No French Fry for Moussaoui

French national Zacarias Moussaoui, and convicted 20th 9/11 hijacker will not be executed. We watched the jury verdict roll in on the BBC.

I generally oppose the death penalty, but I wouldn't shed too many tears for Zac. However, I think the jury almost certainly reached the right decision here.

Part of me - the cold, unfeeling, disrepecter of human rights part of me says that the prime consideration (after guilt, of course) of the penalty hearing should have been whether or not he poses a greater threat to US security alive or dead.

On the one hand, keeping him imprisoned and alive might fan the flames of radicalism, but I think the Bush administration has done a cracking job of that already. And it's not like we don't have a bunch of similar folks locked up in Guantanamo already (except a number of them might just have done nothing). On the other hand, since we can't seem to execute anyone in the US without ten years of appeals, he'd probably be even a great symbol with the threat of execution hanging over him.

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I sure hope the recruiters over at London South Bank University can make the most out of this one...according to the website unofficial-guides.com, LSBU has a very short list of notable alumni. Of the four "famous" past students, two I've never heard of, one is Norma Major the wife of the former British Prime Minister John Major and the other is Zacarias Moussaoui.

To be in such lofty company, I'm almost tempted to sign up for a short course.