Religion of Peace update

An article in the Washington Post today titled “For An Iraqi Family: ‘No other choice’” made me physically ill this morning. I found myself repeatedly swallowing my dry mouth and cursing the coffee maker for taking so long. The subtitle to the article is “Father and Brother Are Forced by Villagers to Execute Suspected U.S. Informant.”

THULUYA, Iraq -- Two hours before the dawn call to prayer, in a village still shrouded in silence, Sabah Kerbul's executioners arrived. His father carried an AK-47 assault rifle, as did his brother. And with barely a word spoken, they led the man accused by the village of working as an informer for the Americans behind a house girded with fig trees, vineyards and orange groves.

Yes, you know, you really should take care of those chores like killing a blood relative before you head off to church.

His father raised his rifle and aimed it at his oldest son.

The banality of this scenario is chilling.

"Sabah didn't try to escape," said Abdullah Ali, a village resident. "He knew he was facing his fate."

The story of what followed is based on interviews with Kerbul's father, brother and five other villagers who said witnesses told them about the events. One shot tore through Kerbul's leg, another his torso, the villagers said. He fell to the ground still breathing, his blood soaking the parched land near the banks of the Tigris River, they said. His father could go no further, and according to some accounts, he collapsed. His other son then fired three times, the villagers said, at least once at his brother's head.

Kerbul, a tall, husky 28-year-old, died.

"It wasn't an easy thing to kill him," his brother Salah said.

“It wasn’t an easy thing.” “It wasn’t an easy thing.” Maybe it’s just me, but if I had to define the task of killing my own brother, I would call it “impossible.”

"I have the heart of a father, and he's my son," Salem said. "Even the prophet Abraham didn't have to kill his son." He dragged on a cigarette. His eyes glimmered with the faint trace of tears. "There was no other choice," he whispered.

I’m hard-wired by American political correctness to avoid passing judgment on other cultures and religions. But I find it hard to find a rationale for this within my Judeo-Christian-Western mindset. I mean, WTF, Salem – you had a gun! Your other son had a gun! “There was no other choice” than to kill your firstborn? Man, I just don’t get it. I’m going to stop now…the coffee is ready.