The Agence France-Presse article is entitled, "Death business booms in Baghdad." Their main point? Well, apparently, there's a lot more death in Iraq now than during the "good old days" of the Saddam regime.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Hussein Mohammed never dreamt that roadside bombs and suicide attacks in Baghdad would make him a fortune.
"With every victim that falls to an explosion and suicide attack, the demand for coffins increases and my work flourishes," said the coffin-maker in his tiny shop in the heart of the war-torn capital...
"During the days of Saddam (Hussein), I used to make one coffin a day. Now, I make scores of them and the demand increases with every suicide car bomb that explodes," said the 67-year-old Baghdadi.
Wow! There's a silver lining in every cloud I guess.
All kidding aside, do these folks REALLY need someone to tell them that our friend, Hussein Mohammed, who is quoted in the story, is busy because the same people who were murdering Iraqis before are continuing to do so today? And, do they really need to be told that Mr. Hussein is filling orders for coffins because the mass graves that Saddam used in the past to bury all those innocent civilians he was killing (pre-invasion) are no longer an option?
Now, at least, Saddam's murderous followers have to kill in plain sight, and families find out about the loss of their loved ones right away, instead of having a relative simply disappear never to be heard from again. Even better is the fact that some of those coffins being ordered are likely for dead insurgents as well as innocent civilians.
When Saddam was still in power, it was just the civilians dying. At least, today, insurgents are dying too.
Would it be cruel of me to suggest that, perhaps, insurgents and terrorists receive the same treatment they once so joyfully doled out to innocent men, women, and children in years and decades past? I remember reading a story of one mass grave filled exclusively with women and children. Saddam's murderers lined up all the mothers and their children and then moved down the line, shooting the children and their mothers. One woman was found still clutching her infant child, who had been shot first through the head, before the mother herself was shot.
Now, I'm not suggesting we put insurgents to death this way. I am, however, thinking that insurgents who die in battle should be treated as they once treated so many others.
Just a thought.
David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com
Article comments
1 - Leoniceno
This 'eye for an eye' argument, while it masquerades as reasonable discourse, is most often used to conceal very illogical ideas and prejudice. I am not saying that this particular instance of the idea is particular heinous (not compared to what I've seen over at Daily Kos, anyway), but we should be careful about what we contribute to such discussions.
Besides--if the ideals that America professes only apply to Americans, are they really ideals, or just some of the benefits of being the biggest and baddest nation state?
2 - Dave Nalle
Whatever happened to burying the dead insurgents in pigskin shrouds? That seemed like such a good idea..
Dave
3 - David Flanagan
Dave,
Can we combine my idea and yours? Wrap them in a huge pigskin shroud in an unmarked mass grave? ;-)
It might even serve as a deterrent!
Thanks,
David
4 - Dave Nalle
Sounds good to me.
Dave