My opinion on the death penalty has changed.....

[DaveE]

Not really. I think in some cases people get caught up and railroaded, and I can't think of a worse tragedy, but then I read this............

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17617986/


WASHINGTON - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed cemented his position as al-Qaida’s most ambitious operational planner when he confessed in a U.S. military tribunal to planning and supporting 31 terrorist attacks, topped by 9/11, that killed thousands of innocent victims since the early 1990s.

The gruesome attacks range from the suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001 — which killed nearly 3,000 — to a 2002 shooting on an island off Kuwait that killed a U.S. Marine.

Many plots, including a previously undisclosed plan to kill several former U.S. presidents, were never carried out or were foiled by international counterterror authorities........


If he's going to admit this, he should go.

[Christien]

My concern about this is it's a secret, closed-door military trial at a location not known for its respect for the constitution or even law (international or US). Behind closed doors forced confessions aren't that difficult, just ask China. If he did in fact do as he confessed, sure, string him up, but just because they say he said he didn't doesn't necessarily make it so.

[DaveE]

Originally posted by Christien
My concern about this is it's a secret, closed-door military trial at a location not known for its respect for the constitution or even law (international or US). Behind closed doors forced confessions aren't that difficult, just ask China. If he did in fact do as he confessed, sure, string him up, but just because they say he said he didn't doesn't necessarily make it so.

I'm very concerned about this aspect also. I would much prefer this be done in the open.

[Superman]

My opinion on the death penalty has not changed. I believe this man should not be killed in cold blood. Then again, I also believe he should have humble surroundings for the rest of his days, if you know what I mean. And perhaps a webcam. And some reprogramming. Quite frankly, if he were managed effectively, he could be denouncing Allah in a few years, and chowing down on ham.

[Joeaksa]

Turn him over to the survivors of 9/11, the parents and spouses of the people whose death he planned. Five minutes, ten at the max and his time on earth would be at an end.

It would not be in cold blood, it would be their reply to his deed. Remember the old saying, "you live by the sword, you die by the sword?"

Well he certainly has not lived a peaceful life and does not deserve to live out his life sitting in a comfortable prison being fed three times a day, while the bodies of his innocent victims lie cold in the ground, or even still missing in the rubble of the WTC.

[Rick Lee]

I think KSM should be kept alive, tortured every day and made to live in mud WITH real live pigs. We should kill his family, video tape it and show it to him continuously for the rest of his miserable life. That kind of punishment might actually deter nuts bent on mass murder. We've been accused of far worse, so we might as well do it.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
I think KSM should be kept alive, tortured every day and made to live in mud WITH real live pigs. We should kill his family, video tape it and show it to him continuously for the rest of his miserable life. That kind of punishment might actually deter nuts bent on mass murder. We've been accused of far worse, so we might as well do it.

Hmmm, that might be an option. Living with pigs and eating pig entrails daily...

Would vote for it...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Have to say I agree. I used to believe in the sanctity of all human life and the possibility for redemption in anyone. No longer. Sadly, I do believe there is a such thing as "trash" that happens to carry a human genome. With 6,000,000,000+ people in the world, maybe getting rid of a few of the most worthless ones isn't such a bad idea anyway. Way too many people as it is to believe there's much inherent value in a human anymore. We create our own value - or lack of it by our actions.

[RickM]

People like this cement my belief in the Death Penalty.

John Evander Couey

Jessica was kidnapped from her bedroom on Feb. 24, 2005. She endured days of abuse, including rape. Her body was found three weeks later in garbage bags behind the Homosassa trailer he shared with relatives. Her wrists were bound with speaker wire and she was clutching a stuffed dolphin. It is reported that she was buried alive.

[arcsine]

I only hope the rumors heard of the inmates view on pedophiles is true. Even living the rest of his life in agonizing pain is not enough for his crimes.

