News/Commentary

Durbin urges Austin to ‘reverse deeply disappointing’ opposition to plea deal for KSM, 9/11 terrorists

August 5, 2024 | | Print Article

A prominent senator voiced his opposition to the revocation of plea deals for alleged 9/11 terrorists calling the move “deeply disappointing.”

Outliving America’s military presence in Afghanistan, the confessed mastermind behind the deaths of 2,977 victims and counting since Sept. 11, 2001, returned to headlines as the Defense Department struck a pre-trial plea deal that reportedly took the death penalty off the table.

Now, after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used his authority to revoke the agreement, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) used his platform as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to call on the administration official to reverse course.

“I urge Secretary Austin to reverse this deeply disappointing decision, which denies finality and justice to 9/11 families,” the senator claimed sharing a report from Reuters, “and exposes yet again the lack of independence that has haunted the military commissions from the outset.”

As had been reported, the DoD initially entered into pre-trial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi that would protect the alleged 9/11 terrorists from the death penalty at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, instead setting them up for life sentences.

Amid massive backlash over the announcement, with the court of public opinion enraged that the prisoners hadn’t already been given a fast pass to learn firsthand the truth about their promised 72 virgins, Austin issued a memo Friday that read, “I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009.”

“Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself,” he added, withdrawing from the agreements signed on July 31, 2024.

Prior to Austin’s decision, Durbin tried to sell the agreements as closure for families of the victims while faulting former President George W. Bush’s administration for the use of “untested military commissions.”

“I commend the military prosecutors for finally delivering a small measure of justice and finality to the victims and their loved ones,” he wrote after the deals were reported.

Meanwhile, it was the plea deal itself that left families “disgusted and disappointed.”

Speaking for the 343 firefighters among the first responders who sacrificed their lives that Tuesday morning knowingly running toward the danger, each of those who suffered since and their families, President of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association Andrew Ansbro said in a statement Thursday, “On behalf of New York City firefighters, especially the survivors of the September 11th terrorist attack who are living with the illnesses and injuries that were inflicted upon us that day, we are disgusted and disappointed that these three terrorists were given a plea deal and allowed to escape the ultimate justice while each month three more heroes from the FDNY are dying from World Trade Center illnesses.”

Similar sentiments were shared in response to Durbin’s call to return to the plea deal as demands for real justice rang out.

Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles