By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News Chief Pentagon Correspondent
Held totally incommunicado – first by the CIA, now by the U.S. military – since his capture more than five years ago, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of 9/11, has not lost his touch or his powerful grip over his al-Qaida foot soldiers. It took him only 15 minutes Thursday to reestablish that authority.
As one of some 30 journalists who attended his arraignment before a U.S. military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it all unfolded right before my eyes.
As we were escorted into the courtroom, Mohammed, also known as KSM, could at first be seen casually chatting and laughing with his four co-defendants: Ramzi Binalshibh, Walid Muhammad bin Attash, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi. It was the first time they were all together in at least five years.
Within minutes, the casual banter turned more serious. Although we could not hear what was being said because we were confined to a soundproof booth in case someone had a slip of the lip and uttered something the government considered classified, we could see that KSM had clearly taken charge. With a stern glare and exaggerated hand gestures, it appeared he was issuing orders to those nearest to him, which in turn were passed down the line. It wasn't until the hearing was under way that our suspicions were confirmed.
Given his chance to speak, KSM launched into a rant, which was punctuated with chants from the Quran, which he would pause to translate before moving on. After declaring the U.S. justice system "evil," he told the court he was rejecting his government-appointed attorneys because they worked for "George Bush, who has waged a crusader war against Afghanistan and Iraq." He said he would represent himself in the criminal proceedings and boldly announced that all four fellow defendants would do the same. It appears now the other defendants had no choice. They were under orders from their commander.
KSM created "an undercurrent of intimidation in the courtroom," Army Col. Steve David, the chief military defense counsel, later told reporters.
One by one, each of the defendants fell in line and rejected their defense attorneys, but not all voluntarily. Al-Hawsawi, charged with providing money, clothing and credit cards to the 9/11 hijackers, was a reluctant warrior in KSM's latest conspiracy.
Army Maj. Jon Jackson, al-Hawsawi's military defense counsel, said his client "was shaking" as a result of intimidation from KSM. Jackson said he spent 20 hours building confidence and rapport with his client only to have it "totally destroyed" after five minutes with KSM. When al-Hawsawi hesitated to sign on to KSM's plan, Jackson said the al-Qaida leader threateningly asked, "What, are you in the American Army now?" The threat of being labeled a traitor was apparently enough for al-Hawsawi, who ultimately jettisoned his defense team.
"With (KSM), it's all about control," Jackson told reporters.
After five years in solitary, coercive interrogation that some say borders on torture, and now faced with certain lifelong imprisonment if not a death sentence, KSM still thinks he has it.
Update: The editors had written "Iran" instead of "Iraq" in the previous copy. We regret the error.
