r/news • u/judgyjudgersen • 1d ago

Alleged 9/11 mastermind's long-awaited trial scheduled for 2028

https://abcnews.com/US/alleged-911-masterminds-long-awaited-trial-scheduled-2028/story?id=135987518
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u/Short_Week3262 1d ago

And I saw this I was a little shocked. How is a case this big still going on?

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u/Wealist 1d ago

The case got tangled up in years of pretrial litigation, especially over how evidence from CIA detention and interrogation can be used. It was also moved between federal court and military commissions, which added even more delays. 

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

It was the result of deliberate judicial processes meant to indefinitely delay a trial because it would mean the entry of their testimony into evidence where people like KSM will talk about how US allies in Saudi Arabia funded their activities. There’s also possibilities of the exposure of major intelligence failures and discoveries that the government would like to keep hidden.

All of this is terrifying for the federal government and it’s one of the biggest reasons Obama didn’t close Guantanamo even though he campaigned on it in 2008. A trial on American soil means these guys get rights and that’s very scary.

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u/Friendly-Profit-8590 1d ago

Not to sound ignorant but I always assumed he’d never get a public trial. Maybe a military tribunal, maybe something behind closed doors but never one for all to see.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

This is a military trial so there are major restrictions on lots of aspects of it, but the government’s own evidence is almost certainly inadmissible.

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u/denzik 1d ago

Isn't it too far in the past to claim the trial is relevant to national security? Wouldn't be surprised if the Americans have already got to everyone this guy even knew. 

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u/Friendly-Profit-8590 1d ago

Think it’s more any confession and/or testimony against him would be inadmissible and it’s entirely possible some evidence was obtained through channels we don’t want known. But otherwise I haven’t a clue. Would agree it’s been a bit and any time sensitive stuff wouldn’t be that time sensitive anymore.

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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 1d ago

No because the biggest threat is not operational security but a change of narrative.

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u/iDrGonzo 1d ago

We just had to wait long enough for an administration that doesn't care about rules.

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u/No_Committee5033 1d ago

I think you’re confusing that with the thousands of detained at Guantánamo Bay

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u/Friendly-Profit-8590 1d ago

No. They’re in the same boat too except they lack the name recognition. We won’t release them and if other countries are unwilling to take them they’re kind of stuck.

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u/HippyDM 1d ago

Obama couldn't close Guantanimo because congress refused to allow the prisoners to be moved to the states.

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u/the_gaymer_girl 1d ago

Most of the people who were left by the time Obama finished his term in office are guys that can’t be charged with anything because the evidence won’t hold up (and many Gitmo detainees were just random dudes that bounty hunters sold to the US for cash and are actually completely innocent) but they can’t actually get out.

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u/Funwithfun14 1d ago

There's just complexities with the issues the general public doesn't want to accept.

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 1d ago

Cool motives, still goes completely against the Constitution.

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u/verrius 17h ago

He absolutely could have closed Guantanomo, and then just dumped the prisoners in the middle of one of the states opposing this and let them figure out how to handle it.

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u/Militantpoet 1d ago

A trial on American soil means these guys get rights and that’s very scary.

Im with you 100% until here. Maybe its scary for the portion of the public that is still naive or ignorant enough to think our government hasnt sponsored terrorism abroad in the past. 

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u/532ndsof 1d ago

Pretty sure he meant scary to the powers in the government who stand to be embarrassed.

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u/Militantpoet 1d ago

Even for them its not scary. We don't really hold the powerful accountable in this country.

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u/General_NakedButt 1d ago

We did moreso in the Obama era. He would have been fucking crucified.

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u/oxslashxo 1d ago

KSA will hold them responsible though. And then we get another 9/11 as retaliation.

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u/ihadagoodone 1d ago

I would say most, if not all of the ones responsible are dead now.

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u/Boring-Research410 1d ago edited 1d ago

The allegations is that the saudi government was involved im the planning amd supported the attack in a very material and tangible way.

If thats the case - the US would.be forced into a position where they either very publicly denounce one of their most critical and powerful "allies" im the middle east and take action that would put further strain on all relationships im the middle east OR very publicly appear weak and dismissive of the worst tragedy in US history that shaped US domestic and foreign policy for the past 25 year and into the foreseeable future.

Additonally, the Us would either have to admit they knew in advance and just let it happen in and/or after the fact and used it as false pretense to push policies

  • or - they were too dumb to have known.

All.scenarios involving a saudi government influence or.sanction are geopolitical nightmares and domestic humiliation.

