War is a crime, but this is a manly crime defying effeminate
mores and rigid society. The most convinced pacifist can get
carried away by the sight of charging cavalry, attacking
troops, roaring tanks and fighter jets taking off a desert
strip. Not in vain, women admired warriors, poets sung their
mighty deeds, and priests anointed their heads. We can fetch
a Roman adage or a Koranic verse, a line from Shakespeare or
Nietzsche to praise a leader of men and disregard the costs
of war. We can forgive a bloodshed, it’s sordid affairs that
can’t ever be forgiven.
Murder of the deposed Arab ruler’s young sons is the
ultimate sordid crime of President Bush. It transformed him
from a fool into a villain, from the dubious vanquisher of a
disarmed state into a vile murderer, from a deceiver into a
bloody crook, from the vainglorious chieftain on board of
the aircraft carrier into a vicious monster. Whatever we
think of Saddam Hussein, cynical and cruel murder of his
sons is an abysmal collapse into archaic mode. This is worse
than Napoleon’s murder of young Duc d'Enghien, worse than
the crimes of Richard III. Stalin and Hitler, Churchill and
Roosevelt killed millions, but they did not hunt down
children of their adversaries. Indeed, Hitler did not lay
hands on Stalin’s son he [1] captured .
If the president were to tear their noble hearts and gobble
them dripping blood on his starched shirt he would not be
more disgusting. It is a moral collapse of the ruling class:
his schools, Harvard and Yale, once aristocratic breeding
ground of American gentlemen, reached a moral nadir under
the guidance of Lawrence Summers the Platitudinous, Samuel
Huntington the Trivial, Leo Strauss the Godless and Alan
Dershowitz the Torturer. Probably Sing Sing would produce a
more suitable ruling class at a lesser cost.
It is a moral collapse of the army. Hundreds of heavily
armed American soldiers who participated in the execution
brought shame on themselves and the Armed Forces.
Copycatting the Israeli assassins, they rained missiles at
the handful of men. They are not soldiers anymore, their
place is with hangmen. Their cowardly deed will delegate
them into the lower recesses of Hell, within a shouting
distance from Judas.
It is a moral collapse of the media. This docile tool of
Empire stepped into moral abyss beyond the cowardly murder.
TV pundits discussed price of blood in dollars and shekels,
they argued whether the murder would put paid to the Iraqi
resistance. The TV screens were turned into stakes posting
the bloodied heads of two handsome young men, a scary sight,
but even scarier was the joyous crowd of brokers and
investors at Wall Street, celebrating the Dow Jones’ rise by
guzzling Arab blood. It was not the first vicious murder in
mankind’s history; but the first one met with equanimity; a
bloody sacrifice to Mammon. The healing spasm of moral
disgust did not shake the sick society.
The dead and torn body of the fourteen-year-old boy, a
grandchild of Saddam Hussein, will haunt Bush whenever he
looks at his own children and grandchildren, like Banquo’s
bloody ghost on Macbeth’s feast. Indeed, the Texan killer of
Hussein’s sons is but a remorseless replica of the Scottish
murderer of Macduff’s sons.
In a Christian land he would be excommunicated, for a
vengeful murderer of his enemies’ children has no place in
the Kingdom of Christ. Not in vain he befriended Sharon and
Perle who are used to laud the murder of Haman’s children at
the feast of Purim.
Noble and brave, the sons of Saddam Hussein did not escape
to a faraway land; they did not pocket billions for
surrender, they did not lounge in Minsk or Riyadh as the
dishonest mainstream media suggested. The Young Lions of
Baghdad, they fought the superior forces of the invader, and
fell defending their homeland. Kusai and Udai were together
in their lives; and in their death they were not divided.
They will be forever cherished in the collective memory of
mankind, with other tragic and courageous fighters against
the Empire from Vercingetorix the Gaul to the Sioux chief
Sitting Bull, from Che Guevara of Santa Clara to Abdel Kader
al Husseini of Qastal. Their last stand and their death
redeemed Iraq and returned self esteem to the Arabs. They
died in flesh but remained alive in spirit; their murderers
are but living dead. When the Middle East will regain its
independence, their names will be written on the precious
porphyry of our monuments.
Responses
There were many witty and soul-searching responses to my
eulogy of Saddam's sons (at the bottom of this email). Here
are some of the best. Some readers approve of my response,
others approve of Bush, you can read both - we are not the
New York Times :-) For many readers it was easier to condemn
Bush than to praise the princes. I do admire these murdered
young men, whether they were good or bad in the days of
their father's rule, for they chose to fight, not to
surrender, not to run away to Switzerland. They set a
glorious example of princely behaviour by remaining with
their people. I distrust the official reports of their
previous misbehaviour, as much as I distrusted the WMD fairy
tale, but even if some of it is true, we remember Prince Hal
who was a drinking buddy of Falstaff until, as Henry V, he
routed the French army at Agincourt.
Israel Shamir
From Robert Leverant, California
Your passionate moral essay puts it all in perspective. Gang
warfare. The mob. I've always felt that the Bush mob lacked
the class of The Godfather and were in the league of The
Good Fellas who had five thumbs and couldn't get it right.
From: Gary Gene Ford - swimp@shaw.ca
http://www.goodfelloweb.com/poems/gford1.html
The act of seeking out an enemy's offspring to slay is very
ancient and regrettable. However, except possibly for the
unfortunate grandson killed, let us remember Saddam's son's
weren't exactly innocent lambs. So, I see it as a kind of
Gangland Execution... The Big 'Godfather' gets his
'Soldiers' to bump off a less powerful Gang Lord's Sons when
he can't get directly to the less powerful rival himself!
... THIS IS WHAT SOME POWERFUL LEADERS, through pretexts of
necessity, have come down to being: Hitman-in-Chief! I
EXPECTED THIS ... After all, didn't innocent people get
killed in that Penetrating Bomb attack on the Baghdad
Restaurant?! A Young woman's torso, a baby's head ... Even
Qaddaffi's Baby Daughter got this 'WAY BACK WHEN?'! Shamir
to Gary: We can go also into lions' private life. Lions do
kill and eat cubs of the defeated male, while possessing
their mother. So, Bush slaughtered the Young Lions while
screwing Mother Mesopotamia...
From: otieno aluoka
This is great. From Kenya with love, something most
Americans say but can not tell what it is.
From: Xavier Lavaud, France
Bravo for last article ("Murder most foul"), this is exactly
what we felt.
From Daniel
I think you've derailed here a bit, Israel. They were not
children, and they were not killed because they were the
enemy's sons, but because they were vicious enemy's in their
own right. I obviously share your sentiment about the
targeted killings in general, but the rest of your article
detracts from that. Hey, I don't feel that way about your
articles very often.
Daniel
From Shamir to Daniel:
You surely recognised the quote from the Lament of David:
were Saul and Jonathan such wonderful guys? Weren't they
involved in genocide of Amalek? Still the Holy Writ likened
them to lions and eagles.
From Taufiq Zacaria
Dude, they deserve their death.
From Shamir to Taufiq: Would you repeat it if Syrian TV were
to broadcast pictures of two assassinated sons of Sharon?
