AFTER THE FACT Now that Saddam Husein has been executed according to directives of an Iranian Court of Law, I, suddenly, find more people speaking out in opposition to the continued use of hanging in punishing criminals, of using the threat of it in prevention of potentially criminal pathways being chosen and as one means of maintaining a semblance of peace in certain areas of our, at times rather troubled Earth.
Have your feelings concerning hanging changed in any way recently?
In think the recent sneaking of the Heusen execution was unfortunate. I did not like the fact that it was so blatantly displayed on TV, the Internet and in printed materials as well. The real damage may yet be in the making as "experts"- self-styled as such - take existing materials and re-fashion them to suit their own highly divergent ideas. I do not know what the official records might show how often official photos have been made to encouraging serious studies of cases and to study the reaction of participants in that phase of the event, how they may be used to defer or pr prevent future crimes of a like nature, and to warn way curiosity seekers - opportunists such as guards carrying forbidden hidden cameras. Certainly the courts can determine just how far they can go in allowing journalists an and "fringe" associates access.
This was all brought to home for me this morning when I heard a ten-year old school girl declare unbidden: "Yes, we watched the man getting hanged on TV!" She knotted both hands to the side of her throat; stared into nothingness for a second, before falling semi-limp and gasping for breath.
Revived, she stood and declared. "My Daddy says and I say, watch out for anybody who goes around hanging other people. Oh, we felt so sorry for the the tired old man they killed...."
In wonder how many children and adults saw the execution in that manner.
Andrew McCaskey Sr. amccsr@adelphia.net 1-6-07 [c344wds]
