Mastermind
The many faces of the 9/11 architect, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
by Richard Miniter
Some like to dismiss
our Constitution by saying that it’s too old to deal with things like modern-day
terrorism. The Founders had to handle unrest, political intrigue, and treason. Benedict
Arnold almost turned
over West Point to the enemy. The Newburgh Conspiracy tested Washington’s mettle as a
military commander. Shay’s
Rebellion is only the
best known of the violent protests that spread throughout the newly formed
states. James
Wilson and about
thirty armed friends held off a riot in Philadelphia that could have ended his
life before he helped launch a constitutional republic. The Whiskey
Rebellion threatened to
upend the fledgling republic operating under the newly enacted Constitution. Barbary
pirates kept our first three
presidents awake at night. The Aaron
Burr Conspiracy showed that political intrigue could
undermine a budding republic.
These were only some of the more prominent violent
protests and near insurrections. The Founders not only understood the frailties
of man, they also had personal experience with a few that actually harbored
evil intent. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed would not have been foreign to their
experience.
