Somewhat controversially, I am pleased that the two islamic state maniacs, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, have been told that if they are deported to America to stand trial for murder and are then found guilty, they will not face the death penalty. Now, I appreciate that this will not go down well with the hang ’em and flog ’em brigade, but there you go. I am always opposed to the death penalty and I am not going to change my mind on that now. But my feelings on the death penalty are nothing compared to the mother of James Foley whose son was murdered by the IS cell to which Kotey and Elsheikh belonged. Read the words of Diane Foley:
“I am very hopeful that with this assurance that the death penalty will be waived, that will allow the United Kingdom and United States to pool their evidence so that true justice might be served.”
“I feel that the death penalty is too easy. It allows them to be martyrs… I really feel if they truly have done these horrible crimes, they really need to face life imprisonment, so they have a chance for redemption themselves and a chance to really recognise the horror of what they’ve done to others.”
I find her words incredibly powerful given the way her son was brutally murdered. Not only was Foley beheaded, the ISIS murderers filmed their sick deeds and posted them on the internet. Easy for me, sitting here in the comfort of my man cave, but I too would like to see the alleged killers banged up for life for all the reasons Mrs Foley gave.
Like the rest of the media, the BBC on its website refers, yet again, to the ‘IS Beatles’. My loyal reader will know by now my utter revulsion about this. The Beatles sang about ‘All You Need Is Love’. They were arguably to some, unarguably to me, the greatest composers of all time, certainly in terms of their influence on music in general. Islamic State fascist maniacs had nothing in common with the Beatles, other than speaking the same language. The IS Beatles sounds jokey, almost affectionate. There is nothing remotely jokey or affectionate about them. As an atheist, part of me wishes there was a hell for them to go to. As there isn’t, hell on earth, in form of life imprisonment is the nearest we can get.
The BBC reports that “the liberation of that territory (Western Syria to Eastern Iraq) control exposed the magnitude of the abuses inflicted on their inhabitants, including summary killings, torture, amputations, ethno-sectarian attacks, rape and sexual slavery imposed on women and girls. Hundreds of mass graves containing the remains of thousands of people have also been discovered.” These evil terrorists should not be in the same sentence as the men who wrote ‘Imagine’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Something’. Hopefully, once their trials have taken place, assuming they are found guilty, the media won’t call them anything other than what they are: brutal killers’. I have never, once, heard anyone outside the media bubble refer to them as the Beatles. I doubt that I ever will.
