To Kill or be Killed,
Mathew brings up an issue that has been around for millennia, is it ever just to kill, specifically a prisoner? For thousands of years prisoners have been executed for all sorts of reasons. Some for committing heinus crimes, others for just fighting for there country and worst off some for reasons as ridiculous as being the member of the wrong religion. This is why capital punishment is such a hard topic to talk about it, it is almost never right but also not always wrong. I see no problem with what The Jordanian government did to those prisoners already on death row. They at least killed them in a humane way compared to what happened to that pilot. The IS is performing some of the most barbaric acts in recent history and most International Super Powers are just sitting on there hands, doing nothing. Jordan has already started to bomb and attack the IS, that is a lot more then what most countries are doing. It is sad to admit but for countries like Jordan they are at war, and when a nation is at war they have to deal with things differently. No I do not think killing those two former ISIS terrorists will in anyway deter the IS from acting but Jordan is showing the world that they are not afraid to fight back.
Another question Matthew brings up is do we always have human rights. The simple answer is yes but what happens when someone takes them away from someone else. The person a murderer killed had the right to live so why does the government and us as a society have to respect the murderer's when he (or she) did not respect theirs victims. Yes an Eye for Eye keeps the whole world blind but at the same time it is just to do on to others as done on to you. As society we just need to have very strict laws and circumstances of when the death penalty is warranted and when its not.
I think John brings up a great point when he applauds Jordan for trying to do something about ISIS rather than just "sitting on their hands." It's sad to think that compared to other countries being directly affected by ISIS, Jordan probably has the least ability to really make a difference in this war. But the fact that they are standing their ground and refusing to be passive is something to commend them for. Their reactions to the pilot's death may not end up being their best move in the long run, but one must respect their braveness.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your last statement that "we need to have very strict laws and circumstances of when the death penalty is warranted and when it's not." As long as there is no ruling set in stone of when a death penalty is warranted, people will dance around the law forever.
Great thoughts of the current predicament. I am sure that there was probably a better way to handle the situation, but kudos to Jordan for acting. This is where all the other countries of the world should question how dedicated we are to stopping this global threat, as when a country with the lesser means such as Jordan is making the big symbolic moves. I am not sure how the whole process was gone about in executing these terrorists, and largely ignorant to the fairness of their trials, but if they were guilty than this is one instance which I agree with the death penalty. Great job John, and ballsy move Jordan.
ReplyDeleteI like how you praise Jordan for having some semblance of a response to the situation. Most countries now a days attempt to handle everything diplomatically to avoid wars (which is a just reasoning) but in the long run they get nothing done. During the Rwandan genocide, over half a million were killed in 100 days yet for the longest time foreign nations would not even acknowledge that anything was happening. What made it okay for half a million people to lose their lives simply due to their ethnicity while the rest of the world turned a blind eye to the whole thing? While I am not trying to say that ISIS will cause another mass genocide, I think that the world needs to start acknowledging what is going on and take real strides to fix it. I agree that there need to be stricter laws on the death penalty because as of right now I feel as though there is just too much gray space present to justify killing humans.
ReplyDeleteI agree good for Jordan to respond but I dont know if they have really thought about what they are getting themselves into. ISIS is a terrorist organization that America is having trouble stopping. Since Jordan reacted like this something could heat up extremely quick between the two groups. And Jordan does not have the ways or means to stoop ISIS on their own. They will ask for help and many people will give it to them but in theory this could develop into a much larger world conflict than it already is.
ReplyDeleteI agree good for Jordan to respond but I dont know if they have really thought about what they are getting themselves into. ISIS is a terrorist organization that America is having trouble stopping. Since Jordan reacted like this something could heat up extremely quick between the two groups. And Jordan does not have the ways or means to stoop ISIS on their own. They will ask for help and many people will give it to them but in theory this could develop into a much larger world conflict than it already is.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue in this case is not so much whether the death penalty as such is warranted, or whether it is just to kill in response to the threat of violence, but the prospect of essentially manipulating the judicial process as a public relations move. Prisoners of war, if this is a time of war, cannot be executed simply for taking part in hostilities. Jordan was executing these individuals not because they were combatants, but because they were criminals, and the concern is that they manipulated the process to "send a message." In this case, one reason for the worry is that there is a sense that the corruption of Arab governments fuels the cynicism that allows an organization like IS to exist.
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