Published for www.washingtonpost.com, February 23, 2012

The United States has reportedly offered a plea deal to Majid Khan — a hardened al-Qaeda terrorist and close associate of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — that could see him released from Guantanamo Bay within a few years.

Giving this killer a reduced sentence is outrageous. Khan is no run-of-the-mill terrorist. He was directly subordinate to KSM and was selected by the 9/11 mastermind to conduct terrorist operations inside the United States. Khan even passed a test KSM orchestrated, which showed Khan was committed to being a suicide operative. Khan agreed to help KSM set up a front business to smuggle explosives into the United States for use against economic targets and to lead a KSM plot to blow up gas stations along the East Coast, but he was captured before he had the chance to enter the United States. He had been charged with war crimes, including murder, attempted murder, spying and providing material support for terrorism — all of which could have earned him a life sentence. Instead, he might now be released.

For what? Under the reported deal, Khan has agreed to testify against his fellow terrorists during the next four years at Guantanamo, after which he would then be eligible to be transferred to Pakistan. Khan knows a great deal about KSM and the core 9/11 conspirators — but it is hard to believe that his cooperation and testimony are really necessary to convict those terrorists. KSM has openly admitted — even boasted — of his role in 9/11 and dozens of other plots and attacks. There should be plenty of evidence against him and his principal collaborators.

Khan would be the first terrorist once held in CIA custody to be released from Guantanamo Bay. His CIA questioning was critical to protecting this country and demonstrates just how deeply embedded he was in al-Qaeda’s operations. It was Khan who provided the CIA with the critical intelligence that helped break up a network of Southeast Asian terrorists that KSM had recruited to carry out the “second wave” of attacks in the United States — including hijacking an airplane and flying it into the tallest building on the West Coast, the Library Tower in Los Angeles.

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