Live From New York Milan Markovic on the disturbing implications of the McVeigh execution and the ill-advised provocation of Russia by Western leaders. With the FBI's discovery of new evidence against convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Attorney-General John Ashcroft this week found himself forced to push back his execution by one month. In fact, there is some concern that the uncovering of new evidence will only give credence to those in the militia movement who believe government conspiracies are behind everything from fluoride in drinking water AIDS and other deadly diseases. Equally disturbing, though, has been the reaction of George W. Bush. But one had the sense from Bush's expression and tone of voice that, more than anything else, he was pained not be able to string the Oklahoma bomber up from the nearest tree, as they would have done in the good old days of the Wild West.
Capital punishment is a contentious issue, though it has plenty of American advocates.
Still, the U.S. is the only country in the West that allows it, and even some states with troubling human rights records, including the troubled Congo, for example, have banned it as a form of justice. Even for the death penalty's proponents, though, the execution of McVeigh should raise some serious questions. In allowing it to be broadcast to the family members of McVeigh's victims, the government has allowed the distinction between justice and revenge to be blurred. Presumably, the priority here should be to do away with this man with as little fanfare as possible, so as not to cause any more suffering. But somehow, that's been mutated into the spectacle that's now scheduled to take place next month, which seems unhealthy to say the least.