ethics of killing or war is a fiesta
I can't sleep. First I see the headlines on TV: Osama Bin Ladin's 'recovery' by the US 'authorities', the US in 'possession of' Bin Ladin's body. The wording of such news flashes works on me like car alarms that go off in the middle of the night. Shortly after, Obama makes a speech involving America as a united family, past killings leaving empty seats at the dinner tables nation-wide, why it is necessary to kill those embodying a threat to the global control the military and intelligence worked so hard for. Traditionally these 'kill next-in-line' dictators, dissidents, shady men belong to oppression stricken nations in possession of white substances on the surface or black substances underground.
I was at the airport when I first saw images of a wild man whose body had been traced, tracked and captured by the US eight years ago. Saddam Hussein had an abused and reality-defying look in his eyes. His physical disarray was projected on the screens of a well maintained European airport, neat, tidy, in the shades of grey and blue. It haunted me. It followed me as if to say 'You, you are not that neat and tidy yourself, watch out!' Western airports can be intimidating places for carriers of non-Western passports. Your interpellations are my command.
Possessing bodies of freshly killed humans, under the right pretext, has a possession-ritual ecstasy effect on those who are alive. I see people cheering and celebrating in Times Square. I see the White House encircled with joyful people. It is true that people are possessed in the face of victory, acquisition, scoring, getting even. The sheer power of being alive, a collective exorcism. 'Justice is done' announces Obama. No, tender loving justice has been applied. We are done.
Swift's Modest Proposal still holds true after almost three hundred years: elimination of bodies is a practical and fun way to create and maintain an orderly world. Perhaps in the shades of white, red and blue.
I was at the airport when I first saw images of a wild man whose body had been traced, tracked and captured by the US eight years ago. Saddam Hussein had an abused and reality-defying look in his eyes. His physical disarray was projected on the screens of a well maintained European airport, neat, tidy, in the shades of grey and blue. It haunted me. It followed me as if to say 'You, you are not that neat and tidy yourself, watch out!' Western airports can be intimidating places for carriers of non-Western passports. Your interpellations are my command.
Possessing bodies of freshly killed humans, under the right pretext, has a possession-ritual ecstasy effect on those who are alive. I see people cheering and celebrating in Times Square. I see the White House encircled with joyful people. It is true that people are possessed in the face of victory, acquisition, scoring, getting even. The sheer power of being alive, a collective exorcism. 'Justice is done' announces Obama. No, tender loving justice has been applied. We are done.
Swift's Modest Proposal still holds true after almost three hundred years: elimination of bodies is a practical and fun way to create and maintain an orderly world. Perhaps in the shades of white, red and blue.
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