A Defense Department disagreement over how to bring to justice the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and two others has thrown the cases into disarray and surfaced tension between the desire of some victims’ families to see a final legal reckoning and the significant obstacles that may make that impossible.

Defense lawyers and some legal experts blame many of the endless delays on what they call the “original sin” haunting the military prosecutions: the illegal torture that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants were subjected to in CIA custody. That years-old abuse has snarled the case, leaving lawyers to hash out legal issues two decades later in the now often-forgotten military courtrooms at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

An approved plea bargain sparing Mohammed and two co-defendants from the death penalty appeared to clear those hurdles and push the cases toward conclusion. But after criticism of the deal from some family members and Republican lawmakers, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Aug. 2 revoked the deal signed by the official he had appointed.

  • Bluefalcon
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    1 month ago

    There is a press video about the first drone strike on bin laden life. They believed they killed him with another man. It was two farmers that looked “Muslim.” That was our standard.

    Listen to the Pakistani kid talk to congress about how he loves cloudy day bc that is when they know they are safe.

    Our history has done countless killings to innocent people. We still haven’t deal with Saudi Arabia which supported 9/11.

    We don’t care about justice, we care about money and dog whistles.