From Oane Boersma, Netherlands
Mr Shamir, I do not at all admire the USA's attack on
Saddam's sons, 'they resisted arrest', write some of Bush
supporters. I can imagine that they preferred to fight to
death over being 'arrested', or 'shot while resisting
arrest'. But to call these men 'noble and brave' seems a bit
overdone. Both have been depicted as utterly ruthless. I
most agree with an Iraqi who stated that it was up to the
Iraqi's to pass judgment on them. Oane Boersma Netherlands
From Eric Walberg, an American in Tashkent
Thank you, Israel. I was disgusted and appalled by both the
action and the media coverage - any self-respecting
journalist, even rightwing, would at least quote someone
condemning assassination. I am never 'pleased' when ANYONE
is murdered. I feel like I'm drowning in shit in some corner
of Dante's Hell these days. Your essays at least help me
keep my head above it. I don't know if they were shining
examples of rectitude and morality during their lives (there
is probably some fire where there is smoke), but they were
definitely heroes in the way they died, as is their father
in his refusal to give up. In any case, they should have
been captured and tried for any crimes they may have
committed. (Of course Bush and Blair can get away with their
many, much worse crimes, but that goes without saying.) Just
as an example of how sordid things are becoming here, I
translate here and am forced (to put bread on the table) to
translate an elitist journal for the new rich - "VIP
International". It is of course awful, but not as bad as
something I saw on the editor's desk called "7 Sins", a 'new
Russian' journal glorifying the 7 deadly sins, with glossy,
decadent pictures to entertain the nouveau riche with
positive examples of gluttony, greed, pride, etc. I pointed
out how revolting this was to the young woman editor, who
was surprised at my criticism, and was only interested in
the high quality pictures. Time for Savonarola to come back.
Eric Walberg
Just read your article about the death of the two Hussein
brothers being "murdered". You sir need to get your head out
of the sand, your ass off your chair and see what the real
world and all it's good and bad points are. You are a
disgrace to all honest and true intellectuals. Most
in-sincerely, Larry Hart From Shamir to Hart: Larry, how
could you know? You would not recognise an intellectual if
you would bump into one.
From: Alex Dharmasetia
Dear Shamir, regarding your latest letter, I may have missed
something here, or grossly misinformed. Maybe you can shed
some light: What were the circumstances of the two son's
death? Could they have been captured alive? And is the truth
far away from what had been described as a murderous,
torturous, and sheer bloodthirsty sons of Saddam Hussein? It
is so believable what had been described about the two sons,
but, I agree that they should have been captured alive, if
at all possible. And if it the description was true, then
shouldn't they be "hunted" down? Maybe I'm wrong. Regards,
Alex.
Dear Israel:
I had been waiting for someone to characterize the killing
of Saddam's sons and grandson in some more or less
appropriate way. You have done it. Thank you. I particularly
mourn for the young soldiers who were sent on this errand
and who may never realize how they have been used. We sink
lower and lower. Tom White
OK unsubscribe me. Regardless of how you feel about the way
our troops killed these two, forever will I now remember you
as a defender of two sadistic rapists. In my mind they
deserved what they got. You even called them the "Young
Lions of Baghdad". You reduce your effectiveness for the
Palestinian cause by making statements like this. Regrets
Lester Ordway From Shamir to Lester Ordway My best
contribution to the Palestinian cause (and to the cause of
mankind) is my sincerity. Effectiveness without sincerity is
self-deception. Shamir
From Lucille Spacek, the US
Dear Mr. Shamir, Thank God for You, Thank God. I just read
your article on the brutal assassination of Saddams sons. I
thank God to hear from you and what you think, exactly in
the best prose, of this horrible torture and murder and
those ghouls who carried it out and rejoice in this evil
doing. Thank God there is one truly decent man left, on this
planet hell. I can still stand to be here and finish my
purpose. A few others have also decried the evil foul
murder, the tarring and egregious lies that are attributed
to people who can't defend themselves. I don't know the
truth of what Saddam or his sons did or didn't do, but the
bushwhackers, have shown exactly what they are, what actions
they laud and admire and how they use their killer elite
military to accomplish their murders, for them. God knows
too, God knows with no doubts or mistakes what each one's
intentions and acts are. Not the Shaitan, the bush's and
their pack of fundies and Zionists worship, I'm speaking of
the True God. They are sure to get exactly what they
deserve, as we all are. Those who remain true to God will
always receive God's love, benevolence and Light of wisdom,
faith and courage. Those who follow Shaitan and his lies
will live in hell, for eternity, with the corpse of their
evil god. Some think these are not Uday and Qusai, it
matters not, two men were tortured and murdered and the evil
intentions were to do this to Saddams children, because they
are his. The intent is the thing, not whether these are
actually Uday and Qusai. So far, I'm thinking they may not
be them, but to me, it doesn't matter. They are some
mother's sons and that is enough to condemn that evil idiot
in the black house and his ghouls. Thank You, again for
bringing this to light and shaming the real evil doers, with
the truth about themselves. They are not humans, they are
demons who crawled up from hell, to torture those of Light,
before they are returned to their own darkness, forever. It
will get worse, before the Highest Good liberates us,
completely, from this hell. I will hang on, till then,
helping in whatever small way I can, those of Light. Warmest
regards and Light, Lucille
This particular piece by Israel Shamir, Murder Most Foul,
seems a bombastic screed far removed from reality. From what
I have read in the progressive press the sons of Saddam were
not particularly "noble" nor "young" nor "brave" nor "young
lions" nor "cherished." They were according to most accounts
thugs, rapists, torturers and sycophants for their father.
