“My opinion is, if the death of 3,000 people isn’t sufficient for a death penalty in this country, then why do we even have the death penalty?” — Debra Burlingame

According to the New York Times, anonymous officials say that, “Military prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty for six Guantánamo detainees who are to be charged with central roles in the Sept. 11 terror attacks…” and an announcement may come from the Pentagon as soon as today. Those officials said that in addition to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the al Qaeda operations chief and self-described mastermind of the attacks, the death penalty will be sought for these five:

Mohammed al-Qahtani, the man officials have labeled the 20th hijacker; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, said to have been the main intermediary between the hijackers and leaders of Al Qaeda; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew of Mr. Mohammed, who has been identified as Mr. Mohammed’s lieutenant for the 2001 operation; Mr. al-Baluchi’s assistant, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi; and Walid bin Attash, a detainee known as Khallad, who investigators say selected and trained some of the hijackers.

The Times added:

A Defense Department official said prosecutors were seeking the death penalty because “if any case warrants it, it would be for individuals who were parties to a crime of that scale.” The officials spoke anonymously because no one in the government was authorized to speak about the case.

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