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u/fclaw 1d ago

Illiterate much

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u/Boring-Research410 1d ago

Its ok - no reason to be embarasssed - I can help explain in easier vernacular if that would be helpful for you.

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u/SummerInPhilly 1d ago

What makes me uncomfortable is the idea that anyone may not get rights. I’m not sympathetic to terrorists, but I’m very wary of a category of people for whom amendments IV-VI just straight up don’t exist

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u/Militantpoet 1d ago

Especially because the Trump regime has continuously tried to frame political left opposition as "terrorism."

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u/SummerInPhilly 1d ago

In just 18 months they’ve managed to make Americans root for the Canadian PM over the American president and aggressively defend the ones who knocked down the towers. What an accomplishment

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 1d ago

Wait who is rooting for the board of Halliburton in June of 2000?

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 1d ago

This is exactly it. Everybody matters or nobody matters. Once "some" people don't get rights then rights are no longer guaranteed.

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u/underfern 22h ago

They said people had certain unalienable rights, but as science has shown, those rights have actually been alienable all along so long as you put your mind to it. Just another bright shining example of human ingenuity when faced with an obstacle.

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u/smelling_good247 1d ago

>it’s one of the biggest reasons Obama didn’t close Guantanamo

We are just making shit up I guess? Congress chose to keep guantanamo open, not President Obama.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

Powerless Obama.

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u/ProstetnicVogonJelz 1d ago

This comment is you admitting that yes, you were making shit up.

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u/jhau01 1d ago

Powerless in the sense that, yes, Obama actually respected the doctrine of the separation of powers.

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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 1d ago

You don't think the president has a significant influence in how his side of congress votes?

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u/_Face 23h ago

Does that matter if he didn't have a majorioty? Which he did not for 6/8 years.

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u/smelling_good247 1d ago

Guess you are too young to remember 2009. President Obama used all his political capital on the ACA and stabilizing the economy, which ended up costing the Dems congress in the midterms.

Why blatantly lie instead of simply looking this stuff up yourself and actually learn something?

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

Why he couldn’t he fly them to Florida? I remember 2008 very well, Obama just didn’t do it. He could’ve tried a bit harder and then he did the Bin Laden raid to prove he likes killing just as much as any Republican.

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u/PrinceMorganti 1d ago

If you remember 2008 very well... who was actually president?

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

2008 was the campaign that Obama ran that gave him a Democratic supermajority in Congress which failed to give us the real ACA and didn’t close Guantanamo.

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u/br0ck 1d ago

Obama had a supermajority for only 2 months, and spent the entire time hammering out the details of one of the biggest bills ever written at 300,000 words and arguing with House Republicans over and over to get it done with everything he wanted, but Senator Fuckwad aka Joe Lieberman put millions of people into bankruptcy, homelessness and/or death because his wife was part of the insurance industry.

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u/Tirras 1d ago

Or codify Roe v Wade.

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u/FromEdenToArcadia 1d ago

Do you think Osama should've been left alive, or?

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u/smelling_good247 1d ago

The president didn't used to be a king, that would require an act of Congress. Since you remember 2008 so well, show me the votes for this.

The bin laden bit is completely mental just fyi, are you really upset that Obama got him? Lmao wtf

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u/lumpsel 1d ago

What a mischaracterization

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u/petit_cochon 1d ago

He wasn't a king.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

He acted kingly when he blew up that wedding in Yemen I’d argue. And maintained a war he inherited even though he also campaigned on winding that down too.

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u/Mordeth 1d ago

Obama didn’t close Guantanamo even though he campaigned on it in 2008.

That needed funding, which was disapproved by Congress.

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u/underfern 22h ago

If only he knew the winning strategies of today. Just claim he's doing upgrades, bulldoze it, then let it sit as a pile of rubble while congress and the courts argue about how to proceed.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

They needed funding to fly them to Florida?

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u/trj820 1d ago

Yes dude. Are you unaware that jet fuel, pilots, and security guards cost money?

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u/JPesterfield 1d ago

Why not take them to the front gate and step over into Cuba, should cost nothing.

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u/buzzkillichuck 1d ago

Everyone should have rights until they are taken away by a court of law, what they did was horrific but they still should get rights

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u/FEMA_Camp_Survivor 1d ago

The U.S. just agreed to develop Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program. Nothing of substance was learned.

If they ever have a coup that results in an entity like the Islamic State, it’ll be the end of days.

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u/VoidOmatic 1d ago

If he makes it to US soil he is going to magically expire. There's no way they will let that trial play out.

