Transcript: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses 9/11 role

Scrum · 03-15-2007, 01:50 AM

Transcript: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses 9/11 role - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, admitted to those attacks and numerous others during a U.S. military hearing on Saturday, according to an edited transcript of the hearing released by the Pentagon Wednesday.

In a statement from him, read by a U.S. military representative, he said, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."

The transcript continues with the list of operations he was responsible for, including the Richard Reid shoe bomber attempt to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic Ocean, the Bali nightclub bombing in Indonesia, the 1993 World Trade Center attack and other attacks that were foiled. (Read transcript (PDF))

The latter included surveying the Panama Canal for an attack to destroy it and surveying suspension bridges and high-rises in New York and Chicago, Illinois, to bring them down as well.

The list of some 29 operations he was responsible for is followed by a shorter list of operations he was partially responsible for, including an assassination attempt against then-Pope John Paul II while he was visiting the Philippines.

In a later part of the statement, Mohammed likened himself to George Washington as a revolutionary.

The verbatim translation in the transcript is not always clear.

"If now we were living in the Revolutionary War and George Washington he being arrested through Britain," it reads. "For sure he, they would consider him enemy combatant."
Mohammed: Sorry I killed kids

He made no apologies for what he has done, but he did express remorse for the death of children in the September 11 attacks.

"I don't like to kill people," he said. "I feel very sorry they been killed kids in 9/11."

Transcripts of two other detainees considered "high-value" by the U.S. government -- Abu Faraj al-Libi (transcript (PDF)) and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh (transcript (PDF)) -- were also issued Wednesday. Their hearings were held Friday. The three are part of a group of 14 detainees once held in secret CIA prisons but moved to Guantanamo Bay by President Bush in September.

All three hearings were held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The three-member military panel hearings, unlike similar hearings in the past, were closed to the media and to the detainees' lawyers because of fears the detainees might divulge classified information, according to Pentagon officials.

Officials have said the hearings would last between two and three hours each, but it could take days or weeks to know what transpired, because the findings must be approved by higher military authorities.

The 14 detainees have been given military advisers but they are offering no legal assistance. Detainees are also given only an unclassified summary of the evidence against them but are allowed to have witnesses called in from out of the country to testify in their favor.

The hearings, called combatant status review tribunals, determine whether a detainee should be classified as an enemy combatant by the president to make them eligible for a military trial.

The hearings for the 14 are expected to last through April, according to Pentagon officials.

Pentagon officials said a total of six high-value detainees have now gone through these hearings. The names of the three others and the transcripts of their hearings have not yet been released.

Big surprise.

Walter Reed, a General spouting off on the morality homosexuality, Scooter and the possible shit storm that may come from that, and now suddenly we get a confession like his guilt was in doubt? Funny that all this comes out just as all this crap is coming down on the administration.

Don't get me wrong. This guy was a piece of shit. I hope they string him up after his trial and beat him to death.
This is just great timing for some news to make people think about 9/11 again.

7960 · 03-15-2007, 02:05 AM

why is he still alive?

Pro Street · 03-15-2007, 03:08 AM

because killing him would make him a martyr, and that would be doing him an honor. Forcing him to live in a cell is a much better option.

Thorgrim · 03-15-2007, 09:40 AM

You have to admit, he's better than a lot of Nazis, while many were sad they had to kill children and tried to avoid it, many gleefully did it

He organized attacks from miles away and never could bring himself to do it up close, I bet if he had a gun and a kid he might not be able to do it

ballz2wallz · 03-15-2007, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

You have to admit, he's better than a lot of Nazis, while many were sad they had to kill children and tried to avoid it, many gleefully did it

He organized attacks from miles away and never could bring himself to do it up close, I bet if he had a gun and a kid he might not be able to do it

Always the optimist aren't you? There's always a little good to be found, even in the bad things!

kinggovernor · 03-15-2007, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

a General spouting off on the morality homosexuality,

I'm so glad he did

Scrum · 03-15-2007, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I'm so glad he did

I thought you were all about the Military keeping their mouths shut about personal feelings?

6SpeedTA95 · 03-15-2007, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

I thought you were all about the Military keeping their mouths shut about personal feelings?

I thought this was about Khalid's confession? Not the military general being a goobus?

Scrum · 03-15-2007, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95

I thought this was about Khalid's confession? Not the military general being a goobus?

It is.

No other discussion was going on so I responded to TKG.

7960 · 03-15-2007, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

This is just great timing for some news to make people think about 9/11 again.

Ahh, the "vast right wing conspiracy"....... if it wasn't this then the dems/libs/morans would have said the release of Bush's grocery list was "a convenient diversion to get people focused on 9/11"

Scrum · 03-15-2007, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by 7960

Ahh, the "vast right wing conspiracy"....... if it wasn't this then the dems/libs/morans would have said the release of Bush's grocery list was "a convenient diversion to get people focused on 9/11"

Oh fucking please.

You are going to compare a confession of the 9/11 mastermind to Bush's grocery list? Way to belittle the people lost in the event.

I guess it's just crazy to wonder why we got this confession right as all this shit is coming down on the administration?

6SpeedTA95 · 03-15-2007, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

It is.

No other discussion was going on so I responded to TKG.

Ok

just wanted to make sure...

DosEquis · 03-15-2007, 11:34 AM

I am curious as to why he could confess "a to z" unless he is just trying to get heat off of the other terrorists he worked with to organize those various attacks.

IminWonderland · 03-15-2007, 12:20 PM

I am skeptical of all confessions.

There is a difference between admitting something, and confessing to something.

If he did do all they think he is, obviously he should be dealt with. But I can't help but think this is a way to detract from not having Bin Laden in custody, and to distract us from the corruption in the White House.

Pro Street · 03-15-2007, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

Ahh, the "vast right wing conspiracy"....... if it wasn't this then the dems/libs/morans would have said the release of Bush's grocery list was "a convenient diversion to get people focused on 9/11"

the confession came out something like 5 weeks ago

DosEquis · 03-15-2007, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by IminWonderland

I am skeptical of all confessions.

There is a difference between admitting something, and confessing to something.

If he did do all they think he is, obviously he should be dealt with. But I can't help but think this is a way to detract from not having Bin Laden in custody, and to distract us from the corruption in the White House.

Exactly. I bet after this confession some of the pundits (Hannity, Rush, etc) will start to marginalize Bin Ladens importance by saying "we already have the guy who claims responsibility 'a to z' so we dont have to worry about him anymore".

7960 · 03-15-2007, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Scrum

Oh fucking please.

You are going to compare a confession of the 9/11 mastermind to Bush's grocery list?

No. But I'm going to say that this confession coming 5 weeks ago doesn't necessarily mean it was "engineered" to distract people from sometihng else.

Pro Street · 03-15-2007, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by 7960

No. But I'm going to say that this confession coming 5 weeks ago doesn't necessarily mean it was "engineered" to distract people from sometihng else.

but Clinton's bombing of an aspirin factory was a distraction?

7960 · 03-15-2007, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Pro Street

but Clinton's bombing of an aspirin factory was a distraction?

Clinton bombed that because soil tests from immediately outside that factory indicated they were making nerve gas inside that factor. The intelligence may have been bad, the factory may have been making gas as well...... there are a few situations that could have happened.