The Pentagon has released partial transcripts of the confessions of Al Qaeda's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. There are lots of things I think about when I consider Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and what he's said he's done. There are even more things to think about when I consider what Mohammed's followers and fellow fanatics are willing to do. But my first thought, when I think about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is this: even Hermann Göering got a trial.

Göering, for those whose memory needs a nudge, was Hitler's second in command. Call me old fashioned, but there's something important to be said about putting a criminal on trial. A trial, for those whose memory needs a nudge, is the formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide a person's guilt. The result of a trial is a verdict. And then there's the trial transcripts that result, each and every word.

You can read Göering's trial transcripts at the Harvard Law School Library Nuremberg Trials Project. History's madmen who get put on trial have a tendency to exaggerate, lie, declare, recant, profess, deny and so on. But in the end, after the evidence is presented and the witnesses are cross examined, it's the people that decide.

The Pentagon has released a partial transcript of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession. Why partial? Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession about Plot #3 got left out in entirety. Why?

To read: Unclassified: Verbatim Transcript of Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10024, click here.

Further reading: USA Today:Documents Show How Al Qaeda Tested  Airports Ahead of Failed Jet Bombing Plot. Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer writes about KSM for TIME Magazine. Jack Cashill, for World Net Daily, wants to know what DOD thinks we can't know. The Wall Street Journal editorial team points out what a formidible enemy we face.  

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