of the death penalty for this to work. Besides their obvious intent on death, what _legal_ reason would they give for life imprisonment?
put him to work for the rest of his life cleaning trash from the U.S. highways...pig-skin suit optional...
Yes.. wrap him in pig skin... grease him in bacon fat first.
STOP worrying how that makes the enemy feel!
Keep islam away from the WEST!!
We Must Never Forget: It is made easier to remember when the convicted assassin is still alive. We have a tendency to let time heal our wounds and put gloss on history too quickly.
This decision also is not so much a matter of retribution (making him suffer more by keeping him alive) or martyrdom, but instead keeping us reminded of how horrific the result can be of the actions of twisted minds.
Life without parole is the most appropriate sentence -- if he's convicted. The Bush prosecutors don't have that good of a track record yet.
How can we sacrifice the lives of so many for the cause of bringing him to justice, and then let him live? Given that there's really no doubt that he is who we think he is, and did what we think he did, he should pay the ultimate penalty.
Can you imagine how bad America is when there hasn't even been a trial we or discussing his sentence.
If we are killing people for willful acts of murder...or those that knowingly doing things that kill others...then should we execute the executives of cigarette companies?
"An eye for an eye" as a principle of justice is wrong in my opinion. No matter how horrible the crime.
He should be sentenced to death by injection, lead to the table, strapped down...given all the outward shows of execution and then injected with JUST enough medicine to knock him out for days. Thus leaving him with the final thought of martyrdom and then have the SOB wake up in prison.
Why is he not being tried in the USA?
I'm against the death penalty-
but NOT on moral grounds- rather, thinking that incarceration for the rest of one's life- living life more or less as a bystander, is far worse than death!! (OK- but NO color TV!)
Issue is, we say one thing and do quite opposite when it works to our end and that's been our problem globally. If we continue call ourselves the land-of-laws then KSM should be tried and if found guilty, sentenced accordingly without sounding like we are giving into his desires.
Jewel
On principle I strongly believe in the death penalty for murderers; however, in this case, I make an exception.
Keep in which ever is deemed America's worst prison with the general population, including those Aryian Brotherhood fools....AND
feed him lots of pork....hot dogs, etc.
he should not be executed - why waste taxpayers' money on this coward?
he should stay ugly, fat, hairy and cowardly for the rest of his existance.
and since he allegedly killed daniel pearl, if he's serious about being a martyr, put him in a room with a knife and shut the door. the one's at the 99cent stores are pretty good. make sure the blade's a little dull.
I always believed the death penalty was more about deterrent than about punishment. In my mind, fundmentalists of this type will absolutely not be deterred by the death penalty whatsoever, so what is the point of this form of punishment?
I think this is somewhat similar to suicide-by-police. The cops dont' shoot the person
for putting them in danger. Doing so is falling into the person's plans and would not prevent any more incidents.
How's about we try him first? Jesus...
/Rick
#35 Scott - lol, touche
He should be executed. He is a 'CHICKEN" and using the excuse if he is executed he will be a martyrs
I have two comments.
1 - I once spent just a month in jail and it was absolutely horrible. I think a life behind bars is far worse than an execution that makes you a hero to your people. That's why they have so many scuicide watches in prisons.
2 - This crime was committed against the people of New York and it should be tried here where the conviction will be legitimate instead of in a kangeroo court.
How's about we try him first?
/Rick
"'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" that's islamic culture" - i thought that was in the Bible!?
I oppose the death penalty because I disagree with the eye-for-an-eye philosophy, and because I don't think armchair government has the right to kill a person. But all the comments being expressed on air this morning in support of keeping him alive are using just these arguments. We are keeping him alive to provide him with a life worse than death? Religious ideologies aside- aren't we above torture? Do not execute him if you disagree with the institution of execution. But do not keep him alive as form of retributive torture.
Didn't this same question come up during Sadaam's trial?
I don't think he deserves it. The death penalty is ALWAYS wrong. Let him learn his lesson by leading the rest of his life in a solitary cell.
When he sees that he is nothing in the eyes of the world, he'll suffer.
I believe he's using reverse psychology by asking for the death penalty. He doesn't want to die and thinks we won't give him what he wants.
It was offensive to hear you bate people by saying "C'mon, here's the guy that masterminded the killing of our friends and neighbours..." Who deserves to die by whose decree? The death penalty is immoral. Punishing death with death doesn't work. Fighting war to make peace doesn't work either, as we are so tragically seeing in Iraq. Have we become so barbaric as a nation? And you laugh in the context of this?
