Harko-Meaning, For Chen-Chen the Wimp

When I was writing this page, I was inspired by a conversation I had ages ago with a friend who happy at news that the former Iraqi information minister (widely known as "comical Ali" at the time) would probably be executed. It turned out later to not be the case, but that is not the point.
I expressed to my friend that I didn't think it was right to be happy about something like that and it led to an interesting discussion.
My friend said the guy was a member of an evil regime and was clearly at least part responsible for that regimes crimes so it was a good thing that he was going to die and we should be happy about it.
Now my response was, even if the guy was evil and had committed terrible crimes (lets assume he had for the sake of this discussion), his death was still sad, not a cause for celebration.
Now when I said this I wasn't commenting on whether we should kill him or whether he deserved it. Those factors are, to me, irrelevant to the discussion on whether its a sad thing.
I think having to kill someone is a bad thing. Period.
Now sometimes bad things are necessary, but that doesn't mean they are not bad.
What is worst about it is that someone can become so evil and so harmful to society they killing them may be the only solution. A life that could have been used for something good was used to do evil instead and now we have no choice but to put an end to them.

I am not getting into the morality of the death penalty or war here, that is another issue. My point is that we should never allow ourselves to begin enjoying or celebrating death, because that is a dangerous road.

Think I am stating the obvious? That no one would engage in cheering at death?

Think about the people cheering outside the prison where Timothy McVey was executed.
Or the rather ghoulish euphoria on some American news channels at the news of Osama Bin Laden being killed.
It is actually surprisingly common when you get down to it.

Those two examples were really evil people, and the world is no poorer for their deaths...but to me enjoying someones death is universally a bad thing. Killing them did not make us safer and it did not bring anyone who was dead back. Whether or not it was right or wrong, necessary or not is completely irrelevant to the point that we shouldn't be cheering about it.

I take some comfort from the fact everyone reading seemed to agree with Chen-Chen on this one.

Feeling joy? No, that's hardly appropriate.

Grim satisfaction? That's the way to go.

Errrm... wasn't it supposed to be "chemical"?

Holy hell, don't get me started on that. Morality aside, it was as if for that moment the world came to believe life is a videogame, and we've just defeated terrorist's final boss.

Anyway, I don't think being happy is appropriate, which ties with my views on vengeance. Grim satisfaction... it's sometimes hard not to.

But I think it's different with the scene in Harkovast. You mentioned important figures, responsible for decision-making. In the comic, the phrasing makes it look like they're going to line up their prisoners of war for Shogun to lop their heads off en-masse. I don't think anyone would support the latter.

But wait, doesn't it mean Chen-Chen basically voiced your opinions in the comic? Even the wording's suspiciously similar... Oh no! Author Filibuster spotted!

The Americans called him Comical Ali; during the invasions he made numerous broadcasts that (besides being incredibly confused and awkward) pretty much ignored reality, claiming that the Iraqi Army was laying waste to the invaders, and that they were winning the war, even as the Americans were closing in on Baghdad.

I read something in the BBC years ago that talked about him. Apparently his broadcasts were pretty popular in the White House, Bush and his people got a kick out of them.

I guess it's a different Ali then, Pardon me for not being up-to-date with Iraqi officials.

You're thinking of the former defense minister, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who got the name "Chemical Ali" from his chemical weapon campaign against the Kurds. They executed him a few years ago.

Hark was mistaken about Comical Ali, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (his nickname was a reference to al-Majid). He was picked up by the Americans and questioned, but they didn't hold him for long. He's free and alive right now.

Hark said that they didn't end up executing him, but at the time it looked like they would.

Now, as to the subject at hand... no, it shouldn't be a joyful occasion. But hey, sometimes it is.

My reaction when I heard that Bin Laden had been killed: "Yay!"

My reaction to that a moment later: "What a terrible thing to be happy about!"

My eventual thought on Bin Laden's death: "Good."

Once I got over the surprise I hoped that the guys who had been involved (and their dog) got a few free rounds, charged to the White House.


@Canuovea; I must have overlooked that.

'Chemical' Ali was an evil member of Sadam's inner circle, named after his used of chemical weapons.
'Comical' Ali was the information minister who largely talked total bull shit to the worlds media.

Now that has been cleared up-

StyxD- Nothing wrong with the characters saying things I agree with now and then.
The good thing is that you didn't notice it was an author filibuster till I pointed it out.
If you care to add an entry to TV Tropes under this topic, it would be strongly appreciated.

As for lining them up and cutting their heads off....well we shall have to see what the next couple of pages hold...

I still don't think Muir is going to take that very well.

Well, um... you could've noticed I've been staying away from the Harkovast page. I just didn't want to face the compulsion of adding Cliche Storm. ^_^

StyxD as long as you also add a link to me on the page about cliche storms then go nuts.
That would be a big help. Every extra link to the harkovast page on tv tropes, or to the harkovast website, is a help to my efforts.
You can add a link under "big pile of horse crap" and that's great, as long as you add a link on the appropriate trope page.

You know, that attitude of yours scares me...

Anyway, though, I can't add it because it's not a proper filibuster. I was just kidding.
It would require the plot to stop in the tracks to deliver a political message. While the page is not that substantial, it's not filler either.
It could be the case of Writer On Board, when the author ostensibly makes character to behave in some way to convey a message, but again, it's not out of character for Chen-Chen to say such things. And when I looked back at it, her main point seemed to be about people wasting their lives, not being happy about killing someone.

One of the biggest reasons why I can't stand Ayn Rand.

StyxD I dunno what trope my crazy ways come under, but please do add trope entries if you can for anything you think is appropriate.
Harkovast has only a very small readership and anything that can send a few more people my way is a big help.
50 Harko points for each (correct and accurate) tv trope entry anyone adds! Make sure they make sense and are right, dont spam ones that are wrong cause that will just annoy me and the good folks at tv tropes.

With regard to not caring what it is added under.
It is not up to me to tell people what they should take away from the comic. If people come to read it to laugh at the art or how stupid the story is, as long as they keep reading it then that's fine with me.
I would kinda like my own hatedom...that would be awesome.