2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 NATION/WORLD Moussaoui eligible for death penalty NEWS IN BRIEF r .., ' T TT? A TNT TA TT Cl TTTI !Ni I A "1-'%T T k T1N TT Tr '91 Tl-%" T Tti ;r. ' "y 7 (HEIADNES ROMh iA~RI UIND T~IVIFmIORT I 11L'I1LL11 iL'V 1'liV1Y1 C11 VV1 IL 1111: YVJIXL" k .. -.l-,44 NEWBERN, Tenn. Moussaoui to federal jury: "You'll never get my blood, God curse you all" ALEXANDRIA, Virg. -A federal jury found al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui eligible to be executed yes- terday, linking him directly to the hor- rific Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and concluding that his lies to FBI agents led to at least one death on that day. A defiant Moussaoui said, "You'll never get my blood, God curse you all." After months of hearings and trial testimony - punctuated by Mouss- aoui's occasional outbursts - he now faces a second phase of the sentencing trial to determine if he actually will be put to death. That phase begins Thursday morning for the only person to face charges in this country in connection with the nation's worst terrorist assault, the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people as jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Moussaoui sat in his chair and prayed silently as the verdict was read, refusing to join his defense team in standing. His comment came after the hearing. The jury now will hear testimony on whether the 37-year-old Frenchman, who was in jail at the time of the attacks, should be executed for his role. Those testifying will include fami- lies of 9/11 victims who will describe the human impact of the al-Qaida mis- sion. Court-appointed defense lawyers, whom Moussaoui has tried to reject, will summon experts to suggest he is schizophrenic after an impoverished childhood during which he faced racism in France over his Moroccan ancestry. The trial's first phase, which focused strictly on legal arguments, had seemed Moussaoui's best chance to avoid execu- tion. The jury deciding his fate will now be weighing the emotional impact of nearly 3,000 deaths against Moussaoui's rough childhood and possible evidence of mental illness. On the key question before the jurors in phase one, they answered yes that at least one victim died Sept. II as a direct result of Moussaoui's actions. Had the jury voted against his eligi- bility for the death penalty, Moussaoui would have been sentenced to life in prison. Rosemary Dillard, whose husband Eddie died in the attacks, said she felt a sense of vindication from the verdict. "This man has no soul, has no con- science," she said of Moussaoui. "What else could we ask for but this?" Abraham Scott, who lost his wife Jan- ice Marie on 9/11, said he actually felt sorry for Moussaoui "But not enough to drop the possibility of him getting the death penalty. "I describe him like a dog with rabies, one that cannot be cured. The only cure is to put him or her to death, Scott said. But Scott said he also blamed the government "for not acting on certain AP PHOTO Edward Adams, a U.S. District Court spokesman, reads the verdict in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui in front of a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. yesterday. indicators that could have prevented 9/11 happening." The jury began weighing Mouss- aoui's fate last Wednesday. During its deliberations, jurors asked only one question publicly, seeking a definition of "weapon of mass destruction." One of the three convictions for which Mouss- aoui could be executed is conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The jurors were told that a plane used as a missile - the tactic employed on mass destruction. Moussaoui pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack aircraft and other crimes. At the time, he denied being part of the 9/11 plot, say- ing he was being trained for a separate attack, but he changed his story when he took the stand and claimed he was to have flown a hijacked airliner into the White House that day. The defense sug- gested Moussaoui would say anything to derail his own defense so he could 27 killed in violent storms across Midwest Tornadoes shredded homes to their foundations, hail tore holes in the rooftops and high winds toppled even freight cars as a line of violent storms cut zigzagging paths of destruction that killed at least 27 people across the nation's midsection. The worst damage from Sunday night's storms occurred along a 25-mile swath of rural western Tennessee, where 23 of the deaths occurred and state troopers using