The right sentence (05/05/06)

Never give a bad guy what he wants.

Give him what he deserves, and prove you are better than him.

That's exactly what a federal jury did in Virginia the other day, when they refused to grant Zacarias Moussaoui his wish for martyrdom.

Yes, federal prosecutors had asked for the death penalty. And, yes, there were plenty of surviving family members of those who lost their lives on 9/11 who would prefer to see the guy executed.

But what would that execution have accomplished?

It wouldn't have brought back any of those who lost their lives.

And it most certainly wouldn't have acted as a deterrent to future terrorists.

Instead, it might have been an incentive, since it would have guaranteed the martyrdom that a sad corruption of Islam believes should be the fate of those who are willing to sacrifice their lives in a perverse act of cultural warfare.

An American jury looked at that possibility and thought better of it.

Seeking martyrdom? You'll be recognized as a criminal and be treated accordingly, with far more humanity than you were ever willing to accord to your potential victims.

Some will say we'd have been better off with an eye-for-an-eye approach.

But that's exactly what Zacarias Moussaoui wanted. Execute him, and you raise a two-bit nut-case to the level of a hero.

Punish him, tempering that punishment with mercy, and you remind the world what civilization is all about. And you subtract one wannabe martyr from the list. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]