Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

I've just watched a CNN feature on what the Sheikh's confession tells us about
Al-Quaeda. Despite CNN's rather empty speculation, I would suggest that it
tells us a lot about what individuals will confess to under extreme conditions
of duress and what can only be described as torture behind closed doors.

It seems inconcievable that he can possibly be responsible for all 31 acts of
'terrorism' to which he has confessed. It's almost as if he is sending a veiled
message of innocence by doing so. It seems that the US administration, having
failed to capture Bin Laden, desperately needed a new 'demon' and in Khalid
Mohammed they found their man. This is yet another attempt to justify the
'war on terror' and associated draconian legislation (or lack of it) which has
empowered western governments to act against the citizen in a way which
deprives basic human rights and is against the fundamental principles of
a free democratic society.

It's a shame he's not older as I'm sure he'd have been more than willing to
confess to involvement in the shooting of Kennedy, Martin Luther King jnr
and the failure of the US Bay of Pigs invasion too, not to mention being a key
player in the Khymer Rouge and Vietkong.

I'm not suggesting that he's an angel or that he is totally innocent (because I
have no idea) but that we can't draw any conclusions from a so called confession
coerced by these means. Even the Nuremberg defendants were afforded what
seemed to be a fair and open trial proceeding (but that's a different story!).

I also have a lingering feeling that Khalid Mohammed will meet a sticky end by 'his
own hand' before coming to trial proper (conveniently) and that these things will
never be tested in open court.

Full transcript of the confession can be found at CNN - Click Here.