The death of a 14 year old grandson is of course a different
matter. I truly hope the Middle East regains its power,
prosperity and honours its diversity but I don't think many
people will be hoping that the names of Odai and Qusai are
"written on the precious porphyry of our monuments." Dan
Burnstein
Kol Hakavod! (Right On!) Shimon Tzabar, London
Dear Israel, Do you really believe this nonsense you've
written about Udai and Kusai? Yours, Alan Goldstein
Plainfield, NJ
From Matthew Moriarty Many Americans are horrified by this
senseless act of revenge and murder. Your characterizations
are apt and put force and elegance behind our despair and
rage. I thank you for this. How could they think we would be
pleased?Killing the children of an adversary is beyond the
pale, criminal and simply barbaric. It is indescribably
evil. The Administration's attempt to capitalize on these
murders, their sense of parade and celebration has deep
satanic overtones. I fear we have not seen the end of their
abominations. Matthew Moriarty Bumpass, VA
From Dennis Hayman
A most painful essay to read about my country. Yet, as I
read it, shamed as I was, I realized that this first
blistering condemnation of this act came from someone
outside of the country. And that was the greatest shame of
all to me. Fortunately I have seen several authors in this
country saying the same things today. At least there are
some who can still see above the wall of lies and fears that
has been built by this government. But alas, I look around
me at those I come in contact with on a daily basis and have
heard no complaints -- just as if they were still mesmerized
by the media into thinking they were watching a story - not
real news. When I discussed it from the perspective of real
lives and what this act says about us as a people, they
looked at me as if they had no clue as to what I was talking
about. So sad. My only consolation is that I am still a part
of the oneness that is the Human race -- and that as such
you are my brother. You are often the spokesperson for the
conscience of those of us who care. For that I thank you and
bless your insights. Warmest regards, Dennis
From Cyrus Driver, Canada
Why would you paint this particular act of Bush to be so
immoral ? Isn't there sufficient evidence that Kusai and
Udai were murderers and actually delighted in atrocities ?
This is reported even the Arabic press. Even if we don't
support the US and its wars, why paint this particuar act as
one of murder? In fact if there is any good that can come
out of evil it would be the death of such tyrants. If on the
other hand Kusai and Uday were not known to be part of
Saddam's coercion machinery then I would agree with you. But
under the circumstances it is difficult to consider their
deaths with any remorse. Cyrus Driver.
From: Tim Podczerviensky
I read your incomprehensible posting on Jeff Rense. I fail
to grasp how you came to the conclusion, and write that Bush
murdered Saddams sons! (Clearly you feel that these two
wonderful and honourable men did nothing to deserve the
wrath of death imposed by our great military power.) Let me
educate you. We offered them a "out", a chance to surrender
and peacefully leave the building. 2. We followed up with a
second offer to leave peacefully. 3. The two attempted to
injure and kill our men. 4. We gave a final chance for them
to exit the building. 5. The (in your view, wonderful and
honourable) Uday and Qusay chose once again to attempt to
kill or injure our men. 6. The were righteously and
permanently terminated. You should seek information about
that which you criticize before you post criticisms that
expose you for what you really are. done.
