Should We Let Him Live?

Admitted, and now convicted, terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui is beginning his sentencing hearing, and the daughter of one of his victims, Carie Lemack, writes a piece in USA Today asking that his life be spared. This isn't the usual lefty wishy-washiness that we're all accustomed to - she makes some good points:

My mom, Judy Larocque, was murdered by madmen who yearned to die in their crazed belief that slamming the plane she had the misfortune to board into the World Trade Center in New York would bring them everlasting paradise. As a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, Mom was granted neither a trial nor justice when she unwittingly became part of their evil plan.

Now, the government wants to put to death a man who it says had foreknowledge of the plot that killed my mom and 2,971 others. This man says that he was not supposed to be part of the 9/11 plan, but that he was going to "martyr" himself at a later date by crashing a plane into the White House. This man wants to die. So why is the government fighting to give him what he wants? A U.S. attorney close to the investigation denied that that was the government's intent. He explained that Moussaoui does not want to die at the hands of American officials and American courts.

But I disagree. Moussaoui wanted to tear the bonds that hold our country together — in the case of 9/11, literally limb by limb. His ongoing antics and sporadic outbursts in the courtroom, sometimes leading to his removal, have done just that, making a mockery of the trial.

The U.S. government should not give him a forum. He pleaded guilty to crimes that require life in prison. Let's give it to him. Take him away, so we don't have to hear from him again.

My opposition to his execution does not stem from compassion. Quite the contrary. Rather, it stems from two thoughts — one rational, the other pure emotion.

First, it costs more to put Moussaoui to death, according to several state studies cited by the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment.

In Moussaoui's case, there wouldn't even have to be a trial if U.S. officials agreed that life in prison was enough for the terrorist. They don't, and are prepared to spend millions arguing the case.

I prefer to see that money spent on almost anything else rather than on Moussaoui. Give it to the families of soldiers fighting Moussaoui's allies in Afghanistan, give it to New York City firefighters to buy walkie-talkies that work, but don't give it to a confessed terrorist seeking an audience.

The second reason is embarrassing to admit but true. I want Moussaoui to die a slow, painful death. I do not want to give him the dignity of a planned execution, time to say his goodbyes, eat his last meal. His comrades did not give that to my mother. Let him sit in a cold, dirty cell alone for the rest of his long days, unable to direct his rants at anyone.

I can't really argue with that.