I have always been struck by the fact that Dante treated ingratitude with such seriousness that he reserved the lowest reaches of Hell for those who had betrayed their benefactors. At the very bottom of the pit, frozen in ice, bat-winged Lucifer perpetually gnaws on the bodies of the three worst traitors in history: Brutus and Cassius who murdered their patron Julius Caesar, and Judas Iscariot, who sold out his friend Jesus of Nazareth. To that litany of ingrates let us now add the name of Adnan Hamad.
When Saddam Hussein still ruled in Baghdad, that country's athletes dreaded a summons to the presence of his son Odai. Little Odai had a unique way of expressing his displeasure with setbacks in international competition: he beat, tortured and sometimes murdered the losers. Last month Iraqi Olympic officials displayed the whips, Iron Maidens lined with metal spikes and finger-breakers that were employed to keep athletes motivated. They praised the United States and allied countries for bringing freedom to their country.
Mr Hamad, coach of the Iraqi Olympic soccer team, was having none of that. "America destroyed my country", he asserted, professing to know nothing of Baathist torture. Perhaps he should read the story of Sharar Haydar, the soccer star who wanted to retire from international competition and was whipped on the soles of his feet 20 times a day or the weight lifter Saleh Mahdi who heard of his imminent arrest and was so fearful seeing his wife raped in front of him that he murdered his own family and committed suicide rather than be dishonoured by Hussein's goons.
Every day that goes by simply confirms John Derbyshire's contention that the Middle East is collectively crazy and in less need of diplomats to solve problems than a massive air-drop of psychiatrists on the region.
Posted by Dexter at August 15, 2004 10:11 AM