Don’t Panic August 21 2002

What’s the latest in the case against Zacarias Moussaoui?

Zacarias Moussaoui is being held in Alexandria, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington. The feds think he was plotting to help crash United Airlines Flight 93 (into either the White House or the U.S. Capitol) before he was busted last August on immigration charges.

Unlike the other three aircraft hijacked on 9-11, Flight 93 is thought to have had only four hijackers on board instead of five. The government assumes Moussaoui was the extra hijacker, hence his prosecution-friendly nickname, “The 20th hijacker.”

His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 30. He’s been charged with six counts of conspiracy, four of which are punishable by death. If the government has its way, Moussaoui will be executed, brought back to life, then executed again. The process will be repeated until he is executed four times.

Judging government leaks to media, the case against Moussaoui is almost entirely circumstantial. Moussaoui was arrested after instructors at a Minneapolis flight school called the FBI on him. His shitty attitude combined with his eager interest in flying jumbo jets, despite having no piloting experience, made them suspicious.

Prosecutors allege that Moussaoui’s flight school education was paid for via overseas money transfers from Ramzi bin al-Shibh, the same al-Qaeda dude who sent money to other 9-11 hijackers. Al-Shibh was the former roommate of alleged 9-11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. Their Hamburg, Germany, apartment was a sort of Islamic fundamentalist frathouse, except instead of beer and Animal House, they partied with tea and a Koran.

The government has yet to leak any information that directly ties Moussaoui to the 9-11 attacks though. One obvious reason is that, since he was arrested in August, he was in jail on 9-11. Secondly, while investigators have determined that 19 hijackers all met with other hijackers in the group, they know of no meetings between Moussaoui and any of the 9-11 hijackers. One possibility that investigators are considering is that Moussaoui was part of another al-Qaeda plot scheduled to take place after 9-11.

A good defense lawyer might be able to exploit these obvious holes in the prosecution’s case. Unfortunately for Moussaoui, he’s chosen to act as his own lawyer. In the pre-trial hearings, Moussaoui has proven himself an even less effective lawyer than he was a terrorist. He’s repeatedly declared his allegiance to bin Laden and al-Qaeda. I’ve seen some dumb defendants on CourtTV, but I’ve never seen one say, “Let Allah’s curse be on you,” which is what Moussaoui said in a handwritten motion to the judge in his case.

If Moussaoui does escape the trial with his life, he might have a career in showbiz. For example, he makes frequent reference to what he calls “Clinton game of lies” or “Clinton Truths,” namely lies that are distorted into technical truths, a la President Clinton’s legalistic denials of sex with Monica Lewinsky. If he keeps that up, he could land an anchor spot on Fox.

As often as not though, Moussaoui’s prose isn’t so much clever as it is just plain weird. “If you cannot be a man, be at least a cowboy” was his advice to FBI chief Robert Mueller (whom Moussaoui calls King Muller.) Uh, OK. I grant you that he speaks better English than most of us do French or Arabic (his primary languages), but what the hell did he mean when he said, “I have declared publicly my complete and total hostility to the U.S. and no nuclear bomb has been launched against the U.S. for almost two months.” andisheh@creativeloafing.com