I'm surprised.
In my fantasy, the families of 9/11 victims beat him to death with their shoes, a mortal insult in the Arab world reserved for slaves, prostitutes and thieves.
Killing this guy is not the way to go.
He deserves his caged life.
The tribunals' justice is questionable. He was tortured ... I don't believe in revenge ... what're we accomplish by killing him? We have killed so many people in Iraq and Afghanistan already .... and we continue killing people every day ...
#35, 39, 53
hysterical, love it
but since this was a crime against the American people, it should be tried in a real court
Eye for an Eye is first testament bible. The Christians believe that's old school. Their doctrines reflect the whole 'love one another'/ 'offer the other cheek if your slapped on the first.'
So Both are the bible. The Jews and Muslims believe in the eye for an eye alone while the Christians are supposed to believe in the aforementioned.
No one "deserves" death, and I'm shocked that Brian would suggest that everyone agrees Khalid Shaikh Mohammed deserves capital punishment. What does that mean? The overwhelming majority of callers and commenters on this site are saying no to this useless, destructive, murderous and savage consequence. Brian, I'm disappointed. Please clarify.
Well, seems like some people here would like to dehumanize ourselves for the sake of perceived justice against him. Fair enough. People are venting...
Again, I say that if they were intending to seek the death penalty, his request for death should not deter them. But if they were going to seek life imprisonment, they should absolutely not accomodate him just because we perceive death as a worse punishment than living several more decades in fear and without freedom. The chances of death are 100%. Even if he's not executed, he will certainly die someday.
re: #30 comment
..."treat him with kindness..."? only if it's rachel ray or the ladies of 'the view'.
that way, the best interest of both the US and the media, but not necessarily the public, would be served. i'm a little torn. tragedy in action.
What about the message we give to the _decent_ people of the mideast?
Remember, the reason we got all those valuable German scientists was Germans were desperate to be captured by the West rather than Russia--because they knew they'd be treated humanely by the US and Britain.
Life imprisonment is punishment enough, maybe even worse than death. If he wants to be a martyr, even more reason not to execute him!
He should be given a life sentence without release. Maybe during this time he will repent and see the folly of his belief in his misguided martyrdom.
After all we've been through, Brian Lehrer assumes Kahlid Sheik Mohammed to be a person unquestionably guilty of the terrible crimes he's accused of. This despite the admitted torture of the prisoner, the secret nature of the evidence and the lack of credibility of this administration and its clear use of lies and propaganda for political purposes. Please Mr Lehrer, would you sum up the evidence against this person for the rest of us? If you can't do that, you show yourself to be just another putz feeding off public passions and prejudices.
I say he needs to be put before a firing squad.Let him meet up with a nice 72yo virgin.
Once he is dead they can't take hostages to spring him loose.
islam is not so much a religion as it is a violent expansionist and ultimately imperialist cult.
If he goes to jail we will see endless trials.. he will complain that "infidels" mishandled his copy of Mein Kampf.. er sorry the Koran.
Let's remember how they treat us and act accordingly.
They laugh at how soft we are. Let's grow a pair already. And if there's any more trouble from Waziristan.. carpet bombing should be the answer.
It is far to glib to characterize, and dismiss, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as just a sick, maniacal extremist. His actions have been criminal, and his crimes are major. But, it is relevant to remember, and recognize, that the innocent people who died in the USA on 9/11 are a drop in the bucket compared with the innocent Muslim Arabs who have died, and continue to die, in the Mideast, as a result of direct US actions, or indirectly as the result of policies implemented by parties supported, and often funded, by the US. Conspicuously including, but by no means limited, to Israel. This is an enormous fact.
KSM is a criminal, try him and sentence him as a criminal. And remember all the context of these horrors, and all who are responsible.
We need to remember that 9/11 was an act of war, as the U.S. has waged war. Lehrer emphasizes "how sick" KSL must have been to "dream up" 9/11, which killed some 3,000. But was he any sicker than the guy who dreamt up the bombing of Dresden, which even by current conservative estimates killed 25,000 to 40,000 innocent civilians?
For as long as U.S. supports Israel--a terrorist state regularly engaged in crimes against humanity in its treatment of the Palestinians, and which has introduced nuclear weapons into the Middle East--we are poisoning our own moral foundations and will continue to be the target of vicious attacks from the survivors and allies of our victims.
The military tribunals make a mockery of our laws and ideals and thus bring us down to the
level of the terrorists, and capital punishment would do the same.
