I'm opposed to the death penalty, even for terrorists like "the 20th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui, but the government's apparent bungling of Moussaoui's sentencing trial does raise serious doubts about whether the American judicial system is capable of functioning when the defendant is a "soldier" in a war against of the United States. If I were a relative or friend of a 9/11 victim, I would be livid.
If Moussaoui is spared the death penalty because of prosecutorial misconduct/incompetence, it will only boost the arguments by President Bush and others that the best way to deal with al-Qaida and other terrorists is to lock them up in Gitmo or other secret prison and throw away the key. That would be an unacceptable defeat for the United States and an unacceptable victory for the the terrorists.
Whoever screwed up this case, needs to be fired.
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