Greetings Israel:
Your thoughts in "Murder Most Foul" are exactly mine. It is
so outrageous what the US regime continues to do, for which
it has no mandate whatsoever. It has no business being in
Iraq in the first place. I have felt right along that once
the Saddam era has gone, the Iraqi people have yet another
enemy to remove, and that is the US and its cohorts, which
may be even worse than Saddam ever was. I think the killing
of thousands of Iraqis, and this blatant outrageous murder
of Qusay and Udai, and a young son of one of them, just
shows that Bush and co are no different than Saddam, they
are even worse. Keep on your good writing. We are passing a
very dark moment of history, with the US acting as a
full-blown rogue state. Jack Lakavich Kelowna, BC Canada
Agree. Young Mustafa, his father and uncle showed such
courage and could only be destroyed by hundreds of men and
massive antitank explosive charges. (That this battle could
go on for several hours was, in itself, a miracle.) It's OK,
Americans are told, because the Iraqis will now do anything
for money. (Look at the guy that sold them out, the leering
commentators point out, he'll get protected and his family
will get $15-million!) And those pesky WMDs will be
found--Americans are being told--now the estimate is that it
will take another 18 months. I predict they'll be found in
October 2004, close enough to the election to help get Bush
elected for the first time, and too close for them to be
debunked prior to the election. Tom Mysiewicz, Oregon
While it is true that the murder of Saddam's children was
indeed a foul act, it does not follow from that that they
were heroes, as you imply in your article. The proper and
civilized thing to do was to capture them alive, perhaps
through the use of tear gas or other temporarily
incapacitating agent and bring them to trial for the
atrocious crimes they committed against the Iraqi people. In
a way their death was a mercy killing that saved them from
punishment, even though no punishment exists that could
compensate for the crimes they committed. We have a tendency
to idealize the victims of barbaric behaviour, but in this
case the victims were themselves murderers most vile. Of
course this in no way justifies their murder. Under rule of
law people accused of crimes should be brought to justice in
a court of law. That is the proper example to set as a model
of civilized behaviour in democratic societies. It is a sad
reflection of our times that both aggressor and victim in
this case behaved in ways outside the norms of decency. This
is not like the good old days of good vs. evil. Today we are
faced with the evil vs. evil. Both parties are guilty and
both parties are criminal. I enjoy reading your articles
very much , but I think in this particular case, glorifying
the wrongful deaths of mass murderers is off the mark.
Sincerely, Jawad Rahim Iraqi expatriate Shamir to Jawad: I
agree with you - they should be dealt with by Iraqi people.
However, I am against killing of Bush children, or Sharon's
sons. We should not go back into obscure past of killing
Sultan's sons; and Saddam was a 'Sultan' of Iraq. Rulers
should not be killed, in my opinion, nor their children.
Regicide is a heavy sin, in my books.
From Ian Buckley, England
Dear Israel, Congratulations for this courageous article.
The Daily Telegraph of today featured a front-page picture
of the slaughtered Kusai and Udai Hussein, which readers
were presumably invited to approve. In such a manner, Conrad
Black and Barbara Amiel joined their passive and gloating
barbarity to the active variety of Bush, Perle and
Wolfowitz.