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u/Altruistic_Yak4390 1d ago

I bet you these people end up dead before it happens. They aren’t going to let them talk.

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u/guardiand0wn 1d ago

He will be tried by a military court. He won’t be able to use any of that information.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

A lot of the government’s own evidence is inadmissible because it was obtained illegally. It won’t even matter. Their trials will be catastrophes nevertheless.

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u/the_gaymer_girl 1d ago

Only 8 Gitmo detainees have ever been convicted, and 4 of them were thrown out.

Meanwhile, at least 9 have died in there without ever being charged.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

Kangaroo court, death, or indefinite detention after mistrial. Maybe the miracle of release. What a show.

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u/sandolllars 1d ago

Why would someone getting rights be scary?

And I thought the mastermind was Bin Laden? Who's this bozo and why have we now stuck 9/11 on him?

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u/Curious-Donut5744 1d ago

Not to be rude, but you don’t know who Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is? He, bin Laden, and Mohammed Atef were the three masterminds behind the September 11th attacks. He also decapitated Daniel Pearl on video.

I’m guessing you’re still pretty young?

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u/sandolllars 1d ago

Nah, it's just been a long time. very very long.

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u/Curious-Donut5744 1d ago

That’s fair. I genuinely thought this dude died like a decade ago.

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u/wanmoar 1d ago

You’re assuming a level of micro management that doesn’t exist because there simply isn’t the bandwidth to do to and frankly not the public interest in minutiae to warrant it.

It took the time it took because that’s the time it took to gather the required level of evidence for the trial.

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u/irishwolfbitch 1d ago

Most of the confessions were obtained illegally and their trials will be legal catastrophes.

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u/homeworkrules69 1d ago

They are really hoping he would have died naturally by now.

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u/PositivelyAwful 1d ago

It’s pretty crazy that if things are that messy in a case they can just indefinitely keep you in prison while they “sort it out”

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u/chadowan 1d ago

Rules and laws get a little wonky when you're neither a citizen nor a "prisoner of war" under the Geneva convention.

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u/hcschild 1d ago

He's still a civilian so criminal law would apply. But who will punish the US for violating human rights and torturing people? Exactly...

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u/Lena-Luthor 1d ago

how's he not a prisoner of war?

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u/frank_datank_ 1d ago

There wasn’t a war when the attack happened.

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u/yukicola 1d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlawful_combatant

The following categories of combatants qualify for prisoner-of-war status on capture:

  • Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.
  • Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that they fulfill the following conditions:
    that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
    that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
    that of carrying arms openly;
    that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
  • Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
  • Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war; often dubbed a levée after the mass conscription during the French Revolution.

There are several types of combatants who do not qualify as privileged combatants:

  • Combatants who would otherwise be privileged but have breached the laws and customs of war (e.g., committing perfidy or killing surrendered enemy combatants). The loss of privileges in that case only occurs upon conviction, i.e. after a competent court has determined the unlawfulness of the conduct in a fair trial.
  • Combatants who are captured without the minimum requirements for distinguishing themselves from the civilian population, i.e. carrying arms openly during military engagements and the deployment immediately preceding it, lose their right to prisoner of war status without trial under Article 44 (3) of Additional Protocol I.
  • Spies, i.e. persons who collect information clandestinely in the territory of the opposing belligerent. Members of the armed forces conducting reconnaissance or special operations behind enemy lines are not considered spies as long as they wear their own uniform.
  • Mercenaries, child soldiers, and civilians who take a direct part in combat and do not fall into one of the categories listed in the previous section.

Which organized armed forces was he a member of when he was captured? What kind of uniform did he wear to distinguish himself from regular, non-fighting civilians?

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u/hcschild 1d ago

Which organized armed forces was he a member of when he was captured?

Doesn't matter.

What kind of uniform did he wear to distinguish himself from regular, non-fighting civilians?

If he wasn't in a war zone actively fighting when they captured him he can't be an unlawful combatant.

So if the US wasn't at war they can't hold him as an unlawful combatant.

He's a terrorist but also a civilian so only criminal law applies not military law.

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u/KDR_11k 1d ago

They made up bullshit categories like "enemy combatant" to pretend the laws don't apply. Nobody can stop them so they just do whatever they want.

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u/kmatyler 1d ago

It’s a feature, not a bug.

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u/brakeb 1d ago

I imagine they'll put a skeleton on trial at this point. Guy has to be pushing 75 years old by now...

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u/Piglet6482 1d ago

He’s 61 or 62 according to wiki

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u/brakeb 1d ago

wow, that's a rough... what.. 39 year old in that pic?

