CNN gets this week’s award for Most Surreal Headline: Three prisoners at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have hanged themselves in what the U.S. military is calling an act of "asymmetric warfare."

He described the men, whose names were not released, as committed jihadists captured on the battlefield. "I believe this was not an act of desperation, rather an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us," Harris said.

"Asymmetrical warfare" is defined as "a conflict in which a much weaker opponent uses unorthodox or surprise tactics to attack the weak points of the much stronger opponent."

Harris added that there is a "mythical belief" that the Guantanamo detention center would be shut down if three detainees die.

So yes. We put these people in prison for half a decade. We cut them off from any hope of due process, a trial, or even access to an attorney. We subjected them to a range of gratuitous physical, emotion, and sexual tortures. And we made it clear that we had no intention of ever letting them go. When some finally decided their only escape was through death, then we jump out from behind the shadows and exclaim, “Ha! See? They were terrorists committing an act of aggression against us by, uh ... committing an act of aggression against themselves.”

Honestly, I'd be surprised if the thought of associating yet another piece of bad press with Gitmo was any more than a small comfort at the end; a suicidal booby-prize that their ultimate act would mean something if it helped ease the travails of their compatriots.

I have a friend who did her Master’s on self-immolation as a form of nonviolent protest. Pretty powerful stuff. But I hardly think this qualifies; that they were hoping to make their deaths visible to achieve a clear demand. These people are already locked away in the dark and would likely have held little hope of the U.S. even publicizing the circumstances surrounding their suicide. Guilty or not, I’m pretty sure they were just living in misery and decided that the sweet release of death was finally a preferable option.

But not to worry because Bush said he was "seriously concerned" and wanted the incident handled humanely. So thereing lies the American message to all prisoners of Gitmo -- the way to be treated humanely is to just die already.

I don't know why we never call these people Christian fundamentalists/terrorists/fascists/radicals etc. the same was we attach the word Muslim or Islamic to "brown" terrorists. What does Wiki have to say about it?

In recent Western culture, terrorism more specifically refers to a strategy of using political violence, social threats, or coordinated attacks, in order to generate fear, cause disruption, and ultimately, bring about compliance with specified demands.

So this asshole psychopath tries to blow up an abortion clinic, killing innocent people for political gain. And in 115 google hits, not a single use of the word terrorist.

Of course, the same people who have so many problems with abortion have no problem whatsoever in killing when it comes to innocent Iraqi civilians. And now Oklahoma has decided to extend capital punishment to execute pedophiliacs and other sexual predators.

Jesus would be so proud. 

Reader Ron Franscell brings up a really interesting question:

Today, a plaque was placed at the site of Hitler's Berlin bunker -- and his death -- by German historians. Some people complained that neo-Nazis might now use the site as a shrine to one of the great criminals of all times. More than 60 years later, we worry about Hitler's symbolism.

Ironically, today we also hold the corpse of Musab al-Zarqawi. Presuming we will not desecrate him any further than dropping two 500-pound bombs on him, how does one dispose of the body of terrorism's great symbols? If you give him back to his people his symbolism will transcend his mortal coil. If you toss him in a dumpster, it doesn't say much about who we are.

What should be done with a monster's corpse?

In fact, I think this is a question worth answering indeed. Do they cremate? Who gets the ashes? Bury? Where? I would be happy to follow up on this if anyone has an idea how to go about finding this out?