Hegseth wants Fort Hood attacker publicly executed
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced plans for the country's first military execution in more than 60 years. The execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in an attack on the Fort Hood military base in 2009, is to be livestreamed. Human rights activists, as well as Democratic and Republican politicians, have sharply criticised the plan. Commentators are also appalled.
An eye-for-an-eye execution
Retaliating in kind is sheer madness, laments Avvenire:
“The execution – as Hegseth announced with satisfaction – will take place by firing squad, in the same manner, at the same time and in the same place where the massacre occurred. A public execution (like those in North Korea, Iran …) broadcast live. ... An 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' approach in the digital age. Yet even the principle of retribution in the Bible effectively reinforced the protection of the weak and reminded the powerful that they would be punished in kind whenever they abused a poor person, their wife or their possessions. And it curbed disproportionate revenge.”
Display of cruelty
The Tages-Anzeiger rakes the US administration over the coals:
“Anyone who puts a person on display at the moment of their death wants one thing above all else: to demonstrate their own cruelty. It was no different with IS. ... The livestream broadcast of the execution fits in seamlessly with the image the US has been projecting since the start of Trump's second term in office. The US is waging a war against Iran that violates international law; masked officers from the immigration agency ICE are shooting people on the streets; migrants are being deported to dangerous countries, and political opponents are being prosecuted. A livestreamed execution is merely another step towards an authoritarian state with fascist tendencies.”
Back to the Middle Ages
The live broadcast will do nothing to prevent further attacks, argues journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu on the republica.ro:
“Will something like this deter potential murderers? On the contrary: they commit their crimes with the goal of going down in history, and in this respect a spectacular public execution by firing squad is far more rewarding than a lethal injection in the anonymity of a prison cell. Many ordinary people across the globe will watch the livestream with fascination. ... This takes us back to the Middle Ages, when spectators flocked to watch every last convulsion of those who were hanged, beheaded or burned at the stake.”
Just like in Kabul and Pyongyang
The Frankfurter Rundschau draws a parallel with terrorist methods:
“IS filmed executions. The perpetrators of the Christchurch and Halle attacks livestreamed their crimes. ... The media spectacle of lethal violence is intended to amplify the impact, to spread fear and shatter the norms and principles of societies. An analogy with Donald Trump's administration is obvious. ... The military's plan to broadcast the execution is dragging the US deeper into autocracy – and double standards: the aesthetics of the execution spectacle are not a hallmark of the Western community of values; they are the hallmark of regimes in Tehran, Kabul or Pyongyang.”