From Bob Price
As I read of Richard, Coeur de lion.....I thought a
comparison of Richard the Lion Heart...who was in fact also
deplorably "unfit to lead" a crusade as commander in
chief--did not listen, insulted allies, offended loyalties
of princes--you get the idea...but he was fiercely and
personally brave.. unlike demonstrated cowards who spout
"bring it on" today while hiding behind the walls of secret
service and the pentagon and I thought perhaps a comparison
with men of history who were honourable warriors and
comparing them with this buffoon, this "wannabe warrior",
might be of interest and might point out the qualities that
were "useful" and some that are not...not that warriors are
all "useful" all the time..... Richard, the one lionized in
history, lost 300,000 men on his abysmally failed adventure,
never mind the Saracens and Arabs slaughtered........ on the
other hand, Richard waded and led his men ashore in the face
of a hugely out numbering, encamped, Arab legion on the
shores at Jaffa and fought his way into the city through the
aroused, massed army and showed tremendous courage and skill
at in actually leading his men ashore in the face of certain
death while suffering numerous arrow and lance wounds.... He
did not sneak a peep out of the windows of Air Force One as
it flew over the skies of devastated Baghdad or land on a
carrier entering San Diego Harbour or hide after 911 or
desert the air national guard while hiding from actually
serving or take two weeks to pluck up his courage to visit
NY City Towers.......and he did this while knowing full well
the "domestic situation" back in jolly old England with evil
prince John. Richard did not order mindless tax cuts or step
back from his work...or lie. ..... Richard and Saladin-
fierce enemies....their word was honour and inviolate all
times when dealing with one another. Honour....unheard of in
America today. ....and neither Saladin, nor Richard, were
liars. Murder most foul indeed...most foul. Bob Price
Narrows Inlet, BC, CA
Please read:
From World Socialist Web Site
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/jul2003/sons-j25.shtml
Release of Hussein son's photos: Washington exposes its own
barbarism By Barry Grey 25 July 2003 The world was subjected
to a gruesome and barbaric spectacle on Thursday when the
Bush administration released photographs of the mutilated
corpses of Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, ambushed
and killed by American forces on July 22. The American cable
news networks wasted no time in displaying blowups of the
bloody heads and torsos of the dead men and beaming the
images into homes across the US and around the world. US
government spokesmen and media commentators could barely
conceal their glee at the sight of the shattered bodies, and
their satisfaction over inflicting the pictures on a global
audience. Nothing the World Socialist Web Site could say
would be a more devastating indictment of the degenerates
who wield power in the US and their media accomplices than
their own self-exposure. The overwhelming majority of people
around the world, and especially in the US, will feel only
revulsion and shame at this exhibition of sadism. …The
contrast to the media's current role in emblazoning the
photos of the dead Hussein brothers at the behest of the
government only underscores its corruption and subservience
to political reaction and the Bush White House.
Israel,
Did you notice that as you pointed to the betrayal of these
2 that the price for them collectively was 30m pieces of
silver? However, the people rejoice at the death of the
wicked, and these two were wicked, as were the sons of Eli;
the glory is certainly departed, both for the Hussein jerks
and the Bush jerks. Both sides are wrong and will suffer
punishment. Regards, Kenyon
Dear Israel Shamir,
As usual, this was an extremely GOOD article. I feel the
same way, no matter what those two Hussein brothers did.
If/when it becomes common to murder people instead of
bringing them to justice the end is near and we are NO
better than they were and others are! This whole war in Iraq
is just a farce. I wonder in what way it benefits the state
of Israel. Keep writing your excellent articles and don't
care (too much) about what some people will say about you.
I'm happy I've met you online! Sincerely yours, Jacqueline,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
You've just written what is in my mind about the ugly murder
of Suddam's sons and grandsons. Be sure that the murderers
will face the same destiny of their victims. Zeinab,
Ramallah
Dear and admired Mr. Israel Shamir:
Today I have received your MURDER MOST FOUL. Thanks for it.
When I saw that horrible new in the newspapers I tought at
the human wickedness's magnitude. (Thinking at Bush and his
companions, of course). Excuse my poor English. María Renée
Cura, Argentine
From Miriam Reik, New York
The two princes may have died bravely, but courage is
value--it is seen in the good and the evil in, perhaps,
equal measure. It isn't enough to warrant a eulogy if they
were truly wicked men (that's a big if, since I only have
the western press to say so). The worse part is our stupid
assassination of them--why not surround the building, throw
in some tear gas, preserve the life of the 14 year old, and
find out where the WMD are hidden from these treasures of
information?
