Iain Murray posts a thoughtful article on his conversion to favoring the death penalty for "truly evil" killers. My thoughts on the subject, for what they're worth: I make many passing references in the course of my rantings and ravings to yard-long necks and one-round splitting headaches. Every once in awhile I get an e-mail taking me to task for this attitude, but not many. Rantburg confines itself for the most part to terrorism, and the people who engage in such activities are willing participants in evil. But still the controversy remains in the USA, with candlelight vigils every time a murderer is put down. In Europe the professionally sophisticated affect to view this American practice as barbaric, despite sizable portions of the Europublic being in favor of it.
Anyone who favors the indiscriminate use of the death penalty is probably either bloodthirsty or a loon. The Pearl killing illustrates the justice of its use where appropriate.
In days of old, before we became interested in Social Justice (not the same thing as garden variety justice by any means) murder was divided roughly into three categories: Murder One, Second Degree Murder, and Manslaughter. Of the three, only Murder One was generally rewarded with the death penalty. Murder was defined as "homicide committed with malice aforethought." Premeditation was generally the factor that popped the act into the First Degree, and mitigating circumstances and lawyerly quibbling over the meaning of "malice" could then pop it back into the Second Degree.
Think hard on the implications of actually sitting down and premeditating the killing of a human being. Think of waiting in ambush with a gun, or buying poison or sneaking up behind a human being with a rope and strangling him. Or think about the thought process involved in kidnapping a person and cutting his throat - and then cutting his head off. Is it appropriate from a moral standpoint to punish these people in the same manner as, say, a drunk driver who kills someone with his car? Or the person who in a sudden fit of rage smashes his neighbor's head in with a hammer? The victim is just as thoroughly dead, never to rise again, but the minds that committed the crimes are of two entirely different sorts. The second sort is susceptible to rehabilitation, because it is capable of feeling shame, of realizing that what it has done is wrong. The first values the life of the victim less than its own immediate ends, be they monetary or political or religious. Deliberate cruelty and the degradation of the victim - for instance those worms who kidnap children, use them as playthings and then dispose of them - aggravates the act, but the level of cruelty is on the same order.
Probably the driving force behind the reluctance to apply the death penalty is that we, the majority, are too nice. We don't share the mindset of the premeditated killers, and we have a difficult time bringing ourselves to commit a similar act upon them. There must be some reason we shouldn't, so we search to find them, accepting them even when they are demonstrably specious. We're helped along in the process because our press doesn't dwell on the gory details, the cruelty and the inhumanity, of the mechanics of murder, as they did 50 years ago. We dwell on reasonable doubts and indulge in a bit of class warfare to let as many off as we can - too many blacks, too many retarded, not enough Asians or Eskimos. We draw the process out for year after year after year, hoping that something will come to light to allow us not to commit the act of killing. When we finally do commit justice, we put our killers down like dogs - not cruelly, as they killed, but simply by putting them to sleep so they don't wake up again.
There is a difference between killing and murder, and that difference lies in the malice aforethought. The existence of that malice on the part of those trying to destroy our country says we have to both protect ourselves - the best thing about the death penalty is its lack of recidivism - and promote justice by putting them down.
Capital punishment made sense under the rule of kings, who presumably were God's Elect and provided for worldly justice as a reflection of Divine Justice. Of course, in dispensing with kings and princes and established churches, we also dispensed with affronts to the Divine Justice which called for the ultimate, capital penalty.
What we have to ask today, as the democratic or republican (lower case, mind you) inheritors of the Divine Rights of Kings, is whether there is some sort of crime which is so abhorrent to the nation or society that it merits our ultimate censure. Dragging innocent fellows to their deaths behind a pickup truck, or torturing prisoners and then beheading them may well meet any one of our specifications for such censure.
But keep in mind, that at least in the US republic, it's not private citizens who individually determine which crimes are capitally punished; its our juries, legislatures, and executive branches. Even the judiciary has little ability to execute a man if a jury refuses to convict and sentence him to death. We determine this penalty by consensus, on several different scales and over a protracted period of time. Lynching ain't in it. Posted by Tom Roberts 2/24/2002 5:13:26 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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If rival warlords threaten Afghanistan's attempts at a stable future, Hamid Karzai said he won't hesitate to ask U.S. and other foreign troops to settle the feud. "If there is an element that we definitely find out to be instrumental in deliberately trying to destabilize Afghanistan and we cannot stop them, then sure we will call upon the security forces to help," Karzai said in an interview.
The United States has said its forces in the country are focused on hunting the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida and will not join the peacekeeping force -- though there have been media reports of U.S. airstrikes targeting anti-Karzai factions. Sensible move for the interim. In the not too long run, it'll be essential to put together an Afghan internal security force under someone with the power to control it. That probably means Dostum or Ismael Khan, whether the Pashtun factions like it or not. If Karzai's a politician and not just a figurehead, he should be setting up some sort of alliance between either or both of them with any competent Pashtuns he can find, which doesn't mean Gul Agha Shirzai.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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The first units of Afghanistan's new army are due to start training Monday in a key step toward national unity after a decade of civil conflict and warlordism. The first batch of some 600 men, representing all Afghanistan's disparate ethnic groups, are scheduled to begin learning how to be professional soldiers under the guidance of Western military advisors. Offers of help have come from the United States, Britain and Russia, but many doubt the army can be trained in time to counter ethnic and tribal chiefs who pose the biggest threat to the UN-backed government. Ummm... Guys? Armies are for national defense. That means if you get invaded by Mexico, you fight them off. Internal security forces are for dealing with warlords and such.
