Who Got It Right?

In a rare event earlier this week a Georgia woman was executed by the state for her role in the murder of her husband. She persuaded her lover to kill her husband, which he did with multiple stabs to the victim. The killer was sentenced to life in prison but is eligible for parole in 2022. Assessing the death penalty, the judge and jury decided the woman was more guilty than the actual killer because he would not have done the deed without her encouragement. Juxtapose the above scenario with the events on 9/11/01. Three thousand innocents were murdered by 19 terrorists, 18 of which were Saudis. Assessing blame and exacting punishment did not fall on those who encouraged and financed the acts.

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Five people are identified as having been completely aware of the operation's details. They are bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Abu Turab al-Urduni, and Mohammed Atef. To date, only peripheral figures have been tried or convicted for the attacks. The Spanish high court sentenced Abu Dahdah to 27 years in prison for conspiracy on the 9/11 attacks and being a member of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. At the same time, another 17 al-Qaeda members were sentenced to penalties of between six and eleven years. On February 16, 2006, the Spanish Supreme Court reduced the Abu Dahdah penalty to 12 years because it considered that his participation in the conspiracy was not proven. Mounir el-Motassadeq, an associate of the Hamburg-based hijackers, is serving 15 years in Germany for his role in helping the hijackers prepare for the attacks. The Hamburg cell in Germany included radical Islamists who eventually came to be the suicide operatives in the 9/11 attacks. Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Said Bahaji were all members of al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell. Zacarias Moussaoui, suspected to have been the 20th hijacker, was convicted for the lesser role of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and air piracy. He is serving a life sentence without parole in the United States. Moussaoui claimed that al-Qaida received donations from some of the most senior members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family. In a court deposition, Moussaoui said he met with a Saudi diplomat posted in Washington to discuss a plan to assassinate the US president using a surface-to-air missile and plotted to bomb the US embassy in London. Immediately following the 9/11 events, members of the Saudi royal family were secretly flown out of the United States. The "War On Terror" was launched against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and has since spread throughout the Middle East. Millions have died. Meanwhile, the rulers in Saudi Arabia have gone about their business promoting Wahhabism, a 150 year old prescription for conducting one's life. As of 2015 Mohammed bin Abd Al-Wahhab's teachings are state-sponsored and are the official form of Sunni Islam in 21st-century Saudi Arabia. I ask again: Who got it right? Laissez les bons temps roulers, mais maintien le droit!