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When tragedies happen, people look for someone to blame. It's a natural first instinct. It's a coping mechanism.

When three thousand people died on Sept. 11, 2001, the American people looked for someone to blame. It took us a while, but we found our target in Zacharias Moussaoui.

Zacharias Moussaoui is the only person so far charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Why? Because out of the 19 men who hijacked the planes on that terrible day, all of them went down with those planes.

Moussaoui has been called the "20th" hijacker. It is alleged that he was either supposed to be on one of the four planes that crashed in New York, Washington, or Pennsylvania, or on a separate plane to crash that was supposed to attack the White House or the Capitol building.

He was prevented from actually joining the conspiracy because he was arrested on August 16, 2001. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit murder because he did not tell authorities about the planned terrorist attacks before they happened.

In fact, after denying it for months, now Moussaoui "admits" that he and Richard Reid (the man who tried to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb in Dec. 2001) were supposed to fly a fifth plane into the White House on Sept. 11.

The prosecution at his trial has argued that he deserves to die for not giving information which may have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks.

Because of his confession, the jury in his trial has already decided that he is eligible for the death penalty because he "intentionally participated in an act - and the victim died as a direct result of the act."

Right now, a jury is debating whether or not he will actually receive the death penalty.

At first it seems logical that a man like Zacharias Moussaoui deserves to die. After all, 3,000 innocent Americans died on Sept. 11. Someone must be made to pay for their deaths, right?

It would seem like the only right thing to do is to execute Moussaoui. That, the prosecution argues, will bring closure to the families of victims of the terrorist attacks.

Well, one mother of a Sept. 11 victim is forcefully arguing that Moussaoui's life should be spared.

Alice Hoagland is the mother of Mark Bingham, who died on Sept. 11 when his plane crashed into the fields of Pennsylvania. And she is calling for a life sentence for Moussaoui rather than the death penalty.

Hoagland believes that by sparing Zacharias Moussaoui, the United States will show that we have a reverence for "all life." Unlike the extremist terrorist organizations we are fighting, we will show that we respect human life so much we refuse to kill someone who may have had a hand in the worst terrorist attacks on American soil. In Hoagland's own words, "By sparing his life, we will have overcome the sort of hatred that he displays toward us."

She also feels that executing Moussaoui will only provide al-Qaida with a martyr. Terrorist organizations will use his death a recruitment tool. His trial is very high-profile and being used around the world for propaganda purposes by both sides in the War on Terror. As Hoagland says, "-al-Qaida, other fundamentalist Muslim groups - even mainstream Muslims - would be tempted to view Moussaoui's death as a martyrdom. This man does not deserve that honor."

In my opinion, Alice Hoagland is right on both counts.

Unfortunately, I feel that a lot of people won't find much agreement with her first point that we should show mercy to the enemy. In times of tragedy, people often want revenge, even though they usually feel hollow after that revenge has been achieved.

But I think the concern that Moussaoui's death will be used as propaganda is a well-founded one. Moussaoui would love to be executed.

At this point in his life, he is facing either life in prison or death. Which would you rather choose were you in his position? He believes in the cause of al-Qaida, and his death would help that cause.

Moussaoui's testimony about his role in the Sept. 11 attacks has been contradictory and erratic. He denies things and then admits to them. When asked about his conflicting testimony, Moussaoui says "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy."

I don't think that Moussaoui's true role in the Sept. 11 attacks will ever be uncovered. His word cannot be trusted. Obviously, he is a dangerous man and, by his own admission, wants to kill thousands of Americans. For this reason, he should spend his life in prison. But he should not be executed. His execution will only hurt America in the war on terror, and will only serve as revenge.

Conservatives say that Democratic criticism of our president inflames the enemy and makes the struggle against terrorism more difficult. I say that executing Zacharias Moussaoui will inflame the enemy and make it easier for them to recruit more people into their organizations.

Shad Andrews is a senior in political science. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Andrews can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.

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