(CBS) Attorney General John Ashcroft never had a quiz like this in law school.
Accused terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui included a multiple-choice test for Ashcroft in some of the 17 handwritten motions released Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema.
Ashcroft is asked to check the box that best describes the government's view of the lone U.S. defendant charged as a conspirator with the Sept. 11 hijackers.
The choices are:
20th hijacker.
5th plane pilot missing in action.
I, Ashcroft don't know.
Let's kill him anyway.
"1st prize: 1st class seat at Zacarias Moussaoui execution," the motion said, adding, "Only joking, it is not going to happen."
The quiz isn't entirely a joke. Moussaoui astutely spotted a line in a recent court order that the government considers him a would-be fifth pilot of a hijacked plane instead of a 20th hijacker of one of the four Sept. 11 planes.
"Gone with the wind," Moussaoui said of the 20th hijacker theory, which the government says was never part of its case.
The judge ruled that Moussaoui is entitled to learn the government's prosecution theory. That might explain Moussaoui's quiz, which Ashcroft isn't likely to answer willingly. The government, in fact, contends its prosecution theory is none of Moussaoui's business.
In the motions, Moussaoui requests often that he be authorized to question senior al Qaeda prisoners, contending they could exonerate him of charges that he plotted the attacks with the attackers who flew the planes on Sept. 11.
posted on May 5, 2003 11:50:09 AM new
This is the problem...
" What we have, then, is a good, old-fashioned standoff between two of the three branches of government. The courts are likely to continue to say to the government: You want to try Moussaoui in a capital case? Fine. You are going to obey the rules. And the government is likely to continue to say to the courts: We want to try Moussaoui without jeopardizing vital intelligence assets and we ought to be able to make that decision, your honor, not you. The only thing that makes this a breakable logjam is that Moussaoui's fate still is controlled by the executive branch."
posted on May 5, 2003 01:21:02 PM new
I bet they all wish Moussaoui had been tried by one of the secret courts or sent to Gitmo in Cuba.Somebody screwed up.I know hes American,but if he had been sent to Gitmo,out of sight out of mind.
posted on May 5, 2003 01:33:13 PM new
One of the powers they are seeking as an expansion of the Patriot act is to be able to strip people of their citizenship by executive decree. So if they get that in the future it won't be a problem for them - they can just "disappear" them like Argentina or North Korea.
Doesn't that make you feel safer?