dogs searched for more victims amid the rubble of brick buildings and toppled trailers. "Most of the houses, you can't count. They're just gone," said Roy Chil- dress, who was part of a church relief crew that was delivering food and water to survivors Monday. The dead included an infant and the grandparents who had been babysitting him. A young couple and their two sons, ages five and three, were also killed, their bod- ies found 800 yards from their house. "It basically took my life away. I don't really care if I see daylight tomor- row," said Larry Taylor, the boys' grandfather and the only funeral director in rural Bradford. He was planning to bury the family in two separate caskets, with each child alongside one of his parents. "I'd give everything I had for that not to have happened,' he said through tears. WASH INGTON Supreme Court rejects appeal from Padilla A divided Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the Bush adminis- tration's wartime detention powers, rejecting an appeal from U.S. citizen Jose Padilla who until recently had been held as an enemy combatant with- out traditional legal rights. Chief Justice John Roberts and two others signaled concerns about the government's handling of Padilla and said they would be watching to ensure he receives the protections "guaranteed to all federal criminal defendants." Three other justices wanted the court to consider immediately whether President Bush overstepped his authority by ordering Padilla's detention. Padilla (pronounced puh-DILL-uh) had become a symbol of the admin- istration's aggressive pursuit of terror suspects after Sept. 11, 2001. The former Chicago gang member and convert to Islam was held in a military prison as an alleged enemy combatant for three and a half years, part of that time without access to lawyers. His supporters wanted the Supreme Court to use his case to declare that Ameri- cans cannot be arrested on U.S. soil and held incommunicado. DOVER, Del No one killed in giant C-5 cargo plane crash A huge military cargo plane faltered after takeoff and belly-landed short of the Dover Air Force Base runway yesterday, breaking apart and drenching some of the 17 people aboard with fuel but causing no fire or life-threatening injuries. "It is a miracle. Absolutely a miracle," said Lt. Col. Mark Ruse, commander of the base's 436th Air Wing Civil Engineering squadron. "If you look at the condition of that plane and 17 people are still alive right now - it is absolutely amazing." Military officials said the C-5 Galaxy, the military's largest plane at more than six stories high and 247 feet long, developed some kind of problem soon after tak- ing off for Spain about 6:30 a.m. and attempted to return to the base. It crashed in an open, grassy area about a half-mile short of the runway, breaking in two behind the cockpit. The tail assembly landed several hundred yards away and an engine was thrown forward by the impact. BOSTON Scientists recreate organ with lab-grown tissue For the first time, scientists have rebuilt a complex human organ, the bladder, in seven young patients using live tissue grown in the lab - a breakthrough that could hold exciting promise for someday regenerating ailing hearts and other organs. Only simpler tissues - skin, bone, and cartilage - have been lab-grown in the past. This is the first time that a more intricate organ has been mostly replaced with tissue grown from the patient's own cells. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com M Sept. II - qualifies as a weapon of achieve martyrdom through execution. Gun safety problems plague Iraqi military Battling inexperience, U.S. trainers struggle to stamp out Iraqi army misfires BIDIMNAH, Iraq (AP) - The two bloodied, winc- ing Iraqi soldiers - bandages wrapped around their legs - hobbled onto the waiting ambulance, wounded during a house-to-house search near this farming town. The culprit was a common one: Not insurgents, but gunfire from fellow soldiers. U.S. trainers who mentor Iraqi troops say a lack of gun safety, or what they call "muzzle discipline," has led to many injuries and deaths across the country. And while the Americans say it is slowly getting bet- ter, it remains a major problem for a U.S. military trying to "It's kind of train more than 200,000 Iraqis to defeat the insurgency. a PKC Pmn1 "When we first got here, itn was a little scary," said Army a 360 (degr Capt. Steven Fischer, a trainer from Washington, Penn. "We a turret and have to correct it. It's some- thing that's got to be better." his name in In the