"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is quoted as saying in a recently-released Pentagon transcript from a military hearing at Guantanamo.
"For those who would like to confirm," Mohammed continues, "there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."
In an Editor and Publisher interview today, Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger says the paper previously reported his suspected involvement in Pearl's murder…
"Several years ago, we reported that he had told U.S. authorities that he was the one, so it is no surprise," Steiger said. "That doesn't make it any less horrific."
But he also said that Mohammed's confession must be taken with at least some skepticism. "We don't know the circumstance of what he is saying," Steiger said. "You don't know what might be boasting, what might be coercion."
Indeed, he confessed to a suspiciously long string of terrorist attacks and other crimes.
via this Romenesko post.
Reader comment: MikeJ says,
Washblog points out that KSM confessed to plotting to attack the Plaza Bank in Seattle. Plaza Bank was founded in 2006.
I understand that he also claimed to be that one who writes the songs that make the whole world sing. He writes the songs of love and special things. He writes the songs that makes the young girls cry.
But back to the bank. The 9/11 commission *did* say there was a plan to destroy the Columbia Center, the tallest building in Seattle. That building has been known by several names — Wikipedia link — (Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center) but never Plaza Bank anything.
