# So what does this mean for Moussaoui?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-this-mean-for-moussaoui/225374>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 20, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-this-mean-for-moussaoui/225374 "2004-01-20T22:03:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-does-this-mean-for-moussaoui/225374/1 "2004-01-20T22:03:20Z")

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The [US indictment against Moussaoui](http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/moussaouiindictment.htm) is based on the theory that he was intended to be the “twentieth hijacker”:

> [@](#):
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> From in or about 1989 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, … the defendant, ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI,…with other members and associates of al Qaeda and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, unlawfully…conspired…to kill and maim persons within the United States,… and in which facilities of interstate and foreign commerce were used in furtherance of the offense…resulting in the deaths of thousands of persons on September 11, 2001(\*)

Now, there is [a substantial report](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-20-hijacker_x.htm) that the 20th hijacker was some-one else, who was not allowed in to the country.

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> A Saudi man who was prevented from entering the United States a few weeks before the Sept. 11 terror attacks may have been the plot’s intended 20th hijacker, federal officials say.

If this is true, it seems to me that the most serious charges against Moussaoui are incorrect. Moussaoui has said that he was a member of al-Queda, but not intended for 9-11. This story gives more support to that statement.

So, is there a “he wasn’t conspiring on that crime, but we sure as h&#% know he was conspiring to do _something_”-type out for the US here? Assume he is telling the truth in that regard, what should happen?

\*quote mercilessly truncated, but meaning retained.