Bidimnah case in late January, insurgents first fired - Arr on Iraqi and U.S. troops patrol- ling the rural area about 50 miles west of Baghdad. That prompted more than a minute of wild, continuous gunfire from the Iraqi troops. The two Iraqi soldiers were wounded while the militants escaped unharmed. Other examples are rife and often startling: In December in the town of Adhaim north of Bagh- dad, an Iraqi soldier stepped out of a vehicle with his safety lever turned off and accidentally shot himself point-blank in the chest. Minutes later, as a U.S. helicopter carried S .n Iy the dying man away, an Associated Press reporter saw a frustrated American soldier storm up and lecture another Iraqi soldier, who also did not have his safety on. During a large-scale operation last summer in Baghdad, an antsy Iraqi soldier took aim at what he thought was an insurgent, prompting several other Iraqi soldiers to drill hundreds of rounds into an empty home. No one was injured. Iraq had a million-man army under Saddam Hussein, but soldiers who served in the old army said they were given only a few bullets a year - apparently a way to prevent coups. That practice left Iraqi troops untrained in the most basic of soldiering skills. Iraq now has tens of thousands of rookie soldiers who only recently learned how to use a weapon. And misfires have led to dozens of military >ca to see deaths. Gen. George Casey, the ler doing top U.S. commander in Iraq, distributed a letter in October 2e turn) in saying more than 75 coalition troops had been killed by mis- painting fires. He did not specify if the he air victims were Iraqis, Ameri- the air . cans or others, and he also did not say who the shooters were. Sgt. Joseph Neary "The failure to properly clear weapons and maintain muzzle Altoona, Pa. awareness led to these unnec- essary losses," Casey wrote in the letter, which was posted at bases across Iraq and viewed by an AP reporter. Warning signs also are posted at U.S. bases across Iraq, such as one at Camp Ar Ramadi that instructs U.S. soldiers to be alert to the threat. "Recently there have been several negligent discharges that have resulted in non-battle injuries to our personnel," read the sign. "Hold our partnered Iraqi forces to these same standards," it warns, after listing safety rules. The problem is hardly unique to Iraq: armies across Africa and the Third World are notorious for their lack of safety procedures. But the problem is particularly acute in Iraq, where thousands with automatic weapons are on alert for insurgents. Roadside bomb blasts that target Iraqi patrols are often followed by aimless gunfire from the Iraqis, usually useless since most attackers hide before they detonate bombs. And Iraqi soldiers sometimes clear traffic from roads by firing into the air. In comparison, U.S. soldiers pride themselves on gun discipline, stressing the preservation of ammunition until a target is identified. U.S. misfires can lead to demotions or serious reprimands. U.S. trainers say Iraqi safety procedures have improved, but only after constant reminders. "They've gotten better. It's gotten so they know they need PID (positive identification) to shoot," said Army Sgt. Joseph Neary of Altoona, Pa. Trainers drill Iraqi soldiers to keep their weap- ons on safe and pointed downward. "We've pound- ed it into their heads," Neary said. But many American trainers have stories to tell. "It's kind of scary to see a PKC gunner doing a 360 (degree turn) in a turret and painting his name in the air," Neary said. Cultural issues also exacerbate the problem. Many Iraqi soldiers swagger with their guns and neglect to use safety levers as a sign of manliness. In western Iraq, Col. Daniel Newell, who heads a team of Marine trainers there, estimates his Iraqi trainees suffer about one accidental shooting a week, but stresses they have improved. Safety problems are also rampant among thou- sands of armed Iraqi civilians who increasingly carry personal weapons as civil strife has spread. Iraqi laws allow civilians one AK-47 rifle and a full magazine per household. a0 0 DoNN M. FRESARD Editor in Chief fresard@michigandaily.com 647-3336 Sun.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. JONATHAN DOBBERSTEIN Business Manager business@michigandaily.com 76.4-0558 Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 0I1 11 MCAT LSAT GMAT GRE DAT Beat the Price Increase The prices of our Classroom and Premium Online Courses are going up. Enroll by May 1 to lock in the current price! 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