Justice and the Enemy: Nuremberg, 9/11, and the Trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Author:William Shawcross [Shawcross, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Law, Military, government, Terrorism, Human Rights, Law Enforcement, Federal, Taxation, Legal History
ISBN: 1586489755
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2011-09-15T06:44:12+00:00

The new reality of Al Qaeda forced itself once again into the debate. On May Day (May 1), 2010, another young Islamist tried to conduct mass murder in America. This time, the would-be killer, an American citizen named Faisal Shahzad, sought to attack people in Times Square with a bomb he had been taught how to build by the Pakistani Taliban.

The United States had been good to Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized Pakistani-American who had lived there for the past ten years. Having obtained a university degree, he was sponsored by two American companies and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 2009. He married, had two children, and seemed to be living a quiet, happy life in Connecticut. 33

But that same year, having publicly sworn allegiance to the United States, Shahzad secretly became a radical Muslim, traveled to Pakistan, and spent forty days with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in Waziristan. There he was instructed in the construction of bombs and made a video about his plan to attack America. In this he declared that his intention was to “incite the Muslims to get up and fight against the enemy of Islam.” He declared, “Jihad is one of the pillars upon which Islam stands” and “I have been trying to join my brothers in jihad ever since 9/11 happened. I am planning to wage an attack inside America.” It was not difficult to do, he boasted, urging other Muslim men, “Get up and learn from me and make an effort. Nothing is impossible if you just keep in mind that Allah is with you.” 34

His Taliban controllers gave Shahzad $5000 to buy the materials for a bomb and installed software on his computer that enabled him to communicate easily with them. Back in Connecticut, Shahzad bought fertilizer, propane, gasoline, other components, and a secondhand Nissan Pathfinder.

On May Day afternoon, he loaded the homemade bomb into the Nissan and drove to Times Square, parked on Forty-fifth Street and Seventh Avenue, and lit the fuse. Expecting the bomb to explode a few minutes later, he walked away, carrying a semiautomatic rifle in a computer bag—he intended to shoot any policeman who tried to apprehend him. Mercifully, the bomb failed to detonate; street vendors noticed smoke coming from the car and alerted the police, who emptied the area of people and disarmed the device.

Back home in Connecticut, Shahzad watched the television accounts of his failure; on May 3, believing that he was about to be arrested, he bought a one-way ticket on Emirates Airline to Pakistan. Although the F.B.I. had traced his name and he was now on a “No-Fly” list, he was allowed to board the flight; his plane was already taxiing towards the runway before it was halted and he was arrested.

Unlike Farouk Abdulmutallab, Shahzad was a U.S. citizen and the fact that he was read his Miranda rights aroused scant comment. He seemed eager, even proud, to tell his story and in court on June 21, 2010, he announced, “I want

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