National Interest article: Guantanamo remains a moral stain on America

A former official of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said that the United States had failed miserably when it did not handle the cases of men imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba.

Paul Pillar, the former coordinator of intelligence in the Middle East and South Asia, added in

published for him by the American "The National Interest" magazine, that this failure was clearly demonstrated with regard to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, "the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." and 4 others accused of complicity in these operations.

An endless series of stalls

An endless series of stalls and delays has prevented those accused from appearing before a military court, says Pilar, who attributed most of the delays to the replacement of assigned personnel as prosecutors, defense attorneys or judges.

The former US official added that it takes more time for each of the new designees to read the records and records and learn the latest developments in the case, the longer the litigation continues.

Other reasons for the delay - in Pilar's view - included uncertainty about how to deal with evidence of torture in prisoners, as well as the prolonged suspension of sessions due to the outbreak of the Corona virus (Covid-19).

Although more than 28 years have passed since the charges were brought against these prisoners, the procedures for their trial are still apparently far from being completed. Indeed, the most optimistic current estimates do not expect trials to begin before the middle of 2024, according to Pilar, who is an active expert in the field anti-terrorism".

According to the article, constantly prolonging court proceedings does not serve anyone, including the families of the 9/11 victims and American citizens who just want to see justice served.

exit in sight

The writer reveals that a way out of this impasse has appeared on the horizon in recent weeks, as one of the public prosecutors - who remained on this case and experienced the change of 3 US administrations - began to speak with the defense lawyer for Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow defendants to persuade their clients to confess guilty of guilt, in exchange for exemption from the death penalty.

"The most dangerous of these defendants (Khaled Sheikh Mohammed) will instead face life imprisonment without the possibility of being released."

However, the former US intelligence official believes that such a deal is by no means certain, but if there is an agreement signed, it will raise objections, according to its owners, who believe that there is no more severe punishment than the death penalty for the "heinous crime committed."

More delay is likely

In his article, Pillar argues that the most likely alternative to a deal of this kind in the foreseeable future is further delay, and that the greatest advantage of an agreement in which the accused plead guilty lies in putting an end to those delays, resolving the case and a formal admission of guilt.

He goes on to say that it is not clear that life imprisonment, in this case, is a lesser punishment than the death penalty, adding that given the environment from which these defendants came, the testimony means something to them, and for this reason it may be surprising if they agreed to life imprisonment.

The article concludes that Guantanamo has been presenting "vague" notions within Congress regarding a "war on terror" rather than using "tried and able" methods to prosecute and punish "terrorists."

If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been tried in federal court for the Southern District of New York - the area that was the scene of the 9/11 attacks - the verdict in the case in which he was accused would have been passed years ago, and he would have been executed or placed in a maximum security prison, says Paul Pillar.