Zacarias Moussoui

[DavidMn]

I've been doing some thinking on this the last couple days, and leaving aside whether I believe in the death penalty or not, I'm really starting to wonder if executing this guy is a good idea. I mean he's almost assured of becoming a martyr to the lunatics if they do it, and the last thing we all need is more terrorists that want to kill us running around. I believe that had he squealed 9/11 couldve been prevented, and all those innocent people..... I'm just not sure what to think on this one.

[skcin]

I have my doubts about just how involved he actually was. Sometimes I think that maybe he's making himself seem more involved in order to play martyr, perhaps even lying to escalate the situation.

Sometimes, I hate to say this, but sometimes I think that the U.S. government wants to make an example of him, wants to show us "see, we got one, we're winning the war on terror, see" no matter how much or how little he actually had to do with 9-11.

I just don't know.

[bretonbanquet]

What terrorists want more than anything else is publicity, and a sure way to give them lots of that is to execute this guy. It's true that he might be exaggerating his involvement in order to increase his notoriety, and killing him will make it worse.

That's the trouble with the death penalty - it's just all about revenge, which is ugly. It makes everyone as bad as each other. Just let this guy rot in jail and he'll be forgotten - the worst punishment for an attention-seeking terrorist.

[jkmaletic]

I agree. Let this guy ROT in jail for the rest of his life with MINIMAL protection against the other inmates, who would be sure to beat the **** out him day in and day out! Death would be too easy for this murderer. He needs to really suffer.