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Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald discusses the Moussaoui sentencing:
The list of mitigating circumstances that apparently resulted in Moussaoui receiving a life sentence instead of the death penalty reads like a parody of everything that is most sentimental and silly in modern psychiatry (Karl Kraus: "Psychiatry is the disease for which it is supposed to be the cure").What the prosecution should have done, but apparently felt it could not do, or possibly simply did not ever even think of doing, was to preempt both the "insanity" and the "on account of he's deprived" excuses, and set out clearly why Moussaoui did what he did with clear and uninhibited discussion of that book he was clutching -- the Qur'an -- and with the Qur'an, the Hadith. And with the Hadith, the figure of Muhammad, uswa hasana and al-insan al-kamil.
Did the psychiatrist Dr. Vogelsang (one more Upper-West-Side name out of Lillian Ross's comical period-piece "Vertical and Horizontal") give any sign of having studied the belief-system of Islam, without which no conceivable judgment can be made about the sanity, or lack of it, of a devout Muslim such as Moussaoui?Why didn’t the Prosecution rebut the argument of the defense lawyer that Moussaoui is "crazy" because of his wretched childhood, etc. by pointing out that a large number of other people -- such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawihiri and Mohammed Atta -- were children of great privilege in the case of the first two, and middle-class in the case of the third, and that furthermore studies of terrorists had found them to be far above average, in their societies, in the amount of education they had received, and in the degree of their economic wellbeing?
Lay it all out. Explain that yes, Moussaoui, like a few billion other people, may have had a "deprived" childhood. Yes, he was quick to sense any slight, and yes, he was quick to resent his treatment at the hands of Infidels, because, as a Muslim (one who grew to be more and more faithful and observant) he knew that Muslims should be on top -- not equal, but on top. Infidels lording it over him, or other Muslims, in France, were contra naturam, against the natural and just and right order of things, islamically speaking. The prosecutors should have explained that Moussaoui viewed the world through the prism of Islam, and the texts he read, the society he inhabited (both real, and virtual), taught him to blame, always and everywhere, Infidels.
Eventually this is going to have to be done. Eventually this is going to be unavoidable, if the United States and other Infidel countries are going to continue to use the criminal justice system as it is, and to continue to rely on untrained and inexpert juries who are the products of their age -- with all its sentimentality about mitigating circumstances because, you see, the blame for your behavior can always, always, be found in some part of your background, so that blame can be passed onto one's upbringing, say.
But this misses the point. There are always people who have had unhappy childhoods, unhappy adolescences, unhappy adulthoods. As noted many times before, we who are Infidels may lose status, a job, a spouse, a girlfriend or boyfriend, or suffer setbacks or perceived slights. Did not Moussaoui think he was entitled to more than he received? Yet his inshallah-fatalism prevented him from simply working hard and doing what he could to overcome, as his brother did, that same background. Why? The answer is that he took Islam far more seriously, was far more of a deep believer, than his brother.
Infidels have a thousand things to blame. They can blame their parents -- just as many on that Infidel jury wanted to blame, for Moussaoui, his treatment by his parents. They can blame their aggressive or unpleasant siblings, their ungrateful children, the System, Racism, The Man, Amerikkka, Kapitalism, Fate, the stars, their cholesterol level, their serotonin level, anything and everything at all -- even, just perhaps, themselves. But Muslim Believers have one thing to blame always at the ready. And to the extent that one takes that belief-system seriously, it is likely that one will, viewing the universe through the grid, the prism, of Islam, blame the Infidel. And that is exactly what Moussaoui did.
Unless this is going to be understood by the usual "experts" -- including those complacent psychiatrists who appear not to have thought it necessary for them to study the doctrines of Islam and what might follow and has naturally followed from them (starting with the perceived behavior of Muslims conducting Jihad over 1350 years, wherever they were able to conduct it because of local conditions or circumstances) -- then there will be more miscarriages, with justice stillborn, the result of those thanatotropic bromides and thalidomides, sentimentality and ignorance.
And what do we conclude? We have two possible conclusions:
1) Moussaoui was and is simply following the tenets of Islam faithfully, and putting into practice the requirement that at least some Muslims must engage in Jihad (in order that others may, temporarily, be relieved of the duty).
OR
2) Moussaoui became depressed, as so many of us do, all over the Infidel world as well, but in the case of Muslims, the problem is that that depression, or any kind of emotional setback, can lead to blaming the Infidel. Viewing the universe through the prism of Islam makes one almost automatically ready to blame that Infidel, and to seek revenge.
Those are the two possible explanations.
