Was There a 20th Hijacker?

On Thurs., Oct. 13, the Society for Scholarly Dialogue hosted Dr. Katherine C. Donahue, a professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences at Plymouth State University in leading an informative lecture that answered the question, "Was there a 20^th Hijacker?"

The lecture focused on Zacarias Mousaoui, an alleged hijacker involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Donahue, author of Slave of Allah, spent considerable time working in France, Moussaoui's birthplace, meeting his mother and conducting research.

"I tried to learn who the real person was behind the media image," said Donahue on her extensive research into the life of Moussaoui.

Moussaoui was born in southwest France to a mason and young mother. Growing up, he and his family moved around France. Moussaoui was an average student and, like most French citizens of North African descent, was expected to attend vocational school. He also had a white, French girlfriend that he was forced apart from due to his North African heritage. Frustrated with the discrimination in France, Moussaoui traveled to England to attend school, ultimately earning his Master's Degree in international business.

After his years at school, Moussaoui started becoming involved in radical Muslim groups. He was tracked by both the French and British governments. Moussaoui went to Chechnya, joining rebel leader Ibn Al-Kattab. He traveled to Afghanistan and was trained in explosives before coming to the United States.

Moussaoui was arrested on Aug. 16, 2001 on an overstayed visa. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Moussaoui's relation to the hijackings and al-Qaeda was investigated.

On Dec. 11, 2001, he was indicted by a federal grand jury. Moussaoui was charged with six counts of conspiracy, including murder, use of weapons of mass destruction, and the killing of U.S. employees.

He would be tried at the Alexandria Court House in Virginia, a court that was notorious for fast convictions and quick executions. The trial started in February and had a verdict by May. Donahue was present at the trials and witnessed the legal proceedings that followed Moussaoui's arrest.

The case filled the media. Moussaoui became the icon of terrorism. On trial he said strange, anti-American things. He hated most of his lawyers and publically embraced al-Qaeda, labeling America as his enemy. During trial Moussaoui stated, "America will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorra."

When asked in a question-and-answer session why Moussaoui would say such peculiar things, Donahue replied, "It was his stage… the rest of the world was listening."

The case itself didn't have much to work with in order to convict Moussaoui. There was a missing link between him and the events that unfolded on Sept. 11. He had participated in al-Qaeda, he was a radical Muslim, he despised America, and he had taken flight lessons prior to Sept. 11. However there was a lack of hard legal evidence connecting him explicitly to the terrorist attacks.

Donahue said, "He learned that, in the United States, he could get a fair trial… they tried to give him a fair trial." When it came time to deliver a verdict, there was a single juror that stood out and said not guilty. That juror stood his ground and refused to convict Moussaoui.