Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the admitted mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, has won.  This is no surprise, of course, as it was clear from the outset that he would beat the system, but he’s now getting the chance to enjoy it a little before he meets his virgins.

As widely reported, KSM (as he’s called) is a happy man.

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA — When a visibly aged Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged accomplices were reunited in a sterile military courtroom here Thursday, they laughed and chatted like old school chums and apparently rekindled their common cause: to defy their American enemies or die trying.

Strident and unremorseful over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks they allegedly plotted, four of the men declared their eagerness to be executed.

Asked by the tribunal’s chief judge, Marine Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, if he recognized that he could be put to death if convicted, Mohammed said: “This is what I wish. I’m looking to be a martyr for a long time.”

The foundation of our system is predicated upon a few underlying assumptions:  That the defendant does not want to be convicted, that the defendant will resist conviction and that the defendant does not want to be punished.  The system is not going to work here.

KSM doesn’t want his lawyers.  KSM doesn’t dispute his “crime”.  If anything, he’s quite proud of his actions and would much prefer to use this opportunity to tell the world as much about his purposes as he can.  Our system allows to defendants to defend.  This is his “defense”. 

Ultimately, any chance that we’re going to find some level of satisfaction here is gone.  The tribunal’s chief judge, Marine Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, is going to have a big problem on his hands, trying to maintain some semblence of dignity and integrity in these proceedings.

Ali Abdul Aziz Ali told Kohlmann he shared the views of the three before him who praised martyrdom and replied nonchalantly to Kohlmann’s question as to whether he knew the ultimate penalty could be levied against him: “Naturally. I know.”

Ali, who insisted to the court that his real name was Ammar al Baluchi, spoke in fluent English, mocking the judge’s earnest assurances of his rights to legal assistance.

A nephew of Mohammed and a college-trained computer engineer, Ali said it was late for his U.S. jailers to be offering him a lawyer.

“Everything that has happened here is unfair and unjust. Since the first time I was arrested, I might have appreciated that,” he said of the offer of free legal representation.

“The government is talking about lawyers free of charge. The government also tortured me free of charge all these years,” he said.

Kohlmann told him he considered it unwise for the defendants to insist on representing themselves, to which Ali retorted, “For me, this proceeding in its entirety is unwise.”

They’re good.  No wild-eyed screaming and ranting.  These are not ignorant men.  Kohlmann has his hands full.

Worse yet, every issue that is raised by our government’s handling of these matters, from torture to denial of counsel from the outset, is coming back to smack the tribunal.  It’s hard to maintain legitimacy in the face of how this has been handled.  We haven’t been true to ourselves, though it wouldn’t have changed the defendants’ stance.  But we gave them the ammunition to belittle our claims of fairness and wisdom, to ridicule our process with the country and world listening.

And this is just the beginning.  What threat do we hold over these 5 terrorists?  I can’t call them accused, since they have happily admitted their roles, and are proud of what they have done.  Will we make them martyrs?  They already are, and there’s nothing we can do about it. 

When a defendant announces at the beginning of his trial that his hope is to be put to death, all leverage is gone.  The United States has played its hand poorly.  We will now go through the motions, as KSM picks his shots and lands blow after blow.  The outcome is utterly irrelevant, as is already clear. 

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has won.  The only thing left to see is how much more harm he can do to us.