9/11 Mastermind KSM Facing Justice

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has shown his true colors, a ruthless thug with no repentance.

When a visibly aged Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged accomplices were reunited in a sterile military courtroom here Thursday, they laughed and chatted like old school chums and apparently rekindled their common cause: to defy their American enemies or die trying.

Strident and unremorseful over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks they allegedly plotted, four of the men declared their eagerness to be executed.

Asked by the tribunal's chief judge, Marine Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, if he recognized that he could be put to death if convicted, Mohammed said: "This is what I wish. I'm looking to be a martyr for a long time."

I say keep him alive as long as Al-Qaeda still exists, let's not help him become a so-called "martyr." If we can deprive him of anything, let it be this. When Al-Qaeda reaches its point of defeat, show him the news report. That ought to be punishment enough, that we prevailed and "you KSM sit in a jail cell."

9/11: Never forget, never again.