Alvorlege spørsmål behandla som slapstick
Eg blei spurt her ein dag om korleis USA skulle kunne trekke seg ut av Irak. Eg innsåg at eg ikkje hadde nokon gode svar, og prøvde sjølvsagt å lese meg opp på emnet. Jeffrey Goldberg har ein bra artikkel delvis om dette. Eg blei vel kanskje litt klokare, men det eg beit meg merke i var at deler av teksten lett kunne vore frå ein tøysete spionroman, type Graham Greene, eller noko. Scena er frå eit kurdisk fengsel der ein fotsoldat frå Al-Qaeda er til avhøyr:
The interrogator asked me if I had any questions for Omar. Yes, I said:Have you been tortured in this prison?
“No,” he said.6 months ago
“What would you do if you were to be released from prison right now?”
“I would get a knife and cut your head off,” he said.
At this, the interrogator smacked Omar across the face with the Koran.
Omar yelped in shock. The interrogator said: “Don’t talk that way to a guest!”
Now, Omar rounded the bend. A bolus of spit flew from his mouth as he screamed. The interrogator taunted Omar further. “This book of yours,” he said, waving the Koran. “‘Cut off their heads! Cut off their heads!’ That’s the answer for everything!” Omar cursed the interrogator’s mother once again; the interrogator trumped him by cursing the Prophet Muhammad’s mother.
The meeting was then adjourned.
In the hallway, I asked the interrogator, “Aren’t you Muslim?”
“Of course,” he said.
“But you’re not a big believer in the Koran?”
“The Koran’s OK,” he said. “I don’t have any criticism of Muhammad’s mother. I just say that to get him mad.”