May 3, 2011

Burial Lessons: From Che to bin Laden

Posted by Jon Lee Anderson

There are some uncanny analogies between the story of Osama bin Laden’s life and death and that of a another charismatic political outlaw, who, once upon a time, “declared war” on the United States. Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine-Cuban revolutionary and close confidante of Fidel Castro, was no terrorist, but he was a Communist ideologue who espoused violent political change, and who defied America by seeking to start guerrilla wars around the world—to create “one, two, three, many Vietnams” to draw in the U.S. military, sap its strength, and ultimately bring about a new, socialist world order. Guevara’s whereabouts had been a topic of international mystery and intrigued speculation since he had vanished from public view, in Cuba, in 1965; it had been rumored that he might be leading the fledgling guerrilla forces in Bolivia or somewhere else, but nothing was certain. When the U.S. eventually tracked Che down and helped kill him, in Bolivia, there was also a great deal of secrecy about the circumstance of his death and the disposal of his body.

When, on the morning of October 9, 1967, Che was executed by Bolivian army rangers in an operation overseen by the C.I.A., his bullet-riddled body was airlifted by helicopter to the nearby town of Vallegrande. That afternoon, after nuns had washed his corpse, the dead Che was put on public display in the laundry house of the town’s hospital. Che’s corpse was viewed by hundreds of curious locals and a handful of journalists, who photographed it and filmed it. By that time, Bolivia’s military high command had issued a communiqué that Che had died of wounds suffered in battle. Guevara had, in fact, died of bullet wounds—but not in battle. After being wounded and taken alive, he had been held overnight, in the dirt-floored schoolhouse of a tiny rural hamlet. He was interrogated by a C.I.A. agent and Bolivian officers, and then executed, shot to death at close range by a Bolivian sergeant, who volunteered to do the job. The C.I.A. agent in charge ordered Che’s executioner to shoot him from the neck down so that it looked like he had died in battle, and he did.

On the night of October 10th, the Vallegrande hospital was cordoned off while two Argentine police forensic experts, who had arrived secretly that day, took Che’s fingerprints to cross-check them with their own records. Che’s hands were amputated, put in jars with formaldehyde, and placed in the custody of Bolivia’s intelligence chief. Then, in the wee hours, without any civilian onlookers present, Che’s body was taken to a nearby dirt airstrip on the edge of town, where a bulldozer dug a large pit, and it was dumped inside, together with the bodies of several dead comrades. The pit was then covered over. By the time Che’s brother Roberto arrived the next morning, intending to identify him and reclaim his remains, his body was gone.

The military officers obfuscated. One said that Che’s body had been taken away by helicopter and dumped into the distant jungle; another said he had been cremated, the ashes dispersed. At that point, a mantle of secrecy descended, and it became clear that those who knew where Che’s remains had ended up were not going to talk. The point, as some of the officers later explained, was that they did not want a burial place where Che’s legion of admirers could come and venerate him. More than anything else, they wanted the potency of Che’s message to die with him.

It took twenty-eight years for the truth to come out. In 1995, during my research for a biography I was writing about Che, a retired Bolivian army general broke the silence and told me about the secret burial in the airstrip. Che’s body was eventually found, exhumed, and repatriated to Cuba, where it was reburied with full state honors in 1997, provoking a great deal of acrimony among Cuban exiles, who saw it as a propaganda coup for the Castro regime—which it was. Every year, tens of thousands of Cubans and foreign tourists visit the Che mausoleum in Cuba, just as others visit the schoolhouse in Bolivia where he was killed, which has become a museum-shrine. Meanwhile, in spite of published DNA evidence and the testimony of forensic experts who examined Che’s remains, there are those who persist, vainly, in denying that it was really Che’s body that was found—as if that alone would somehow diminish the power of his legacy, which remains, for all the silly T-shirts, uniquely potent.

With their “sea burial” of Osama bin Laden, the United States has presumably sought to forestall a similarly long, drawn-out “where is he buried?” saga. As for the possibility that the place where he was killed might become a shrine, that is not in American hands, of course, but in the Pakistani military’s. They may find it awkward if their exclusive Abbottabad enclave—populated, as it is said to be, by senior Pakistani military officers and their families—becomes a pilgrimage site for bin Laden’s extremist followers. Presumably, Pakistan will destroy the house he lived in, but what will they do about the ground it stood on? Like the Bolivians, they can always resort to military secrecy and build a wall, but this one will have to be physical as well as figurative. This, too, will be awkward, because the walled vacant lot will be a permanent reminder that Osama bin Laden lived out his days in their midst. But maybe not. Who’s talking?

