Tragic Realities

I've been haunted by the image of men literally losing their heads since news boroke out that the Abu Sayyaf beheaded seven Sulu workers last Friday.

Silly me, I had to research on the subject to satisfy my curiosity. Unfortunately, there's just so much data on the Net that I got the exact information I was looking for. Imagine my horror when I viewed the videos of people being decapitated.

I saw the Nicholas Berg video and of another man. Wasn't there a controversy over the Nick Berg beheading? They say Berg, a businessman seeking work in Iraq, was already dead by the time he was decpaitated and that the act was not carried out by Islamists.

All I've noticed is that there were differences between the attack on Berg and that of the other man, an Iraqi accused of spying for the Americans I think. In the video of the unidentified victim, there is no argument that he died of decapitation.

The hooded executioner gripped the man on the crown of the head so his neck was all stretched out. The executioner then sliced his throat, neatly cutting through halfway of the neck in just three or so strokes. The executioner held the head so the blood, which clearly spurted out a few feet away, would not soil his shoes.

You could hear short, deep, belabored, breathy moans from the man until, a few more slices later, his head was severed from the body. The head was given a closeup and triumphant cheers filled the background.

I don't remember now if his eyes were closed or not. But the act of severing his head, I must say, is difficult to forget.

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This subject might seem out of place in this blog. But what I described above is part of our lives. Beheadings are rather rare, but they do occur. It is part of the dangers of terrorism. I do not mean to limit the tactic to Islamists. I mean all outfits, government included, that employ brutal measures to strike terror on the people to forward their agenda.

It's that world Laila and the other children have to grow up and live in. And it makes me feel helpless knowing there's nothing I can do to make the world a safer place.

You can hardly protect your children from all the cruel realities of life. You just can't. I think the best parents can do is prepare the children for the disappointments and the evils existing in the world.

They need to be tough and empowered to stand a chance in this world. The parent's job is help and guide them as long as they can.