And either one has immense implications for the Muslim presence all over Europe and North America. For the sake of the legal and social order and the physical wellbeing of the resident Infidels who created those societies and have no desire to see them islamized, these implications need to be faced.
Posted by Robert at May 7, 2006 8:11 AM
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Sympathy for the devil was an interesting song but sympathy was wasted on mo's man he's proud of what he did. An abusive or deprived childhood is no excuse.
Posted by: fireangel![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 7, 2006 8:49 AM
Every point Hugh as shown is logical and common sense, but it seems the court jungle of lawyers and judges are just too damm pc to really do their job.
look at the Menedez brothers who killed their parents, you had some jurors cring how these boys are now orphans! for God's sake, they killed their own parents and got away with it for a life sentence! for all the reasons why the civilian courts cannot get away from the pc environment, a military court is the only route. The Bush admin. did not push hard enough for it, they tried, and they caved in to the pc liberals. The judge was an appointee from clinton, so it was a farce from the get go! can anyone google the lawyers for Moussaoui yet?
at May 7, 2006 10:09 AM
Robert, while slightly off grammatically, your trouvaille of a title ("Mitigating Moussaoui") somehow works. Akin to "Raising Arizona" but shifting the onus of offness from noun ("Arizona") to a verb form ("Mitigating") that is not the expected participial adjective ("M'lud, there are mitigating factors") but pushy quasi-verb that it is, boldly seizes a direct object ("Moussaoui") -- in this case the chase has a specific beast in view. I now realize that the title I had earlier suggested to you -- "Henry IV, Part One" --just didn't cut the mustard.
Posted by: Hugh at May 7, 2006 11:35 AM
Yes, he was quick to sense any slight, and yes, he was quick to resent his treatment at the hands of Infidels...
May I invoke the 8th Pillar here? Laying unnoticed at the foot of the 8th Pillar is that, by implication, the pyschobabble "evidence" set forth in this "trial" Zach was treated well by his fellow Moslems.
MO HIJABS MO THE MARXIST MORALS MOSLEMS CAN ROBS MO PROFESSORIAL FOBS
Pyschiatry is a pseudo-science to the great extent its assertions are decoupled from the scant measurable data with which such practitioners have to do their work.
MO HIJABS MO IN YO FACE STABS MO YATHRIBIC CRABS MO FANTASTIC FABS MO MO
We in dar al Harb, with the possible exception of
Communist China, are stuck in never-never land.
We're at war, but only sorta. A self-described combatant is tried in a criminal court. This is cuz the war has no fronts and Zach wasn't wearing a uniform, less the ridiculous garb Moslems wear.
To them all of life is military theater and all post-engagement reviews are military tribunals (Sharia).
The 4,000:0 ratio posted in here correctly assumed that Zach was a not-so-innocent non-combatant.
As pointed out in this essay, to redesignate Zach to be a combatant would require redesignating Islam itself from a religion to an ideological military cult.
And that ain't gonna happen.
SWT PBUH SWT PBUH SWT PBUH SWT PBUH SWT PBUH SWT PBUH SWT PBUH MO MO MO
Wonder how much of the gov't welfare Chez Moussaoui collected over there in France? No wonder poor Zach went for the mass murder thing, seeing his parents cashing those free money checks musta deeply offended Zach's proud sense of Maghribian individualism.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at May 7, 2006 11:45 AM
The mouse will now have the opportunity to go crazy and become depraved 23 hours a day for the rest of his life. This is better than death for he will never know what is happening outside for there are no television or radios allowed. His head will be bloody bowing and crying out to the figment of allah and he will only hear silence.
Mouse, bubba and bubba's friends are waiting for you that one hour a day for the rest of your life.
fitting end.
Posted by: Texican at May 7, 2006 12:06 PM
From Wikipedia's article on ADX Florence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence
Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a 13-inch black and white television that shows only educational programming, which not all inmates are allowed to have
Hope it's PBS, in which case he'd quite literally be a captive audience to the Teletubbies. And the Prophet Barney (purple be upon him).
Posted by: Shinoliite at May 7, 2006 12:18 PM
There are hate crime statues on the books in the Federal codes and most state laws. When,oh, when will a prosecutor have the guts to charge the next jihadist criminal for committing a hate crime? We could then put Islam on trial. The incident at UNC was an opportunity lost.
The RICO statute lay dormant for many years until people like Rudy Giuliani and others studied it and realized how valuable it was. They used it with a vengeance. Now,just about every top Mafia boss and capo is in jail where they will die of old age before their sentences are served. The next time some American muhajadin (or however this damn word is spelled) runs a car into a crowd of people or otherwise harms some other non-Muslim, we must petition (harangue, brow-beat, recall)the local prosecutor into invoking whatever hate crime statute is available in that jurisdiction.