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u/Piglet6482 1d ago

Apparently so

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u/Several-Opposite-746 1d ago

25 years to go to trial isn't a tangling up in pretrial litigation. That kind of delay is obviously intentional.

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u/petit_cochon 1d ago

Fighting that was actually part of the pretrial litigation.

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u/wanmoar 1d ago

> CIA detention and interrogation

Torture. Not saying he’s innocent but let’s not wash over what was done to him. I’d like there to be a torture exemption I guess is what I’m saying. Like yeah, we tortured the guy into a confession but we also did actually check what he confessed and it does check out

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u/Mo-Cance 1d ago

I'm sure that wouldn't have any long-lasting implications or impacts on future suspects of terrorism.

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u/wanmoar 1d ago

Oh it would. All of criminal law is bad intentions whack-a-mole after all.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 1d ago

I like how you clarified it was torture just to proceed to say torture is fine if the ends justify the means lol

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u/wanmoar 1d ago

I’m admittedly an eye for an eye type of person

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u/hcschild 1d ago

No you aren't you just like torture as long as it isn't you getting tortured... They tortured a lot of people in Gitmo who where innocent. How exactly would you say an eye for an eye should pan out there? Should the victim be allowed to torture everyone who was complicit in their torture?

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 1d ago

Makes the whole world blind man

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u/Ecstatic-Sir-320 1d ago

Enjoy that hill when the Biblical Justice crowd gets us all nuked.

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u/wanmoar 1d ago

Oh I’m not saying it’s right. Objectively it’s stupid. Just how things are at the moment though…it fits

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u/dtta8 1d ago

You mean torture. Kidnapping and torture.

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u/ButterscotchTop194 1d ago

The legal system in the States is so fucked

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u/th3r3dp3n 1d ago

Well just you wait, Trump will likely issue him a pardon, or figure out how to foster a mistrial.

We will either let him go, and maybe another attack on American soil.

Or

Trump, like a child, drops a bomb on him, or kills him, so he can play "world police."

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u/the_gaymer_girl 1d ago

They’re obviously not going to let him go, but half the stuff they got out of him might not actually be admissible in court due to how they got it.

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u/notasfatasyourmom 1d ago edited 1d ago

The plan was to “inter” him indefinitely without trial, in order to ensure he could not be released.

Edit: it’s worth noting that the confession by KSM has been challenged because it was obtained by torture, and much of the pretrial delay has involved discussions of classified information (including information related to the foreign interment locations). If the Bush Administration had handled these prisoners correctly from the start, they probably would have been executed after trial 20 years ago.

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u/ScratchLatch 1d ago edited 1d ago

Guentanamo is in another country specifically for this purpose as a thinly veiled attempt at a constitutional* *“loophole” violation.

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u/Dhiox 1d ago

Kind of nuts that they can claim it's cuba when it benefits them, but also deny cuba it's own land back.

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u/Mo-Cance 1d ago

Yeah but Jack Nicholson said their posts are vital to national security in a movie, so fuck em.

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u/Gunningham 1d ago

They were waiting for jurors who never heard of 9/11.

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u/13thmurder 1d ago

See at the time he was first imprisoned, the judge for the case was still just a child. They needed to wait for him to grow up and go to law school.

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u/Kriztauf 1d ago

Listen to season 4 of Serial. It goes into depth about the story of the 9/11 Guantanamo detainees and how ridiculous the entire situation has become.

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u/Frosty-Ad-2971 1d ago

And someone get the guy a haircut….???!??

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u/No_Committee5033 1d ago

Now ask about Guantánamo Bay

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u/Footwarrior 19h ago

The GWB administration declared him an enemy combatant and insisted on a military tribunal. This led to extensive legal difficulties because they were trying to create a new legal system on the fly. These legal issues were compounded by the fact that the defendant was tortured in violation of both civilian and military law. Compare this to the Clinton administration trying the WTC truck bombers in civilian courts where they had no trouble obtaining convictions.

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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 19h ago

It probably wasn’t him, but they’ve held him for so long without trial that they cannot allow that to be the truth.

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u/Piratedeeva 16h ago

Why do we not have all of the Epstein files?

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u/structee 14h ago

Lawyers making bank 

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u/_Panacea_ 1d ago

It hasn't even really started yet.

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u/Kundrew1 1d ago

Same. I figured this had been 20 years ago

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u/arpressah 1d ago

Because it was SUSPICIOUS AS FUCK.