Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, has now confessed to 31 separate attacks and plots over the course of a decade. From the World Trade Center truck bombing in 1993 to the so-called shoe bomber plot to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner in December 2001 and the 2002 bombing of an Indonesian nightclub, he claims responsibility for the “organizing, planning, follow-up and execution” of the plots.
Transcripts released by the Pentagon late Wednesday indicate that the Kuwaiti national confessed to a U.S. military tribunal on Saturday, portraying himself as al-Qaeda’s busiest operational planner.
Mohammed’s statements will surely set some minds at ease, knowing that a global terrorist is in custody. But there is no room for complacency. We can’t rely on his credibility and have to wonder whether he was really at the center of these 31 separate attacks, if his confession was coerced or if the statements were the exaggerations of a man that the Sept. 11 commission described as a flamboyant operative who developed grandiose plans for attacks.
The confession was startling if only for its scope and audacity and sickening in its evilness and impact. If indeed the al-Qaeda operative was involved in all that he claims, it does not mean that law enforcement can ease up on the hunt for other global terrorists. And what of Osama bin Laden? We cannot understand the reasoning of the Bush administration in loosening its effort to apprehend him. Recent intelligence suggests that al-Qaeda has reactivated some training activities, hoping, we don’t doubt, to develop Mohammed successors.
Until last Saturday, Mohammed had been held incognito in secret CIA facilities along with 13 other “high-value” terror suspects. He was transferred to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay last September.
The transcripts refer to a claim by Mohammed that he was tortured by the CIA, although he said he was not under duress at Guantanamo when he confessed to his role in the attacks. The tribunal president asked whether any statements he made under interrogation were “as the result of any of the treatment.” Mohammed answered: “CIA peoples. Yes. At the beginning when they transferred me … .” The rest of the sentence is redacted from the transcript. The CIA has said its interrogation practices are legal, and that it does not use torture.
Mohammed claimed credit for plotting attempts to assassinate Presidents Carter and Clinton and attack buildings in California and Chicago. His confession may be suspect, but it should serve as a reminder that other terrorists are still out there.
