In a chaotic trial high on emotion and low on facts, Sept. 11 conspirator Zacharias Moussaoui has made it clear what he wants. Having missed out on his deluded sense of divine supremacy nearly five years ago, when he sat hapless in a cell while his ideological comrades flew to their own skewed sense of martyrdom, Mr. Moussaoui seeks a similar theatrical end. Like all suicidal zealots, he wishes to perish as a pawn in God's struggle against His ideological enemies — an insignificant prisoner immediately transformed into a fanatical hero whose name will be forever etched in history.
Yet the American judiciary — backed steadily by the public will — is intending to fulfill Mr. Moussaoui's delusional dreams.
Those seeking execution for the self-proclaimed "20th hijacker" for his seemingly insignificant role in the Sept. 11 attack are consumed by stories of unspeakable horror and irretrievable loss seeping from a gaping national wound that may never heal. They perpetuate the cry for Mr. Moussaoui's head in the name of vengeance and tragedy, the facts of the case and true notions of justice persistently warped by a collective desperation to hold someone — anyone — accountable and dangle him up for the world to see, proclaiming, "If you mess with America, this is what happens."
Such is the fundamental nature of the death penalty. But in this case, execution would serve no purpose. Ending the life of an eager martyr in a glorious execution will not deter religious fanatics bent on terrorism. On the contrary, it will give the revolutionary more reason to slap explosives to his chest, rallying the terrorist cause by bolstering the perceived heroism of immortalized murderers. If anything, an executed Moussaoui would pose more of a threat to our society — giving terrorist cells another marketing demagogue for recruiting their next human time-bomb.
Then again, if we're looking for a punching bag to unleash our pent-up rage on, why Mr. Moussaoui? He never held an important rank within an al-Qaida cell. Despite his delusional testimony that he was to fly a never-before mentioned fifth airplane into the White House, Mr. Moussaoui was not the "20th hijacker." During his time taking flight lessons in the United States, he was never in contact with the other Sept. 11 terrorists. Though he was apprehended less than a month before the attacks, it failed to disrupt the plot's timing or its potency. Since his 50-minute rant in a pre-trial hearing in 2002, it's been apparent that Mr. Moussaoui is violently unstable — quite antithetical of cool, calculating al-Qaida leaders like Osama bin Laden — for whom Mr. Moussaoui makes a poor substitute.
If true punishment is in order, why not bring in more reputable al-Qaida masterminds — such as the infamous Sept. 11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was apprehended in Germany three years ago, or Mohamed al-Kahtani, the real "20th hijacker," who is currently being held at Guantánamo Bay? These men are much more deserving of our wrath than the delirious, pathetic Mr. Moussaoui.
But perhaps this trial is about more than revenge. Perhaps it's about giving Americans a false sense of comfort. Comfort that the twin towers would still be standing if only another nemesis hadn't defied us. Comfort that those responsible for our tragedy have been brought to justice. Forget the failures of government agencies in interpreting pre-Sept. 11 intelligence and warning signs. Forget the fact that bin Laden is still on the loose, having eluded authorities and governments for a half-decade. If Mr. Moussaoui is executed, maybe we could finally stop thinking about the reasons the tragedy happened, stop thinking about the sources of such deep-seeded hatred and fall asleep at night without any sense of responsibility for our loss.
Mr. Moussaoui would have loved to kill 3,000 innocent Americans, but that doesn't mean that we should reward him as if he did. A more just and fitting punishment, rather than making a small-time wannabe bin Laden into an Islamofacist icon, would be to throw Mr. Moussaoui into the darkest cell, forcing him to rot in prison while watching his fanatical comrades forget his existence. Incarceration with the knowledge that he will never achieve true martyrdom is the only way suicidal extremists will suffer; capital punishment is merely their last hope for achieving their ultimate aim.
We cannot claim that the rule of law has been vindicated, or that true justice has been served, if we give Zacharias Moussaoui death when death is all Zacharias Moussaoui wants.
Adam Lichtenheld ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and African studies.