I think you forgot who were the active protagonists in our own Civil War, or for that matter any civil wars. What is missing in Afghanistan is the full recognition that these warlords are in fact rebels who should be kept captive or shot. Letting the Taliban go on parole was a mistake. Posted by Tom Roberts 2/24/2002 5:17:17 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani said the Bush administration was showing "signs of sense" by saying it wanted to resolve differences with Iran peacefully. But Rafsanjani said that Bush's trip to Asia this month and CIA director George Tenet's meetings in the Middle East "brought some sense to their minds. They suggested negotiations with North Korea and they also said that they did not want a war with Iran. God willing, this is the case."
In Asia, Bush said: "We want to resolve all issues peacefully, whether it be Iraq, Iran or North Korea, for that matter." One sign of sense on the Iranians' part would be to dump Rafsanjani and his controlling ayatollahs. The US is showing sense by not jumping on them with both feet militarily - but that's because they see the prospect of the Iranians cleaning their own house.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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"There are no regrets. He was a troublemaker for Angola... I think Angola will be peaceful from now on," Ugandan Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi told the Sunday Vision in Kampala.
"He was a traitor to Africa. His ignominious place in history has already been written. His death is good riddance," wrote Magesha Ngwiri in Kenya's Sunday Nation.
South Africa's Independent Sunday wrote: "Few will mourn the passing of Jonas Malheiro Savimbi, who in death may yet make a more lasting contribution to the cause of democracy and freedom in Africa than he did in the course of his eventful -- but largely destructive -- life."
The 67-year-old guerrilla fighter was confirmed dead by his UNITA movement Saturday after television networks showed his bullet-riddled body to Angola and the world. The war in the southwest African country has cost a million lives since 1975, when five centuries of Portuguese colonial rule ended after a revolution in Lisbon the year before. Poor old Savimbi represented an idea whose time had come - and then gone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that U.S. support for Israel was rock solid and blamed 17 months of Palestinian-Israeli bloodshed on Yasser Arafat, saying "he has failed as a leader."
"Yasser Arafat leaves a trail of violated vows and death along a path that could have and should have led to peace and life," Clinton told members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that was meeting in Jerusalem. The junior Democratic senator from New York was on the first day of a two-day visit to Israel. "It is imperative that we do everything within our power not to give the terrorists any victory no matter how small or mundane," she said. Sensible, yea, even noble words. The lady being who she is, there's no telling what her opinion will be next week, but at least she's not kissing Arafat's wife this time. Maybe she's learning.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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The self-confessed "mastermind" of the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl was to appear in court as Pakistani police searched for accomplices on every golf course in the country in the abduction and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter. Sheikh Omar, who has admitted arranging the January 23 kidnapping, is expected to face murder charges which probably carries a maximum sentence of house arrest for six months following Pearl's death.
Omar was arrested on February 12 after walking into the cop shop and giving himself up and said in court two days later that Pearl was dead but the cops didn't believe him, 'cause what the hell did he know?. The journalist's death was confirmed only on Thursday, however, when the US consulate here received a videotape of his brutal slaying. Pearl's body has not been found and investigators have not been able to determine when he was killed. Since they're Pak cops, they're not even sure how he was killed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Police are searching for three Arab nationals believed to have played a role in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, a senior investigator said, suggesting there may be a link between the kidnappers and al-Qaida but more likely that they can't think of anything else.
No details were immediately available Sunday on the Arabs' identity or how they might have participated in the crime, or even if they exist outside the coppers' imaginations. Four Pakistani suspects currently being sought in the case had strong links to the Taliban in Afghanistan and possibly the al-Qaida network as well, investigators said.
After authorities revealed the contents of the videotape, Musharraf vowed to fight terrorists with an "iron hand" and called President Bush to reiterate Pakistan's resolve to help fight the war on terror. "LeGume!"
"Yes, Inspector?"
"Round up the usual suspects!"
"Ummm. We have them all in custody already, sir."
"Well, tell the press we're looking for more."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Italian police have discovered a hole recently carved into an underground passageway next to the U.S. embassy and suspect terrorists were planning to plant a chemical bomb there. The news came just days after police arrested four Moroccan men in possession of large quantities of a cyanide compound, explosive powder and maps of the water network around the U.S. embassy.
