This is an amazing document of the hearing to determine Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's (KSM) status as an enemy combatant. An image of the hearing room in Guantanamo is here:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/d20040805pic4.jpg

I find the transcript filled with ironies and absurd contrasts. This is a hearing about some of the most violent and gruesome acts in modern times; yet the exchange is not only professional, but also has a polite civility about it.

Some excerpts:

- All the US Tribunal members and staff swear an oath by "so help you God" before beginning.
- KSM agreed to have the hearing in English - which he understands well(but speaks poorly).
- When asked if he understood the process, his response: "Okay by me"!
- KSM communicated with 9-11 hijackers via Instant Messaging.
- KSM objects to the way the paragraphs are structured in the Summary of Evidence … and, he corrects the spelling of his name!
- Unlike a civil trial, KSM’s efforts to refute the government evidence (an al Jazeera interview where he is purported to claim he was head of al Qaida Military Committee) is denied. The reason given is that that evidence “of limited value” compared to the whole body of evidence presented. KSM’s request to hear two witnesses is denied under the presumption that what they would have to say is not relevant.
- KSM complains about reporters misquoting people “you know the media man. How they are fashionable.”
- Then he confesses, that he is an enemy combatant “I not denying that I’m not an enemy combatant about this war but I’m denying the report [charges].”
- KSM advise the tribunal, helpfully, to “be careful with people” – relating to his claim that he was mistreated or tortured.
- KSM admits being the “operational director” of the 9-11 attacks.
- He was later charged with making biological weapons and a dirty (nuclear) bomb to attack the US.
- KSM trained the hijackers in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
- KSM was planning a second wave of air attacks on 4 US buildings, including the Bank of America/Columbia Tower.
- He admits to being responsible/involved in a long list of US attacks around the world.

Quoted: The Ten Commandments are shared between us all. We all are serving one God….War start from Adam when Cain he killed Abel until now. It’s never gonna stop killing of people.” - KSM

CNN Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/14/guantanamo.mohammed/index.html

Really good commentary on the idiocy of the Boston officials who claim that a blinky-light sign is a device designed to look like a bomb!

Ooooh, it has batteries and WIRES! It MUST be a bomb.

Quoted: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror - FDR, March 4, 1933

Quoted: A common additive to natural gas does, though — it is put there as a safety feature, so that consumers will notice when gas is leaking. It’s called mercaptan.
...
The mayor said the investigation is continuing, and that while the odor may turn out after all to come from mercaptan-laced natural gas, it may simply be a leak of mercaptan on its own (which at this point seems more likely, given the air quality test results so far).

That'll teach you to pull your pants down! Scramble the fighter jets!

Quoted: When a flight attendant finally asked her to sit down, the woman pulled down her pants, said Martin Drinkwater, a British passenger who stumbled on the scene as he was exiting the bathroom.

At that point, two passengers - an air marshall and a correction officer - ran up the aisle and tackled the woman, slamming her into the bathroom door, throwing her to the ground and putting her in handcuffs.

Quoted: The national security threat level has been raised from yellow to orange and passengers may not take liquids, gels, or creams through the security checkpoint ...

I heard this morning that sealed containers are being restricted or examined closely on US flights now, too.

Quoted: Passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.

Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.

Cheney's role in the war on Terror - Frontline.

Good rebuttal of one 911 conspiracy theorist against another.

The NSA intercepts (est) 3 billion communications every day - and sorts through them for intelligence information. Just how this system complies with FISA is a mystery to me.