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Hijackers' bodies set Bush grisly ethical question
The Times (U.K.) ^ | 10/06/2001 | DAMIAN WHITWORTH

Posted on 10/05/2001 4:51:32 PM PDT by Pokey78

IN carefully numbered plastic bags in refrigerated trucks parked at the mortuary at Dover Air Force base in Delaware sit human remains that have presented the Bush Adminstration with an ethical problem.

US investigators told The Times that they had certainly recovered, if not yet identified, the bodies of several of the suicide hijackers, prompting a debate over how to dispose of what is left of the most hated men in America.

The excavation of the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crash sites was completed this week after forensics experts concluded that they had removed all body parts from both scenes. Officials said that although many of the remains were fragmented and charred, DNA tests would eventually identify all of the victims. The bodies of the men who killed them would also be identified, if only by a process of elimination.

The Administration is worried that if it gives the bodies to their families to bury there will be a public outcry. There are also concerns that other Islamic extremists would regard their graves as shrines.

The remains from the plans that crash into Pentagon and in Pennsylvania are being organised at the mortuary at Dover. Some have been identified by traditional methods, such as fingerprints, dental records and other distinguishing features.

Already hundreds of fragments have been taken in test tubes to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) laboratories in Rockville, Maryland, for DNA testing. The institute identified all 230 victims of TWA 800 flight, after that aircraft exploded and the fragments plunged into Long Island Sound in 1996.

Paul Sledzik, the forensic anthropologist who led the search for the 44 passengers, crew and hijackers on board Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, said that he was confident “we are likely to get 44 unique DNA profiles”. Scientists will use genetic material taken from the victims’ possessions, including razors and toothbrushes, or from their relatives, to make DNA matches that reveal the identities of the victims.

The FBI is believed to be extremely anxious to identify the bodies of the hijackers, especially as there are still doubts about some of their identities and there could be trials of other conspirators.

If relatives are persuaded to co-operate in providing reference samples, or the hijackers have left behind genetic material on possessions, the FBI believes that they could be identified.

Even if the identities are not clarified, the authorities will be left with the remains of nine hijackers from the two sites.

There is a precedent for handing over the remains of even the most notorious figures in American life. The body of Gamil el-Batouty, the co-pilot of EgyptAir Flight 990, who apparently committed suicide by crashing the aircraft into the Atlantic in 1999, was quietly returned to his family in Egypt last year for a private burial.

Even the nation’s most loathed murderers are allowed burial after execution.

Chris Kelly of the AFIP indicated that the authorities were reluctant to consider releasing the hijackers’ bodies. “We are not quite sure what will happen to them,” he said, but “we doubt very much we are going to be making an effort to reach family members over there.”

A source close to the investigation said: “There is this idea that if America is a country of justice it should not be seen to stop the mothers of even the worst monsters from burying their sons, but people would be outraged if these men were handed over for a Muslim burial.”

The Justice Department declined to return calls requesting comment on what it planned to do with the hijackers’ bodies. In the short term the remains are likely to be held for several years, in case of legal proceedings.

Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the hijackers who died in the first plane to hit the World Trade Centre, laid out strict instructions for his funeral in his will, revealed this week.

The likelihood of any sort of burial of his body is, however, vastly diminished by the difficulties of retrieving remains at the World Trade Centre. Of the more than 5,000 who died there, fewer than 400 bodies have been identified.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
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To: samtheman
"...Atta has been pissed on 5,163,702 times, and still counting!"

Don't forget to add that Atta has been in the proximity of the most base part of the dreaded FEMALE anatomy!

I think the toilet seat named "atta" should be located in the lab potty of NY's largest OBGYN hospital...Apparently PREGNANT WOMEN are particularly ABHORENT???

PS. I'd PAY to visit THAT stall!!!!!

101 posted on 10/05/2001 6:29:43 PM PDT by bannie
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To: wjeanw
The Pharsees of India have a suitable burial ritual. Lay the bodies on racks in high open towers and let the birds of prey consume them.