Above: On the day following his execution, the body of Ernesto “Che” Guevara is put on display in the laundry house of the hospital in Vallegrande, Bolivia. October 10, 1967. Photograph by Freddy Alborta/Bride Lane Library/Popperfoto/Getty

Since we the people paid for this special op, it is our right to demand release of bin Laden's dead body pictures!

Time for the CIA, the US State, Defense, and Justice Departments each to be swamped with a million Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requests demanding the pictures. Here's how, America!

I think this is the right decision, although it will give the conspiracy nuts something somewhat substantial to chew on. Of course, as Jon Stewart pointed out last night, there's nothing that will ever completely satisfy those guys.

No surprise here, I have no doubt these pictures will be "leaked"

Go Wikileaks!

Dear Mr. President:

I don't appreciate your insulting my intelligence, your unwillingness and feeble excuses not to provide tangible proof Bin Laden was found and killed, makes it very difficult for me to give you the benefit of doubt.

With all the gore and violence we witness on a daily basis in life, in the movies, and on cable TV, it would be fairly easy to ascertain that the majority of Americans would have no problems in coping with graphic nature of the photos of the deceased Bin Laden.

In other words please knock off the bull@!$%# and release the photographs.

Twenty people from the UN were killed after the burning of the Koran. The president made the right decision so as not to inflame the situation. We do not need to see the gruesome photos and create another situation that will result in more deaths.

We all saw pictures of Danny Pearl after he was decapitated. We saw pictures and videos of people jumping 100 stories to their deaths. Every newspaper in the world covered their front pages with pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoners being abused. So I for one would like to see Osama's picture, gore and all. If it incites people who already have already taken an oath to kill us, so be it. If it incites people who are "on the fence" then they were never our friends in the first place. I will wait for the unauthorized photos that some young Sailor or Marine took on the USS Carl Vinson. They will be selling them soon to the National Enquirer for "six figures".

He has to release the photos or people will start thinking again it's one big lie.

Show us at least one side of his face, his beard, his turban or something. Don't blame us republicans if we start screaming conspiracy.

What's the point in releasing the photos, the cynics will never accept the photos as proof, just as they didn't accept the new birth certificate. There were fake dead bin Laden photos on the web within hours of his death being announced. Let the idiots feast on those, what's the difference, they will claim that the photos are fake, just as they will say that the genuine ones are fake.

How about letting a select group of Senators and Representatives, especially the President's most vocal critics, view the photos, videos, DNA, and face recognition evidence in a secure location. Once they accept that the evidence is genuine and bin Laden is actually 100% dead, have a press conference and let them state their conclusions for the record.

"kurt-3183071

Hey Mike, How did you feel about the Abu Gahrib photos being plastered all over the world? Did that make you feel good knowing it would cause massive retribution and take American lives? The left couldn't wait to get those photos published. Sickening."

Which Dem in Congress applauded the publication of the Abu Gahrib photos? Stop using the nameless term "the left" because what the right considers the left is anyone who disagrees with them.

I suggest the photo be made available for viewing but not distributed. Put it on display where the public may come to see it but cannot copy, download, photograph or otherwise digitize the image. A place like the Smithsonian or the new Spy Museum in Washington DC comes to mind. This would satisfy the publics need to view the photo while preventing misuse and unwanted distribution.

I agree with Obama. The Photo should be released some day but not now Things are too raw and nothing will satisfy the doubters. They will say the photo was doctored, fake etc. They keep upping the ante. So we must ignore them. Osama's body is not a Trophy Many would see it that way. Just be glad the evil man who burned 3000 people alive is finally dead. Bush Cheney could not or would not get the job done so Obama & our brave Seals did so brilliantly. I am so proud of them. USA USA USA We needed this shot on the arm .

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the birth certificate is digitize, in green paper and it's got millions of layers. Maybe that's a discussion for another time.