From Adam
The commander at the scene was simply told that there were
high value targets (HVTs) in the building that was under
seige. The commander was not told that Uday and Qusay were
in the building even though the commander's superiors,
including those at the Pentagon, knew this definitively for
at least 12 hours before the attack commenced. Why wasn't
the commander told this information? Don't you think a
commander should have been told this information? The reason
the commander was not told this information is because Uday
and Qusay are more dangerous alive than dead. If they were
captured and they were able to shed more light on the
non-existence of the WMD then Blair and Bush would be
politically dead. If they were captured they could discredit
the many poeple who were part of the former regime and who
are cooperating with the US. It's very likely that the
commander was purposefully kept in the dark about the
identity of the beseiged people and may have even been told
to end the seige situation as quickly as possibly even if it
meant killing the people. I don't think 200 soldiers on the
ground would have been able to put up a fight against the
thousands of people who would come to the aid of Uday and
Qusay, as despised as they were, once word went out that
Uday and Qusay were beseiged by US troops. While many people
were happy at their death, it appears many more were upset
about the needless brutality and the extrajudicial killing
of the men and the postmortem display of their bodies for
political gain--something prohibited by the Geneva
Convention. Given the very serious allegations of torture by
US forces in the region (the US military is charging 4 of
its own military police with abuse of prisoners of war) and
in Guantanamo Bay it's very understandable that Uday and
Qusay refused to surrender "peacefully"--who would?
Isn't it interesting that the reconstructed faces of Uday
and Qusay were shown to foreign journalists but practically
NO Iraqi journalists. However, the justification for showing
the faces given by Rumseld is that lives of US soldiers
would be saved if Iraqis were convinced of the death of Uday
and Qusay. Since there is a possibility that some Iraqi
journalists would not be convinced the Pentagon didn't take
that chance with them. Also, while the Pentagon made the
decision to display the bodies, people were told that the
decision was that of the Coalition Civilian Authority.
It appears that Uday and Qusay were wanted dead rather than
alive.
Shamir, -- We are at war
under the law of nations and under the constitution of my
country. That war is still going on. And in war the rules of
the game change in a dramatic way, which is why caution is
necessary What is murder in peace becomes inflicting
casualties on the enemy in war, etc. Hussein's sons died not
as victims of murder but casualties of war. You are too hard
on Bush. It has always been difficult to intermix the
qualities of holy man and prince. Celetine V, Joan of Arc,
and Louis XVI all found in impossible, and they were the
very best of human beings. St. Francis of Assisi did not
even try to be a prince. A few have succeeded in being both,
like Marcus Aurelius and Louis IX, but they are very rare,
and they were aided by circumstances. And So we simply judge
holy men by one standard and princes by another. There is no
other way. Bush is a prince fighting an authorized war. What
do you expect, mon cher ami, a Sunday picnic? Your friend,
Jack Graham.
Dear Shamir,
I admire you for being the sort of Jewish friend I used to
know in my youth in South Africa, fair, decent and always
aware of the other person's plight and point of view. Where
that evil Zionist demon Sharon came from, and his
soul-mates, Bush, Blair and Howard, they must be from the
same place, the darkest pits of hell. I agree fully with
Lucille Spacek, who wrote the piece below, and wish I might
correspond with her, as she has much the same views on this
planet as I have: This Earth, as Rhett Butler said in the
book "Gone With the Wind" IS Hell, Hell is nowhere else but
here, and I hope those of us who stick it out as long as we
can, will soon migrate in our next incarnations into better
worlds, where the evils of hate and war are not even
concepts. Than you for Being There, Shamir; I am honoured to
meet such an open, fair and wonderful soul during my time
here too. George
Dear Israel,
i'm in Kuwait visiting family and saw photos of the two
bodies on the front pages of local papers. my first reaction
was that they were tortured before dying. i have seen the
corpses of Palestinians who died defending Jenin. They died
the way the US says Oudai and Qusai did, from air strikes
and gun wounds. but these bodies had far too many markings.
far too many little cuts and scrapes. They look like the
corpses i have seen returned from Israeli torture chambers.
