zacarias moussaoui will spend the rest of his life in the federal supermax prison in colorado.

i applaud the jury for giving him life in prison without parole rather than the death penalty. some argue that he deserves to die for his role in the sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. i disagree. the fact that moussaoui wanted to be executed is precisely the reason the jury should not have sentenced him to death. why allow him to be a martyr? forcing him to spend the rest of his life in prison is much more of a punishment for him than death would be. his countrymen are the ones who killed themselves by hijacking planes and flying them into buildings in our country. they are not afraid of death.

i think u.s. district judge leonie brinkema, as quoted on cnn, summed it up perfectly: “you came here to be a martyr and die in a big bang of glory. but to paraphrase the poet t.s. eliot, instead you will die with a whimper.”

now moussaoui will join the ranks of past terrorists: richard reid, the unabomber and terry nichols. he will have a 7″ x 12″ cell 60 feet underground where he will spend 23 hours a day. have a nice life.