9/11 IS NOT OVER

by Marc Levin, 09/10/26

Amidst all the commemorations and memorials honoring the 25th anniversary of 9/11 it is important to realize that 9/11 is not over. For many survivors the health issues continue, for victim family members the loss still hurts, some are pursuing the largest class action suit in American history against Saudi Arabia, alleging they assisted some of the 9/11 hijackers, and the actual 9/11 military tribunal case, originally titled USA vs KSM et al, has not even gone to trial yet. That’s right, the actual mastermind behind 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his 3 co-defendants, remain in detention at Guantanamo Naval Base, untried, unconvicted and unsentenced.

How is it possible that 25 years after that tragic day not a single person has been tried and convicted for the 9/11 attacks. Most Americans assumed that when Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 that the case was over. But the man who conceived what they called the “planes operation,” who pitched it to bin Laden and who oversaw the entire operation, remains alive. “I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z” KSM admitted in 2007. Yes he is locked up and will never be free. But for many of the victim family members the fact that there has been no trial, no full reckoning of justice, no full accounting and accountability, only compounds the pain and frustration they bear.

The central issue that has delayed the legal proceedings is torture. KSM was captured in 2003 and held in secret CIA black sites for over three years where he was subjected to “enhanced interrogation” including being waterboarded 183 times. In 2006 he was moved to Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. Aware that none of the incriminating information elicited by the CIA under their harsh interrogation methods could be used in a trial, the military commission had FBI “clean teams” interview KSM to obtain a confession that could hold up in court.

In 2007 he was interviewed by FBI special agent Frank Pellegrino and FBI analyst Brian Antol. Pellegrino had been hunting for KSM since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing when he uncovered a check from him to his nephew Ramzi Yusef, the WTC bomber. Pellegrino almost captured KSM in Doha in 1996 and has been haunted ever since by the thought that if he had succeeded, 9/11 would probably never have happened. So when the man who almost prevented 9/11 had a chance to go mano a mano with the self-anointed super terrorist, he was ready.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed spoke with Pellegrino for 4 days and he confessed to conceiving and overseeing the entire 9/11 operation. He bragged about it and showed no remorse. To him civilian deaths were unfortunate collateral damage in the holy war against an America that he claimed was also responsible for many innocent Moslem deaths. As Frank Pellegrino testified, “He spoke to me voluntarily.” Pellegrino’s interview with KSM was not recorded and the notes have still not been released. But he shared some of the details with us for a CBS special for the 25th anniversary called Daughters of 9/11. He insisted, “I’m telling you, I couldn’t have told him in any more explicit way that he did not have to talk to me. Now whether that fits within what is required legally, based on other activities, a court’s gotta decide that.”

For almost a decade the military tribunal has struggled to determine whether these confessions that KSM and his 3 co-defendants made to the FBI “clean teams” were voluntary. Or were they the product of prior torture and should they be suppressed? When does the effect of torture end? This May, I traveled down to Guantanamo with two women who had lost their fathers in the World Trade Center for the film. Elizabeth Miller and Jessica Trant have spent much of their lives seeking truth and justice. Elizabeth was 6 when her father, firefighter Douglas Miller, ran into the burning towers and never returned. Jessica was nineteen when her father, Cantor Fitzgerald bond salesman Daniel Trant, called her mother from the 104th floor of the North Tower to say goodbye. This was the most recent of several trips they had made to attend the military tribunal pre-trial hearings.

In the courtroom we saw Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who now looks more like a thin shrunken munchkin or hobbit with a long flaming red beard, than one of the worst mass murderers of recent times. We also heard tapes of KSM surreptitiously recorded during his limited rec time talking to a fellow prison detainee about his meeting with Pellegrino. “The CIA time is over, now the choice in your hands,” KSM says, repeating what Pellegrino told him. “They showed me their FBI badges,” KSM continues, “just like in the movies. He told me he was chasing me so long my beard turned white.” He goes on to tell the detainee that Pellegrino made it clear, “We are not going to be tortured.”

These tapes of KSM and his co-defendant, Khallad bin Attash, reminded me of the infamous FBI Gotti/mafia tapes from the late 80’s. They are a stunning revelation, the candid conversations of the 9/11 co-conspirators who boast of their crime as “badges of pride.” These tapes have not been released publicly and their transcripts don’t appear on the military tribunal web site.

“Mr. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could not shut up about his role as the emir of the 9/11 attacks,” prosecutor Clay Trivett argued in his closing statement. Last Friday, in a surprising decision, the military Judge ruled that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confession to the FBI was not voluntary and cannot be used in the trial. Coming only weeks before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, this decision left many of the victim family members in shock. “It was like a gut punch,” Jessica lamented.

Now the prosecution and family members face a difficult decision. Do they appeal this decision which will inevitably lead to more delay or do they accept the new trial date the judge set for June 2028? The prosecution believes they have enough evidence without the FBI confessions. But this is a capital case which is why hearing directly from Pellegrino and his colleagues was viewed as critical. Instead of presenting a so-called dry case of computer, bank, phone and travel records as evidence, their testimony brought the human drama vividly alive.

Many of the family members, including Jessica, want the death penalty for KSM. “I want him no longer breathing, and I would like to be in the room to watch that.”

Elizabeth Miller has a different view. “I don’t want any more violence done in my father’s name. I want the 9/11 case to be closed and for me that’s a plea deal.” Unfortunately, the plea deal that was negotiated and accepted by KSM back in the summer of 2004 was quickly revoked by the Biden Administration after family members and politicians expressed outrage. Yet the revocation was appealed by KSM’s defense. This fall the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear their appeal.

So as we approach the 25th Anniversary, the 9/11 case still remains in legal limbo. For Liz and Jess, despite their passionate differences about how the case should end, their bond remains strong, a powerful example of how the larger American family can approach our highly charged partisan positions while still respecting, supporting and even loving each other. That was the spirit of unity we all felt on September 12th and it is one we need to rediscover.

The American people deserve the full truth and complete justice. Twenty- five years later the story is far from over.

Jessica Trant, Marc Levin, and Elizabeth Miller at the 9/11 memorial.