Judge, Jury and Torturer
Bu James Carroll | September 18, 2006 | The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/09/18/judge_jury_and_torturer/
A chilling James Carroll piece where the torture law debate recalls the work of Franz Kafka, in whose dark stories the guilt or innocence of the accused is not the issue. Hauled before anonymous accusers, without charges or evidence, Kafka’s characters live in a world of assumed guilt, solitude, vulnerability and ignorance. His true topic is the unnamed official world, hidden from its victims and the public. In Carroll’s words:
““Trust us. You’re guilty. We’re going to execute you, but we can’t tell you why.” The absolute power of the oppressor depends on the absolute ignorance of the oppressed. Kafka died in 1924, but his work was recognized as a prophecy of the totalitarian nightmares of the rest of the 20th century. Who would have thought his images would resonate again? ”
Right here in ‘Amerika’ – which happens to be the title of Kafka’s last work…BS
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