Posted by: Pelayo
at May 7, 2006 12:34 PM
I am glad that this foul creature will be rotting away in some dungeon. The death penalty is far too kind for animals of this variety. If Sept 11th did not prove that jihadists do not value their lives, than the daily suicide bomber attacks should. These people do not fear death. What they do not like, and this is apparent from all the pissing and moaning emenating from Guantanmo is being stuck in a cage.
Posted by: IslamIsTheEnemy at May 7, 2006 4:56 PM
From Hugh's post:
"Eventually this is going to have to be done. Eventually this is going to be unavoidable, if the United States and other Infidel countries are going to continue to use the criminal justice system as it is, and to continue to rely on untrained and inexpert juries who are the products of their age... "
That "if" is the key to this. You have enemy combatants who are neither parties to treaties covering the conduct of soldiers, nor followers of any rules of engagement agreed to by civilized nations. When captured, they should be tortured to reveal everything they know (Apparently, as the interrogation of the pakistani al queda leader proved, a pretty easy feat. These rats have an aversion to discomfort) Then they should be treated as mere chattel. If useful as bargaining chips, they could be penned and fed, if not they should be disposed of. The whole courtroom circus that took place in Virginia is an extravagance the West cannot afford.
Posted by: Infidel33 at May 7, 2006 5:28 PM
From the vineyards of Alsace Lorraine:
I fear that democracy, fairplay, PC and ´rules´of war are out of date and out of time for the war on Islam.
The war is in full swing for the Jihadi´s, but we haven´t even begun to fight. The counter-propaganda-war has not even started, the humiliation of western forces in Iraq on a daily basis is devastating on the home-front. We better roast them before they roast us...
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at May 7, 2006 5:33 PM
A military trial with the accused called a spy/saboteur/terrorist.
Using the evidence, which his words affirmed.
Then a firing squad.
And buried anonymously at sea.
This folly of holding civilian criminal trials for military terrorists/spies/saboteurs is a lamebrained misunderstanding of the nature of the offense, a moronic drain on the economy, and an utter waste of the courts's time.
Off of the wrong footing, and headed to idiotville.
Someone needs to appeal the Moussaoui case on the grounds that it was charged and tried in the wrong court system:
-It should have been a military trial, not a civilian one.
Such a [possibly suicidal nuisance] suit would clear up this jurisdictional delusion before it spreads, engulfs more millions of tax dollars, and hamstrings our intelligence efforts against the jihadists even further.
at May 7, 2006 6:11 PM
Moussaoui wanted a martyr's death and it seems apparent that he expected to get it from the jury. Instead he gets to spend the rest of his life staring at the walls of an 84 square foot cell. Death would have been too easy.
I was expecting a life sentence on the grounds that he was transparently lying about the "5th plane" in order to induce the jury to recommend death, but I feared that this would lead to him becoming a proselytizer for jihad, as Robert warned a few days ago.
Life in prison without human contact... it's a more terrible fate than execution. On top of that is the further humiliation to Moussaoui himself. He was an incompetent who couldn't get himself executed in a hijacking, and couldn't even get himself killed for his self-affirmed role in the 9/11 conspiracy. I predict that he will commit suicide in prison.
at May 7, 2006 6:16 PM
One wonders whether the childhood abuses suffered by the 9-11 murderers (not warriors, they) caused them to commit their acts?
On the other hand, who gives a damn? They did the deed.
Other jihadis must be removed from the world, preferably before they murder or intend to murder more of us. But certainly afterwards.
These are acts of war against the United States and its people. They must be treated as that. They are not crimes that deserve the full protection of the Constitution.
No dragged-out appeals until a sentence of death is carried out many years later. Quick military justice and removal from the earth is the correct remedy to the murderous jihadis of islam.
Posted by: unicorns62000 at May 7, 2006 6:44 PM
Allspirit Lyrics
Get Over it
Eagles
From the album Hell Freezes Over (1994)
I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin' 'Don't blame me'
They point their crooked little fingers ar everybody else
Spend all their time feelin' sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma's too thin; your daddy's too fat
Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it
You say you haven't been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight
You don't want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing
Get over it
Get over it
If you don't want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it
It's like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You're makin' the most of your losin' streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak
You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child and kick its little ass
Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it
Get over it
Get over it
It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit
Get over it, get over it
at May 7, 2006 7:24 PM
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