An alleged terrorist gets his day in court, and it?s a near disaster. The Zacarias Moussaoui hearings seem more like high drama than high justice, despite judge Leonie Brinkema?s best efforts to quell the histrionics.
In an Alexandria courtroom yesterday, Moussaoui pressed, then withdrew his guilty plea in hopes of saving his life. Islam says he must. The alleged ?twentieth hijacker? is ranting and raving, playing fast and loose with Shakespeare quotes and his own fate. ?Guilty or not Guilty, that is the question,? he intones.
Well, fine. But this initial go-round raises other important questions about how best to try terrorism defendants. Public trials, secret tribunals, backroom deals: The options, and obstacles, of pursuing justice in the war on terror.
