While some may cry that it’s a tragedy of justice, it seems that death and martyrdom were just what Moussaoui wanted. Life without the possibility of parole seems to me to be a worse punishment than death. After 50 years in the super max with no outside contact (which let’s hope means no book deal), he’ll certainly not be enjoying himself and taunting 9/11 victims.

Moussaoui lost, America won today. Some may say life is too good for him, but I think justice has been served.

And we don’t have to spend the next three years following a series of high profile appeals continuing to mock the victims of 9/11.

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But Rusty defends his position, maintaining that the “don’t make him a martyr” thinking can’t really work consistently, and he has a point.

UPDATE: Fuzzy logic alert from friends and readers. So, you’re happy that Moussaoui got life in prison because killing him would have made him a martyr? That does make a kind of superficial sense, but think about it. By that logic, no jihadi should ever be killed!

Ayman al-Zawahiri shouldn’t be killed because that would make him a martyr. Osama bin Laden’s cave shouldn’t be bombed because getting 72 virgins is what he wants anyway. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi wants to be a martyr, making him live in the empty quarter is a far harsher punishment.

Allah agrees with the above, “Does that apply to Bin Laden too? If he turns around tomorrow and says the worst thing we could to him is supply him with lots of prostitutes, do we call the Mustang Ranch?”

UPDATE: He won’t be kept in GP–general population–… Instead, he’ll have a private jail cell for the next 30 years, where he’ll have a Koran delivered to him by a prison guard with white gloves every morning, he’ll be given a prayer mat, and he’ll have an imam come visit him once a week to discuss his misunderstanding of the word “jihad” in the Koran.

And Vinnie adds something that I simply cannot agree with:

No matter what you think of the sentencing, the trial, the jurors, always think this:

Never forget, never forgive.

I can go along with “never forget” because forgetting history causes it to be repeated, but to not forgive is a dangerous thing. The anger and bitterness that live alongside of the lack of forgiveness will tear you up inside over time, and then the terrorists have won. Forgive. Remember the tragedy but forgive the actions and free yourself of the burden of bitterness. It’s not just the right Sunday school answer, it’s truth.

Atlanta Rofters thinks the sentence is just.

I think this is the most just verdict. We can’t put the 9/11 killers to death; they’re already dead. And Moussaoui didn’t kill anybody. So, life in solitary confinement is what he deserves. If nothing else, it demonstrates once again the humane superiority of our justice system to that of our enemies.

He also adds, over at Rusty’s comment section:

I support capital punishment, but I think this is the right verdict. Moussaoui didn’t kill anyone, so the death penalty would have been unjust in his case. And justice is what we want from a jury, not vengeance.

The “martyrdom” thing is a red herring. Islamic ideas of the hereafter should have no bearing on how we run our court system.

Joyner disagrees:

Incredible. If Moussaoui doesn’t deserve to die for his crimes, almost no one currently on death row does. Those who argue that the current system of capital punishment is arbitrary and capricious have much more ammunition now.

UPDATE: Now, if we turn him over to France, that would be a travesty of justice.