DON'T ASK QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE THE ANSWERS TO

Moussauoi offers Ashcroft a quiz (AP, May 2, 2003)

Zacarias Moussaoui wants Attorney General John Ashcroft to answer a multiple choice quiz about the government's theory of his role as a terrorist conspirator.

Several of 17 handwritten pleadings released Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema have a version of the quiz, which asks Ashcroft to check one of four boxes.

The choices are:

[1] 20th hijacker.

[2] Fifth plane pilot missing in action.

[3] I, Ashcroft don't know.

[4] Let's kill him anyway.

''1st prize: 1st class seat at Zacarias Moussaoui execution,'' the motion said, adding, ''Only joking, it is not going to happen.''

The answer is obviously [1], but we'd settle for [4]. Meanwhile, here's a quiz for Mr. Moussaoui, well, actually an essay test. Explain these facts in light of your puported innocence:

Moussaoui has been under investigation since 1994, when French authorities began looking into his links to extremist Islamic groups and his trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan.? When Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who was originally to have been the 20th man, was denied a visa to travel to the United States, Moussaoui was substituted and came to America with over $30,000 in cash, moving to Norman., OK, where he began flight training lessons and bought two knives.? Once there he was wired money by Ramzi Binalshibh, who had lived with the gang's leader Mohammed Atta.? Moussaoui purchased flight instruction videos from the same store in Ohio as did the other hijackers.? He was arrested after flight instructors reported that he was only interested in learning how to turn a jumbo jet, not how to take off or land.? He inquired about and his personal computer contained information on crop-dusting technology and techniques.? When he was arrested he was found to have, in addition to a Boeing 747 flight manual, papers relating to Global Positioning Systems.? Six days later one of the other hijackers bought such a GPS device.? His mother and brother, rather than deny his involvement, have said that he must have been "brainwashed" by Islamic extremists.? He has chosen for his attorney [but was subsequently denied] the woman who defended and has since become engaged to Carlos the Jackal.? Her fianc? has told the newspapers that he felt a sense of "relief" on September 11th, and several years ago publicly wished Osama bin Laden good luck when he was indicted for the African embassy bombings.

Lookin' like time to fire up ole Sparky. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 2, 2003 1:03 PM