Question of a lifetime: Families prepare to confront 9/11 masterminds

What would you say to the 9/11 terrorists who killed your father?

The question sounds theoretical and unrealistic, an opportunity that could never happen. But some survivors of 9/11 victims may soon get that improbable chance after 23 years waiting for justice. 

Elizabeth Miller, whose father Douglas Miller, a firefighter, died on 9/11, knows what she would ask.

“Do they have regrets? Do they wish things happened different? If they had the opportunity would they do it again? Or would they think about it twice?”

Plea deals that prosecutors negotiated with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his al-Qaeda conspirators could soon give survivors of the attacks and relatives of victims the chance to finally confront the terrorist operatives.

A judge ruled Wednesday that deals negotiated by prosecutors in July can go forward, paving the way for a hearing in a U.S. military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. One of the key components of the deal allows families the chance to question the defendants about the attacks.

The proposed plea deal would allow the thousands of people who lost loved ones in the attacks to submit their questions to the terrorists' attorneys via an encrypted online portal, according to a letter from the federal Office of Military Commissions. The al-Qaeda operatives have agreed to respond to the questions within 90 days of receiving them, according to the letter, which was sent to 9/11 surviving family members.

It's unclear if the three defendants will answer in written form or aloud in court at Guantanamo Bay where the federal government regularly flies families to watch court proceedings.

For several 9/11 family survivors, even the possibility of asking questions is a long-awaited goal they hope can bring some closure and understanding of the motivations behind 9/11.

Miller heads 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group that has advocated for the chance to ask the terrorists questions before they are allowed to walk out of the courtroom. The first question she and many family members have: How do the terrorists feel about the attacks today?

“Did they think this was the most successful thing they ever did? Because what happened was more war, more violence,” Miller told USA TODAY.

The questions they will be allowed to ask are similar to victim impact statements in many U.S. criminal trials, which give families the opportunity to tell the court how a crime changed their lives. But the questions lingering in the 9/11 case are more historic and represent perhaps the final chapter of one of America's most unforgettable tragedies.

USA TODAY spoke with several family members who could get a chance to confront Mohammed in writing. They described what questions they need answered to move on from the pain of 23 years ago.

'Do you believe that the 19 terrorists are martyrs?'

William Raff was at his desk on the 82nd floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m.

He and others began evacuating. But in what Raff calls a “tragic misjudgment,” they were ordered to return to their desks shortly before Mohammed's hijackers flew Flight 175 into the south tower at 9:03 a.m., taking out floors 77 through 85.

Raff, a longtime employee of Fuji Bank, was one of the lucky ones who escaped. But the attacks obliterated his world literally and figuratively. He lost 23 of his colleagues, many of them close friends. Surviving 9/11 drove him to reshape his worldview to put people at the center of his life.

Today, the 75-year-old wants to know if Mohammed's world views have changed.

“Do you still support the Islamist rationale for justifying the attacks, including killing of innocent victims,” said Raff, now a docent at the 9/11 Museum & Memorial. “Do you believe that the 19 terrorists are martyrs who are now in Paradise?”

If Mohammed’s beliefs have softened, Raff wonders what the suspected mass murderer will say about what he did today. 

“What would you wish to convey to the families of those killed as the result of the 9/11 attack?”

Long road to justice and the chance to confront the killers

The decision from the judge, Col. Matthew McCall, to proceed with the pleas overruled Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's attempt to scrap the deals in August. It also comes immediately following the reelection of former President Donald Trump, who is expected to fiercely oppose the deals that spare the 9/11 terrorists their lives.

Mohammed and two of his top lieutenants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, have agreed to plead guilty to the murder of 2,976 people and other charges in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. Mohammed is described as the “principal architect of the 9/11 attacks” in the 2004 report by the 9/11 Commission.

Mohammed grew up in a religious family in Kuwait and became “enamored of violent jihad at youth camps," the report says. He moved to Pakistan after studying in North Carolina and orchestrated various terrorist plots, including "the use of aircraft as missiles guided by suicide operatives.” Authorities captured him in 2003 and he remains one of the last living al-Qaeda leaders who was deeply involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Mohammed, or KSM as he's often known, and the others have been held in prisons overseas and at Guantanamo for decades without facing trial. The torture they faced at the hands of CIA operatives has made bringing a case against them almost impossible as much of the evidence is considered inadmissible.

The plea agreements would put Mohammed and his conspirators in prison for life. But many relatives of victims feel the 9/11 plot masterminds should face the death penalty for their suspected role in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on U.S. soil.

‘Can't trust anything that comes out of KSM’s mouth’

Some victims’ families have slammed the idea of questioning Mohammed.

Brett Eagleson was a 15-year-old sophomore in high school in central Connecticut on 9/11. His dad, Bruce, was an executive on a temporary assignment at the World Trade Center. The last time anyone saw him, he was heading back to his 17th-floor office to get two-way radios to help with the evacuation.

No question put to the Guantanamo detainees will change that or bring Eagleson closure. 

“We can't trust anything that comes out of KSM’s mouth,” said Eagleson, 38. “KSM is a trained manipulator and liar, he lies to protect his conspirators and nothing he says is truthful.”

But Eagleson would like to ask questions to the people who arranged the deal. Namely, what evidence do they have on the 9/11 attacks that they have not shared with the public?

For years Eagleson, who runs the group 9/11 Justice, has been trying to force the federal government to turn over evidence of the attacks. He expects the information will support a lawsuit he and other relatives of victims have against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over its alleged involvement in the terrorist strikes.

“My question is to the prosecution,” he said. “Why are you blocking us and helping our sworn enemy . . . I don't care what these detainees say, I care about why our government isn’t helping us.” 

A chance to ‘connect’ with 9/11 conspirators

Other victims’ relatives fear either they or the al-Qaeda operatives will die before a trial happens. They want the chance to speak directly to KSM and the others to provide closure that has eluded them for decades.

Terry Rockefeller, a retired documentary filmmaker who lost her only sister on 9/11, hopes to voice some of her lingering questions about how the attacks were planned. She wants to know, for example, at what point the three terrorists knew the Twin Towers were targets if they knew at all.

She says the chance to ask questions represents the only opportunity she may ever have to put 9/11 behind her.

But more importantly, she sees questioning the trio as her only chance to make her sister’s killers understand the pain they caused.

"They deprived me of my sister," Rockefeller said. "How are they feeling being deprived of their families?"