Monday, January 15, 2007

The Logistics of Accountability

Reports say that the head of Barzan Ibrahim, former Iraq President Saddam Hussein’s half brother and a former intelligence chief of Iraq, became detached from the rest of his body when he was hanged in Baghdad on Jan. 15. Saleem al-Jibouri, a senior Sunni Arab lawmaker, reportedly said Ibrahim’s body might have been weakened by the cancer he was suffering, causing the noose to sever the head.

“Ibrahim’s body was lying on the floor, chest down, his still-hooded severed head resting several yards away,” according to one report.

The severing of Ibrahim’s head during the hanging raises the question of whether the heads of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, other members of the Bush administration, members of Congress and their mass media propagandists would become separated from the rest of their bodies if/when they are sent to the gallows for their crimes against humanity.

Bush appears to be in good physical health, so, based on al-Jibouri’s analysis, his entire body would likely remain dangling from the hangman’s rope. Cheney, on the other hand, has a notorious weak heart, which could lead to an unpredictable result during a hanging. But there is no evidence that a weak heart would necessarily lead to a severed head from the force of one’s body falling through the trap door during a hanging.

If/when U.S. government officials and their propagandists are sent to the gallows for their monstrous crimes against humanity, it would need to be determined where the executions would take place. The hangings of Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi government officials took place in a building that formerly housed Iraq’s military intelligence headquarters during Hussein’s presidency. In the United States, some have proposed that instead of holding the executions inside, the gallows be placed in Lafayette Park across from the White House and that the bodies of the executed officials remain dangling (as long as their heads are not severed) for a period of 24 hours to allow as many members of the public the opportunity to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to witness the result of the punishment meted out against government officials who commit horrific crimes against humanity.

Others have suggested that the Washington Monument grounds or a grassy area between the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court building serve as the location for the hanging of the condemned. The Washington Monument grounds would allow a larger number of people to witness the hangings, while assembling the gallows between the Capitol and the Supreme Court would lend some symbolism to the executions.

Questions remain about whether Bush, Cheney and the other condemned officials would exhibit a strength similar to that displayed by Hussein as the hangman’s noose was placed around his neck, or if the U.S. officials would “tremble with fear,” similar to the emotions reportedly displayed by Ibrahim, as they are escorted to the gallows.

As with the gallows in Baghdad, it is assumed the hanging apparatus used to punish the condemned in Washington would be “built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations.”

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