I assumed my assessment was obvious but i have seen no
commentary or analysis of the actual cause of death! This is
amazing considering they performed an elaborate autopsy and
went to great lengths to "repair" their mortified faces. On
the right calf of Qusai there are three interesting
markings. one is a freshly seered (by the slight swelling)
imprint of a star in the skin. there are also a few round
burns that look much like cigarette burns. Two markings on
Oudais face look like they came from the same stick or
baton. one along the length of the right of his face, the
next horizontal below his nose. if a man was standing
slightly behind his right shoulder, the first strike would
have hit horizotal, knocking him backward and making the
angle for the second blow marked on the side. there are many
such markings. a battle would have produced indiscriminate
markings. there are few to non on the parts of body which
are "inaccessible" or inconvenient to beating and torture,
such as the upper chest, and mid to lower abdomen (where
sometimes men are hit with fists but rarely does it
mark)..(flying fragments or shrapnel or whatever would have
produced wounds here). what do you think? am i crazy? i
think the US got hold of the sons while they still had
breath and life! i don't believe what i'm hearing and, for
the record and though i'm cynical and suspicious, i don't
operate on automatic conspiracy theory. be well. susie
www.PlaygroundsForPalestine.org
From Astrid, Amsterdam
Dear mr. Shamir, I read your article "Murder Most Foul''
with much interest. When I first learned about the violent
death of the sons of Saddam Hoessein I couldn't help feeling
sad about it because whatever horrible they meay have done,
they were human beings and had also a right to a fair trial,
one of the main principles of the Universal Declaration of
HUman Rights. With you I distrust the official newsreport
that there was an hour-long lasting fire-exchange between
Anerican troops and the sons of Saddam Hoessein, because it
is highly unlikely that a high-tech American command-unit
would not be able to encircle the house and arrest the
inhabitants involved and for example shoot them in the leg
without killing them. According to be an extrajudicial
execution took place which abhors me very much and is a
grave violation pf all international laws concerning human
rights. Learning now that also a child of 14 years old was
killed saddens me the most.....killing children is the most
devilish and disgustiung thing and a very grave war-crime. I
wonder what sort of people someone has to be to kill a
child.......
From Côme Carpentier de Gourdon
Yours were brave if controversial words. It takes courage to
admire somebody's gallantry in misfortune and death when
most of the world has been trained to see in him only a
despicable and dangerous foe. When one compares the
desperate situation of the last holdouts of Saddam's rule
with the immense power and glaring, obscene wealth of the
Bush gang, one cannot but feel pity for the former. I fully
expect that the Washington regime will soon attack another
country with nuclear weapons, if given half a chance, just
to show who the boss is and to fill mankind with abject
terror: oderint tum metuant. We are indeed watching the
decadence of this new, contemptible, brutal, vulgar and
moronic pseudo-roman empire headed by knaves, cretins and
maniacs. C. Carpentier P.S. The man who betrayed the two
sons should get 30 million Dollars (if the US keeps its
promise which, given current evidence is dubious). It might
be cheaper to bump the traitor off or simply sell him out to
the Takriti tribe's avengers. In any event, 30 silver coins
or 30 million! Of course we know the US is an inflationary
economy and delation commands a higher price nowadays.
Shamir to Come Carpentier: Dear Come, 30 silver coins of
Christ's days were sufficient to buy Akeldamah field to the
south of the walls of Jerusalem. This field certainly costs
not less than 30 million USD, if sold today! So blood and
land still keep their value...
Dear Mr. Shamir,
I always admire your eloquence and courage. You are also
well-read. This includes your last article "Murder Most
Foul". I disagree about your praise of Saddam's sons but
their murder was apparently in the same vein as the "lynch
mobs" we used to see in cowboy films. Mr. Bush & naturally
Mr. Bremer say they will either capture or "kill" their
quest, a statement even Mr. Blair did not use. I wonder if a
policeman in any American city dares to state that he is
going to capture or kill a criminal he is after, or am I
misinformed? Sincerely yours, Dr. Aly Erfan,Cairo,Egypt
