Article originally appeared on www.zerohedge.com.
In a stunning turnaround, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has killed the deal that would have spared three major 9/11 defendants from the death penalty in exchange for their admissions of guilt. The Friday move came just two days after the Pentagon ignited a firestorm of controversy by announcing the plea bargain agreement — a deal that angered 9/11 victims yearning for maximum accountability, and for the revelation of new facts about the attacks.
“I have decided that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused…responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009,” wrote Austin in a memorandum addressed to Susan Escallier, a retired Army brigadier general and military lawyer who has been overseeing the Guantanamo prosecutions. That puts potential death penalties …
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