Presbyopic Myopia
Saturday, November 27, 2004
"So sind die Amerikaner", Dimawis Stimme klingt kühl, "sie wollen immer alles kaufen."
I've been reading an article on Der Spiegel online about a recently released Guantanamo prisoner named Wissam al-Dimawi. He says he was tortured in Afghanistan by questioners who jammed a stick up his ass. He was taken to Guantanamo and was not allowed a toothbrush, because he could hurt someone with it. He laughs at the "strong Americans who are afraid of a toothbrush." He goes on to say, "That's how Americans are, they always want to buy something." He was referring to the way that we have put a bounty of some $25 million on the heads of Al-Zarkawi, Bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Al-Zawahiri. He's saying that we can't buy that kind of thing. His critique is that we think everything has a price, even loyalty.
It's probably true that we don't understand other cultures. We may just be projecting our values onto them when we offer huge sums of money in exchange for betraying a friend. The real story of Sodom and Gomorrha is that Lot protected travelers (his guests) from the crowds, even at the threat of being attacked himself. That's the way it is in that part of the world. It's embedded into the psyche. You must give shelter to a traveler, and offer him protection. It doesn't matter that the person is a criminal, and on the run from some political power. You as a human are obligated to help the guest you've taken in. That goes a long way to explaining why the Taliban wouldn't turn Bin Laden over. He was a guest, and therefore, deserved their protection.
We are completely befuddled as to why those guys are still running loose. We've offered up the most valuable thing we can imagine, but there are no takers. Strange isn't it that the most valuable thing to us is exactly that-a thing? To people in the Arab and Muslim world money is important, but not the ultimate. With our new focus on "moral values" we could benefit by looking closely at those folks' values. It might help us get our own principles back in order.
Comments:
Um, not to criticize unduly, but Lot's story (Genesis 19:8, to be specific) includes Lot offering to bring out his virgin daughters for the mob to have their way with, if only they let the travelers alone. I think that emulating that sort of behavior is not something we ought to encourage; instead, we ought to even speak harshly against it. Being hospitable to guests is a quality to be admired, in moderation; it can be overdone, if it is allowed to trump the needs of justice.
I'm reminded of the apocryphal quote from a British Army officer on hearing that sati (he burning of widows) was a tradition in India. He said, "In my land, it is also a tradition to hang such folk by the neck until they are dead." There are cases when our values are right, and those of other cultures are just plain wrong. Not to say that's true every time, but sometimes it is.
There are lots of other reasons why someone might not turn in a suspect, no matter the size of the bounty -- he might suppose that the suspect's friends will slaughter him, for instance, or he might think that the suspect's goals are laudable, even if he won't publicly agree with the suspect's goals.
-- Michael (not anonymous, just don't want to fool with Blogger registration)
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I'm reminded of the apocryphal quote from a British Army officer on hearing that sati (he burning of widows) was a tradition in India. He said, "In my land, it is also a tradition to hang such folk by the neck until they are dead." There are cases when our values are right, and those of other cultures are just plain wrong. Not to say that's true every time, but sometimes it is.
There are lots of other reasons why someone might not turn in a suspect, no matter the size of the bounty -- he might suppose that the suspect's friends will slaughter him, for instance, or he might think that the suspect's goals are laudable, even if he won't publicly agree with the suspect's goals.
-- Michael (not anonymous, just don't want to fool with Blogger registration)
# posted by 
: 3:42 PM
: 3:42 PM
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