More than two decades after the horrific September 11th attack that claimed the lives of nearly 3000 innocent people, and countless others due to long term health issues related to the attack, the Department of Defense finally announced that they had reached a plea agreement with three of the masterminds. It took years years to negotiate and not all details are public, but the basic contours are that they three terrorists in custody (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi) would be allowed to plead guilty to all charges, but not face the death penalty.
Military prosecutors stated that “The decision to enter into a pre-trial agreement after 12 years of pre-trial litigation was not reached lightly; however, it is our collective, reasoned, and good-faith judgment that this resolution is the best path to finality and justice.””
That was Wednesday. And it did not go over well, especially with the family members of those who died.
Fast forward to Friday. BIG NEWS. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tore the whole thing up, literally REVOKING the plea agreements. The New York Times is reporting that Austin relieved the person in charge of the prosecution, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, and took over direct oversight himself. By cancelling the agreement, he put the death penalty back on the table.
TALK ABOUT WHIPLASH!
Mr. Austin put out a statement on Friday saying the “responsibility for such a decision should rest with me…Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024.”
There are two sides to this. Yes, it would have finally resolved a long, drawn out process and given closure to families and friends of the victims. But, it would not have been justice, at least to those who believe that the death penalty should still be on the table.
The prosecutors and defense attorneys must be in utter disbelief, so let’s see how this plays out over the coming weeks and months.
