A federal jury decided today that Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should be sentenced to life in prison, rejecting government arguments that he should be executed for his role in the deadliest terrorist strike on American soil.
"America, you lost. I won!" Moussaoui yelled as he was escorted from the U.S. District courtroom in Alexandria after the verdict was read. He clapped his hands as he left.
I'm sure many people are dissapointed by the verdict however I am not one of them. I'd prefer he not be martyed and the life sentence makes it impossible for anyone to effectively claim the trial was rigged. I have no doubt that the guards and other prisoners will not be kind to him in the least. 10 to 1 he suffers the same fate as Dahmer. But lets take a moment to list the pros and cons of each possible verdict. I'll revise this list to reflect any aditions from reader comments.
1: He's Dead.
Death Sentence Cons
1: He's a martyr.
2: Decreases credibility of trial.
3: More bad middle eastern PR
Life Sentence Pros
1: Gets to spend lots of "quality time" with cons
2: 72 virgins replaced by 72 felons.
3: Prison cooks will be slipping bacon into every dish he eats.
4: Less bad middle eastern PR. (Positive PR is not going to happen)
5: Increases credibility of trial.
Life Sentence Cons
1: He's alive (for now)
2: We have to foot the hotel bill.
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