Rosie O'Donnell discussing Khalid Sheik Mohammed's confession (Photo: Media Research Council)

Rosie O'Donnell, hosting ABC's popular "The View" morning show, came to the defense of terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed today, suggesting the government elicited a false confession from the 9/11 mastermind by using torture, robbing him of his humanity and treating him like an animal.

A transcript of Mohammed's confession to 31 terrorist attacks was released today, but O'Donnell argued it came only after having a "hood on his head and being beaten to death."

The hood was a reference to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq in which U.S. military personnel were punished for humiliating prisoners.

O'Donnell echoed the sentiments of Palestinian terrorist Abu Jihad, who told WND today, "I am sure the Americans tortured Mohammad and forced him to say these untrue things. Isn't it strange it took three years since his arrest for the supposed confession?"

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Pointing out Mohammed was arrested in March 2003, O'Donnell asked, "Why hasn't he admitted it until now?" according to clips posted on the weblog HotAir.com.

Rosie O'Donnell, left, on ABC's 'The View' with Elisabeth Hasselbeck

"They didn't allow reporters there and he hasn't had a lawyer," the talk show host stated, insinuating the confession was coerced with no accountability.

Defending U.S. handling of Mohammed, co-panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked, "You don't think he had ties to any of (the terrorist acts)?"

"I think the man has been under custody in secret CIA torture prisons and Guantanamo Bay where torture is accepted and allowed – and he finally is the guy who admits to doing everything," O'Donnell said. "They finally found the guy, it's not that guy bin Laden, it's this guy they've had since March 2003."

O'Donnell added: "And look, this is the picture they release of him. Doesn't he look healthy?"

Khalid Sheikh Mohammad shortly after his arrest in March 2003

The photo of an unkempt Mohammed, however, was taken upon his arrest four years ago.

O'Donnell then argued terrorists are people too, and asserted the U.S. "robs them of their humanity."

"They've been treating them like animals … they have hoods over their heads, they torture them on a daily basis," she said.

Suggesting the U.S. is looking for a scapegoat, O'Donnell said of Mohammed, "for whatever he did or didn't do, he is not the be all, end all of terrorism in America. And our government has not found the answer in this one man."

Mohammad confessed in a U.S. military tribunal Saturday to plots that included a previously undisclosed plan to kill several former U.S. presidents, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during a hearing on his status at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo.

He confessed to the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, saying, "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan."

Mohammed added: "For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."

In November, O'Donnell told Hasselbeck in an exchange on "The View" that Americans shouldn't fear terrorists.

"Faith or fear, that's your choice," she said.

"You can walk through life believing in the goodness of the world, or walk through life afraid of anyone who thinks different than you and trying to convert them to your way of thinking."

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