The Defense Department declared on Wednesday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the presumed mastermind of the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, has consented to enter a guilty plea.
This development suggests a long-overdue closure to an incident that changed the Middle East and the United States dramatically and claimed close to 3,000 lives.
As early as next week, Mohammed and two suspected collaborators, Mustafa Al-Hawsawi and Walid Bin Attash, are anticipated to enter guilty pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In exchange for the men’s guilty pleas, the defense attorneys have asked for life sentences for each of the guys.
A major turning point in contemporary history was the 9/11 assaults on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.The horrific attacks set off the US “war on terror,” which resulted in years of military operations against radical organizations in the Middle East as well as invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The assaults also sparked a change in American society and culture that was more militaristic and nationalist.
Authorities have long charged Mohammed with being the main conspirator behind the 9/11 attack, claiming Osama bin Laden, the head of Al-Qaeda, gave him the go-ahead to create the plan that employed hijacked commercial aircraft as weapons.
