The Crucifixion and the Occupation

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The Crucifixion and the Occupation

June 30, 2009, 9:12AM

As the U.S. Occupation comes to a close- nominally, at least- I wasn't surprised to read this:

Detainee Crucified

Among the more startling revelations during the press conference today was an article describing how a detainee in Iraq had been "essentially crucified" during CIA interrogation.

According to a June 22 article in The New Yorker magazine, cited during the press conference today, an Iraqi prisoner in US custody was crucified - dying from asphyxiation while hanging from his arms during a CIA interrogation.

"An Iraqi prisoner named Manadel al-Jamadi died on November 4, 2003, while being interrogated by the C.I.A. at Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad," the New Yorker's Jane Meyer wrote. "A forensic examiner found that he had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs. Military pathologists classified the case a homicide."

No charges have been sought against the interrogators from the CIA who participated in the death of al-Jamadi or CIA officers involved in other cases.

Anyone who claims to be shocked, or even surprised, by this, is lying.

My own capacity for shock was spent long ago.
Thomas Hardy beautifully expressed the feeling at the end of a war, which was just as purposeless as the one that should be ending today, but- we know the answer to his final question- and we simply want to forget we know:

Calm fell. From Heaven distilled a clemency;
There was peace on earth, and silence in the sky;
Some could, some could not, shake off misery:
The Sinister Spirit sneered: "It had to be!"
And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, "Why?"