Either way, executed or not (he's practically convicted already), the USA currently has such a battered reputation that people across the world will shrug and mumble "people will admit anything under torture". A most sad situation indeed.
>>the innocent people who died in the USA on 9/11 are a drop in the bucket compared with the innocent Muslim Arabs who have died, and continue to die, in the Mideast, as a result of direct US actions
Oops, I thought this was going someplace else, ie,
". . . a drop in the bucket compared with the innocent Muslim Arabs who have died, and continue to die, in the Mideast, as a result of FUNDAMENTALIST MUSLIM FANATICS like KSM."
I think he should be executed if his involvement is beyond dispute. About his martyrdom, he will find that God is as upset about 9/11 as we are. But he didn't know what he was doing. But we don't have to execute him out of vengeance, but justice.
#89 Gene
ssssshhhhh
don't talk about Muslims butchering Muslims --
that would take all the air away from those who prefer to blame everything on America, who think 9/11 was an inside job, who blow on about blowback, who are against the death penalty - but foam at the mouth at the thought of executing Bush,,,,
Shhhh...
don't you dare mention the Muslim Arab genocide of Muslim Blacks in Darfur...
NO
we must maintain the sheer hypocrisy of who selective & political purposes rage against the United States and Israel (and not, for instance, against Russia or China despite the brutal suppression of their respective Muslim minorities) for Arab-Muslim casualties in conflicts that have been, almost without exception, precipitated by Arab-Muslim dictators and demagogues.
Megan,
Shhhh... you need to keep hyping the conflict in the middle east, so that we can ignore the growing power of China - political, academic, technical... oh, I could go on.
Later, when the Chinese state entirely owns your ass, they will probably allow you to continue babbling about Arabs, as a funny joke.
I don't see you concerned with what level of our 9.5 trillion dollar deficit is owed to China, a country with its own impressive military and organizational skills. And which is clever enough not to get involved in the middle east (besides getting the oil they need and letting Americans do the pointless fighting for them.)
btw, megan,
have you noticed that, thanks to people like you, the terrorists have put the United States in a remarkably precarious position? Or does logic and reason not factor into your views of Al Quaeda and our lack of long-term strategic thinking in dealing with them?
eva,
wtf are you talking about?
"thanks to people like me"
are Extremist Muslims butchering people in Somalia, Darfur, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Jordan, Egypt, Chechniya etc...
thanks to "people like me" whatever that means?
Logic factors into my recognition of global politics.
It seems your strategic thinking is colored by fear of Al Qeida and then smearing "people like me."
HAve a great day!
megan,
"people like me"?
I've been reading your extremist rants against Muslims, Al Quaeda, etc. on this board for a while.
Yeah, people like you, extremists who focus only on Islamofascism, instead of looking at issues within this country that we have an opportunity to fix.
Here's a question I dare you to answer: if you're so concerned about extremist Muslims, why don't you join the military, so you can fight in Iraq or Afghanistan?
eva, megan,
Ssshhh. You both have truth on your side.
mgdu has it ALL wrong. Israel is NOT a terrorist state at all. Israel is surrounded by terrorist states and it is amazing how much restraint Israel shows in the face of the festering belligerence all around her.
We all know the deal. moslems want to "drive every Jew into the sea."
anti-alla,
whether Israel is a terrorist state or not, a significant percentage of Americans are sick to death of the anti-Muslim ranting. Meanwhile, we have HUGE problems in this country which haven't been addressed because a bunch of people screaming "islamofascism" at the top of their lungs took us into a three trillion dollar war in iraq that has utterly depleted our military.
So how 'bout it? You up for signing up? cuz these days they're taking guys in their 50's and 60's, that's how desperate the military is.
A woman called your show stating that wrapping a Muslim in a pigskin would be sacrilegious. According to a Muslim friend of man this isn't true if the person has no control over the situation.
Which is better: temporary satisfaction from having exacted revenge, accompanied by the long-term grief of having betrayed your principles (thou shalt not kill, etc) and from having made a man into a symbol; Or, the long term satisfaction that comes from living according to your ethics even when it was really hard to make the ethical decision?
I vote for the latter.
Send him to a Supermax facility like the one in Colorado. It will keep him away from anyone he could hurt again, with the only company being the ghosts of those he has killed reminding him of the horror of what he has done. Even if he is unbothered by those thoughts, at least we will not be bothered by the thought of him harming anyone ever again, or of ourselves having BECOME the very thing we kill.
Murder is still murder no matter who does it or why. Do not become a murderer.
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