Moussaoui Sentenced To Life

The outcry from those upset that Moussaoui was not sentenced to death is understandable, but unwarrented.

I am of two minds on the issue. In general the death penalty does not bother me. If Moussaoui were sent to the electric chair I would not shed a tear. However, life in solitary without the chance for parole is no walk in the park. It can be argued that spending 23 hours per day locked up by yourself will do some pretty severe mental damage to a person.

Having Moussaoui rot in jail till he dies is not a defeat of our system of justice nor does it indicate that we are a weak willed country. Peggy Noonan and the milblog site OpFor are wrong on this account. Life in jail might not have the instant gratification that an execution offers to a victims family, but this level of jail time should not be considered a slap on the wrist. The sentence shows we have a system, we stick by it and even when it does not dish out the maximum punishment the crimminal is not let off easy.

The fact that the juries decision is being considered a defeat for the U.S. is ashame, but I feel there are mitigating circumstances to how many citizens are reacting.

I think religion is playing is usual, confusing role.

Moussaoui wants to die because his crazed religious leaders have promised him a quick trip to terrorist heaven where he will be entitled to the works. Many Americans want him dead so he can start doing time in hell. Each side is certain that their religious-based fate awaits.

Then there are those who just want him dead for revenge.

For whatever reason I don't fall into any of these camps. I'm not wishy washy on crime. I believe there are crimes to die for, but the people who carried out Setp. 11 are dead. Some of those who organized it are in custody and others are still on the loose. Those are the people whom I want dead. If there is ever a lottery to fill in bin Laden firing squad I will by a lot of tickets.

Despite Moussaoui's claims that he was supposed to be an integral part of Sept. 11, he came across as being on the fringe at best. His foolish boasting, for me, secured this image. Instead of coming across as a U.S. hating terrorist he sounded like a U.S. hating crazy person. Considering he probably used these outbursts to anger the jury into giving him a trip to "old sparky" his plan backfired.

Unfortunately for the U.S. Moussaoui is the only terrorists we were able to grab who decided to plead guilty to the attacks and so is the only outlet for our need for justice.