Mukasey's contraversy comments on the execution of 9/11 plotters.

Why the #$@! is AG Mukasey speaking out against execution for 9/11 plotters and suggesting US justice is sadist?

I have never quite figured out what's going on with the Justice Department under the leadership of AG Michael Mukasey, but this new piece from ABCNews has me really scratching my head. As reported in the piece, Mukasey is speaking out against the death penalty for terrorists accused of 9/11 involvement, even though DOJ is helping with the capital prosecution of these terrorists. Here are excerpts from this peculiar and very troubling story:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey suggested Friday that he believes the alleged 9/11 plotters held at Guantanamo Bay should not be executed if convicted. "I kind of hope they don't get it," Mukasey said after a speech at the London School of Economics. "Because many of them want to be martyrs, and it's kind of like the conversation & between the sadist and the masochist." "The masochist says hit me and the sadist says no, so I am kind of hoping they don't get it," he said.

In February, the Pentagon charged six of the 9/11 conspirators, including the alleged mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. The others: Walid Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa al Hawsawi -- who the government claims is a key financier for the attacks -- and Mohammed al Kahtani, who is alleged to have been the 20th hijacker on United flight 93 but was denied entry into the United States at the Orlando International Airport....
Of those charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, "one of them at least is proud enough of it to have written to his wife that he thinks he is innocent because it was only 3,000," Mukasey said. "If those are not poster children for the death penalty, I don't know who is."

Mukasey made clear the statements are his personal opinion, and heavily qualified them. "In a way, I kind of hope, from a personal standpoint, and I can say this because the military commissions will be run by the Department of Defense not by the Justice Department -- although we are participating with them, and helping them in the prosecution, but it will be run by the Department of Defense," he said.

Still, the statement seems at odds with Bush administration policy that broadly supports the death penalty. The record suggests the administration believes capital punishment is the most appropriate penalty for terrorists convicted of killing Americans. The administration spent years on a failed attempt to put low-level al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui to death for what critics call his murky, overstated role in the 9/11 conspiracy.

The decision on whether to pursue the death penalty against the Guantanamo Bay prisoners will ultimately be the military's, so Mukasey's comments will likely have little practical impact. Susan J. Crawford, a Military Appeals Court judge, is the convening authority for military commissions and will decide whether alleged terrorists should face a capital case and be eligible for the death penalty. But given that the White House likes to speak with one voice, the low-key Mukasey might prefer that his comments not draw much attention.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems, from this media report, that the Attorney General of the United States has suggested to a European audience that islamofacist terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks are "masochists" and also suggested those involved in the American system trying to bring these terrorists to justice are "sadists."

For a number of reasons, I am deeply, deeply troubled that the current US attorney general would make these kind of statements to an international audience. I am sincerely hoping that this media report on the AG's comments are inaccurate, because if they are accurate I think the comments are truly scandalous and seriously risk undermining the US position in the war on terror. His comments cannot help me wonder whether AG Mukasey was secretly glad that his Justice Department failed to get the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, and whether AG Mukasey is troubled that the Iraqi justice system executed Saddam Hussein and others who committed horrendous war crimes.
Perhaps as troubling as these comments is the lack of media attention they have drawn to date. On every channel, I see pundits complaining about provocative comments made by a man of the cloth, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But the significance and potential impact of one preacher's comments to his own congregation seems to be minuscule compared to the significance and potential impact of America's top law enforcement agent suggesting to an international audience that vile islamofacist terrorists who helped kill thousands of Americans are "masochists" and that those involved in the American system trying to bring these terrorists to justice are "sadists."

Perhaps I am wrong to be so taken aback by AG Mukasey's comments. But, especially during a weekend in which so much venom is being directed toward a preacher, I cannot help but wonder why the AG's troublesome comments are not generating A LOT more attention and criticism.

UPDATE: Over at TalkLeft, Jeralyn has this long and effective post defending AG Mukasey's comments. Here is part of that post:

If you are a proponent of the death penalty, you'll read Mukasey's comments one way. If you oppose it, you'll be glad we have an Attorney General who at least has occasional qualms about the death penalty and isn't afraid to express them.

I'm in the latter group. I also appreciate that Mukasey is concerned about our image in the world and how others see us.

I suppose I am pleased to that Jeralyn of TalkLeft and readers of Instapundit (via these comments) seem to agree that islamofacist terrorists who helped kill thousands of Americans should not get the death penalty. On this front, I am proud to disagree.