Freedom's Fidelity

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

The Chopping Block

It's that time of the month where work overwhelms the time I have to blog, which means low cost blogging - which means links, links, links.

Here's an article I found on Victor Davis Hanson's site, though it was written by someone else. If you have ever wondered what a public beheading in Saudi Arabia is like, this is your article:

After noon prayer a police van holding the prisoner parked in Chop Chop Square next to the mosque. Police cars blocked off the streets and pushed the growing crowd back. The prisoner—drugged, cuffed, barefoot, manacled, and blindfolded—was led from the van by a police officer to the center of the square and made to kneel down, facing the holiest city of Islam: Mecca.

Like all expatriates in the crowd, Fred was escorted to the front by a scrawny muttawwa to ensure he wouldn't miss a thing. A minor official from the Interior Ministry read out the charges against the kneeling prisoner. The executioner—a large black man with a scimitar—approached the kneeling prisoner from behind. After the sentence was read, the executioner jabbed the prisoner in the lower back with the tip of the sword, causing the prisoner to involuntarily jerk up. When he did, the sword flashed down. At that moment the head is sliced off and sent flying across the square. Blood jets from the severed carotid arteries and jugular veins, spraying into the air like a fountain. The frenzied crowd screams in choreographed unison, "Allah Akbar"!

Allah's will is done.

That's how it's supposed to go. The beheading Fred witnessed went off a little differently.

It's chilling, but very deliberate. Give it a read.

And oh, if you were wondering what beheadings might look like, here are some very VERY graphic pictures of some of Iran's finest head hackers.

posted by Paul  permalink | |