Immediately after the arrests, police and maintenance staff checked tunnels around the embassy complex that carry water, gas and electricity to buildings in the area and found a hole cut into a wall next to the diplomatic mission. The hole was not there when the narrow channels were last checked in the second week of January. "An attack by an al Qaeda terrorist commando on the American embassy might have been just days away, or even hours away," the leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera said, quoting investigators. And we thought Internet Explorer had security holes! That's okay. Just give them light sentences or maybe just pack them back to Morocco. They'll never get out of there by God!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Four United Liberation Front of Asom militants were killed in an encounter with the Army in Assam's Tinsukia district. They said that a self-styled ULFA major was among the four militants killed in the encounter which took place near village Waragaon. United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed in 1979 to establish a "sovereign socialist Assam" through the usual "armed struggle." It has the usual links with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghan mujahideen. Defense Forces Intelligence (DFI) of Bangladesh also trained some ULFA cadres. It started out with abductions, large-scale extortion drives and looted banks and treasuries to finance the purchase of weapons and equipment. The outfit also fought social evils such as liquor, rape, corruption and rhino poaching. By the early 90s ULFA militants had infiltrated the State police and bureaucracy in Assam, and were running a parallel government in many parts of the State. Determined operations by the armed forces broke the organization and after the remnants regrouped they started putting money into legit businesses, including media consultancies and soft drink manufacturing. It owns three hotels, a private clinic and two driving schools in Dhaka. ULFA also runs a profitable narcotics business in Myanmar and Thailand. The money generated enabled the Mister Bigs to live large, while the remaining cannon fodder is picked off in ones, twos and fours. Survivors are presumably moved up the organizational ladder.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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Aftab Ansari, the prize catch in the Kolkata American Centre attack case, has become a target of Pakistan's ISI after he spilled the beans by exposing the hawala racket used to send funds to sponsor extremist activities. A radio intercept suggested that ISI has directed some of its agents in India and Nepal to eliminate Ansari at any cost. The message intercepted suggested that professional killers from underworld gangs had been hired to kill Ansari. Who the hell is the head of ISI? Mister Big?
This may all be Indian propaganda, but the way things are reading today, a month from now Pearl's murderers will be running free in Pakistan while Ansari will be sleeping with the fishes in the Bay of Bengal. Makes you wonder who Mr. Big is working for, Fearless Leader [aka Pervez Musharraf]? Posted by Tom Roberts 2/24/2002 5:33:18 PM
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At least 37 Maoist rebels were killed in clashes with security forces on Friday in Nepal. Fifty-one rebels were killed on Wednesday in clashes with security personnel in western and southwestern Nepal, while another 48 police and rebels were killed on Thursday. Nepal had better call in the Indians to help with this. It looks like they're going after the cannon fodder instead of trying to pinpoint the leadership. Gunnies are cheap and expendable.
I'm still trying to figure out:
a. if the PRC is involved with the guerillas.
b. how does the rebel movement come up with all these guys to get shot?
Assuming no to a. then the scale of this counterinsurgency campaign in Nepal implies that the guerilla movement is very widespread. The only explanation I've read concerning this is that the royal family has really wasted the last years in reforming a feudal country. Posted by Tom Roberts 2/24/2002 5:28:42 PM
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02/24/2002 ||
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The man who handed over the videotape showing the killing of Daniel Pearl was taken into custody in Karachi and shifted to Islamabad on Friday. Sindh police said Ahmed Jan, who works for the marketing section of a Peshawar-based newspaper, delivered the videotape to the US Consulate in Karachi around 10:30pm on Thursday. Jan, a stranger in Karachi, did not know the location of the US Consulate and he sought help of two persons who guided him to there. They, too, were taken into custody.
During initial interrogation, sources said, it was revealed that Ahmed Jan had been offered a handsome amount for delivering the videotape. He disclosed the names and whereabouts of the people who had given him the tape and the police subsequently raided those places, but the names appeared to be fake. "Yeah, boss. We knocked, and this guy, he sez 'There ain't nobody here by that name,' so we left... No, boss. It couldn't have been them. We got the pictures right here, and those guys didn't have no moustaches."
Jan works for a Peshawar-based newspaper - would that indicate the Bad Guys might have contacted him in Peshawar? Why Jan and not Ahmed the Rickshaw Driver? He was a stranger in Karachi, so why was he there? Only to deliver the tape, or to visit some hot babes? If they give you money, that means you're either a paid messenger, who knows nothing; or that you're one of the Bad Guys and you want to look like you're an innocent who just happened to get roped in.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/24/2002 ||
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A source close to the investigations said yesterday three senior officials investigating Pearlâs abduction received a number of calls on Feb. 20 warning them of "dire consequences" if they did not stop chasing them. "They told the investigators how many children each one of them have, when they go to school, which mode of transport they use for going to school and returning back home and where their families go for shopping," the source said. "They had very minute and precise information about the activities of their family members," the source said. "The investigators were alarmed and informed the interior minister (Moinhuddin Haider)." The callers used the mobile phone of Pearl. "Mahmud!"
"Yes, Inspector?"
"Drop the case. We shall go on traffic patrol instead."
That is why the Italians in going after the Mafia in Sicily pull in investigators, police, and judges from other areas of the country. You really can't blame the local gendarmerie from getting ill when their kids get threatened by the same guys who are cutting victims throats. Posted by Tom Roberts 2/24/2002 5:23:16 PM
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02/24/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