[Rick Lee]

Yes, Couey deserves the same thing I recommend for KSM. I highly doubt he'll ever be put in general population though, even if he doesn't get the death penalty. He'll live out his years in a not too uncomfortable cell in solitary, will get good medical care, probably won't have to work and will just bide his time until he dies peacefully.

[DaveE]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Yes, Couey deserves the same thing I recommend for KSM. I highly doubt he'll ever be put in general population though, even if he doesn't get the death penalty. He'll live out his years in a not too uncomfortable cell in solitary, will get good medical care, probably won't have to work and will just bide his time until he dies peacefully.

Well frankly the idea of sitting alone staring at the walls for the next 15-20 odd years would make me WANT to die.

[azasadny]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Yes, Couey deserves the same thing I recommend for KSM. I highly doubt he'll ever be put in general population though, even if he doesn't get the death penalty. He'll live out his years in a not too uncomfortable cell in solitary, will get good medical care, probably won't have to work and will just bide his time until he dies peacefully.

+1

[unimog406]

I think KSM should be kept alive, tortured every day and made to live in mud WITH real live pigs. We should kill his family, video tape it and show it to him continuously for the rest of his miserable life. That kind of punishment might actually deter nuts bent on mass murder.

Do you think you are so moral that you can pass judgment on this man? He was willing to sacrafice everything for a cause that he believed in. He was braver and had more courage than any of us may ever have. And yet because you disagree with his ideas and his methodology, you believe that you have the right to determine the rest of his life?! We express outrage, and vehement loathing towards all these so called 'terrorists' because they are willing to kill and torture for what they believe is right. This is hipocracy of the purest form. We have sent an army to iraq to kill, and now you wish us to torture simply for a cause that you believe is just. Do they not believe their cause is equally just? And who is to say who is right? Surely not you or I. Passion of belief has blinded your reason to the same extent it has blinded theirs. Simply put, you have just professed and become that which you both fear and loathe.
the terrorists have won

[legion]

Originally posted by unimog406
the terrorists have won

Indeed they have if we cannot stomach dispatching of them.

[Flatbutt1]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Yes, Couey deserves the same thing I recommend for KSM. I highly doubt he'll ever be put in general population though, even if he doesn't get the death penalty. He'll live out his years in a not too uncomfortable cell in solitary, will get good medical care, probably won't have to work and will just bide his time until he dies peacefully.

a mistake will be made, he'll be left alone in the shower and WHAM! brains on the drains.

[Moses]

Not directed to me, but I'll take a shot at some answers...

Originally posted by unimog406
Do you think you are so moral that you can pass judgment on this man?

Yes.

you believe that you have the right to determine the rest of his life?!

Yes again!

And who is to say who is right?

A jury.

[masraum]

Originally posted by Moses
Not directed to me, but I'll take a shot at some answers...

Ditto

[FOG]

Unimog,

Your assertion that he was braver and had more courage than those on this board is false. You have no idea what members of this board have done nor the odds they have faced. KSM has not shown much in the way of either personal bravery or courage.

Deliberately targeting non-combatants is morally more ethical than targeting the terrorists?

Let me see if I have your position correctly. It is perfectly acceptable to target non-combatants, commit torture, random acts of violence just because we can.

I do not condone nor allow any of the above paragraph to happen. When it actually happens it is dealt with and not swept under the rug. Thus it is not being hypocritical to condemn terrorists who purposely target and terrorize the non-combatant.

We have not sent an army to Iraq to kill. The statement betrays a profound misunderstanding of the objective facts.

I am not blinded. I have not become the terrorist who willfully commits and encourages acts of torture worse than the dog’s head thread to humans.

FOG

[jluetjen]

A quick death is too good for him. I think that he should be locked in solitary for the rest of his natural life, with nothing to do to pass the time but look at a continuous stream of pictures of each and every victim of his attack -- projected on the wall of his cell. Every man, women and child who he helped to kill should stare at him for the rest of his days.