Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has made a stunning backtrack on the plea deal that Pentagon prosecutors agreed to with three terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks who were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The deal, which took the death penalty off the table, has been revoked by Austin in a terse memo.
Austin is now taking the lead on the case for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. In his order, Austin relieved the official in charge of the military commission who had signed off on the original plea deals.
The House Armed Services Committee has launched an investigation into the plea deals, which Chairman Mike Rogers called “unconscionable.” Victims’ groups have expressed relief at the reversal of the deals, with Patrick Hendry of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York stating that the families of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks deserve justice.
The defendants are accused of providing training, financial support, and other assistance to the terrorists who carried out the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. The revocation of the plea deals has sparked renewed calls for transparency and accountability in the pursuit of justice for the victims and their families.
The White House has stated that President Biden played no role in the plea deal process and was not aware of the deals until they were announced. The president rejected a proposal last year that would have spared the three suspects from the death penalty.
The revocation of the plea deals has reignited the quest for truth and justice for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. The families of the victims, along with victims’ groups, are demanding that the defendants provide vital information about the attacks and be held fully accountable for their actions.