Great idea! Especially if these are the "birds of prey" you have in mind:


102 posted on 10/05/2001 6:31:13 PM PDT by who knows what evil?
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To: who knows what evil?
HA!HA!
103 posted on 10/05/2001 6:35:52 PM PDT by bannie
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To: Tacis
Correction, Tacis: It's not that we don't believe in an afterlife so much as we just don't worry about it. Orthodox thought on the matter is quite complex. The soc.culture.jewish FAQ has the details.

FReegards,
Slings and Arrows

104 posted on 10/05/2001 6:36:29 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
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To: TADSLOS
Bury 'em in the graveyard of history's abandoned and forgotten lies...

This is, by far, the best idea. Good one. It hit to the core of what I was feeling. It did when President Bush said it. Very good.

105 posted on 10/05/2001 6:40:51 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: TX Bluebonnet
I'm guessing that the Muslims got the burial-within-24-hours custom from the Jews. We got it from the fact that it's not a good idea to leave rotting corpses laying around in the Middle Eastern sun. The soc.culture.jewish FAQ has more details.

FReegards,
Slings and Arrows

106 posted on 10/05/2001 6:43:15 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
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To: Pokey78
Do with the remains of these mass murderers of civilians and children as the Israelis did after they hanged Eichmann for his crimes against humanity. Burn the carcass and make certain the ashes are dumped outside the territorial limits of our country; hopefully, on a pig dung heap where they'll fit right in.
107 posted on 10/05/2001 6:45:17 PM PDT by laconic
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To: agave
This reminds me of what "good Germans" did to the remains of Jews ca 1940-1945. No, no, no, never.
108 posted on 10/05/2001 6:49:09 PM PDT by markfiveFF
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Comment #109 Removed by Moderator

To: Pokey78
How about a traveling memorial urinal and charge $5.00 with the proceeds going to the Red Cross. Title it, "Piss on the Terrorists Across America."
110 posted on 10/05/2001 6:51:35 PM PDT by irish_lad
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To: mathurine
Find this to be offensive.
111 posted on 10/05/2001 6:51:54 PM PDT by markfiveFF
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To: Pokey78
Put the "bags" on the next garbage scowl heading out of NY Harbor and dump them with the rest of the garbage.
112 posted on 10/05/2001 6:53:09 PM PDT by 11bravo
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To: bannie
Let's start a new word in the English lexicon. Atta. Examples: I've got to take an Atta. You're full of Atta. Atta on you. You ain't gonna get Atta out of me.
113 posted on 10/05/2001 6:53:58 PM PDT by irish_lad
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To: Pokey78
There has to be some hog farms in New York.
Time to slop the hogs!!
Here SOOOOEEEE!! SOOOOEEEEE!!
114 posted on 10/05/2001 6:54:39 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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To: Pokey78
Airdrop the remains over Mecca.
115 posted on 10/05/2001 6:54:41 PM PDT by ArneFufkin
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To: 2Jedismom
Bury in ... forgotten lies

Now, *this* I agree with.

For freedom,
Locke

116 posted on 10/05/2001 6:55:03 PM PDT by markfiveFF
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Comment #117 Removed by Moderator

To: Pokey78
Better yet, let's feed them to the hogs. After the hogs have properly "processed" the remains we can drop them on Bin Lader to fertilize Afghanistan.
118 posted on 10/05/2001 6:57:24 PM PDT by 11bravo
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To: WDG55513
fuk'em
119 posted on 10/05/2001 7:02:08 PM PDT by zigzag69
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To: william clark
Step 1: Identify all remains by individual

Step 2: Fore each individual, divide remains in half

Step 3: Mix first half of all remains with concrete for use in the sidewalk alongside whatever buildings rise where the World Trade Center once stood. That way the terrorists will be walked upon by their enemies for the remainder of time

Step 4: Mix second half of all remains with concrete for use as the killing floor in a pork rendering plant.

Ensure that all of this is highly publicized and disseminated throughout the world.
120 posted on 10/05/2001 7:02:55 PM PDT by gkidman
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