# Should we honour Atta's wishes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511 "2001-10-05T03:32:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/1 "2001-10-05T03:32:44Z")
[This link](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011002/ts/attack_hijacker_will_dc_1.html) details the wishes of one of the 11 September hijackers in respect of the handling of his remains. Presumably, as identification isn’t made until after bodies have been retrieved from the WTC site, his remains will exit the site draped in the stars and stripes. How **should** the remains of the terrorists be dealt with if we are able to identify them? My vote goes for “as coldly and clinically as possible and without any religious ceremony whatsoever”. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/2 "2001-10-05T03:34:13Z")
I know he doesn’t want any women visiting his resting place. So I’ll just send a mason jar full of cold piss and one of you guys can pour it over the grave for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/3 "2001-10-05T03:43:08Z")
\*\*CrankyAsAnOldMan \*\*, atta girl. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/4 "2001-10-05T03:47:34Z")
I vote for burying him face down in hog fat. Let some homeless folks (preferably women) “wash [his] body” (or whatever is left of it; no gloves, of course). No burial clothes. Or, just throw his body in a Glad bag and toss it out during the next trash pickup. The city dump is probably more than he deserves. Food for gulls is probably too good, too, but it’s a start. Either way, I vote **against** following his ridiculous wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/5 "2001-10-05T03:48:40Z")
Same way the Soviet’s dealt with Hitler’s. Cremated 'em and scatter what’s left of the remains in a secret location (like say a pig farm) where no one’ll ever be able to find them! ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/6 "2001-10-05T04:10:47Z")
Sew him up in a hog carcass, soak it in pig’s blood and render it slowly to completely permeate the remains. Then place this on display in a men’s room at Yankee stadium. Send videos of the entire proceedings back to all of his buddies. That’s just for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/7 "2001-10-05T04:21:50Z")
Bury it in the front of Nevada brothel with the Star of David around his neck and a Rosary in his hands. Do not mean any disrespect to Muslims or the religion of Islam but this guy obviously can’t be called a follower so I don’t see any problem. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/8 "2001-10-05T04:53:35Z")
Honor his wishes. We’re better than them. We’re a nation of religious freedom. We shouldn’t waive that just because he disagrees with it. Remember: we’d honor anyone other criminal’s wishes. We shouldn’t change that because of the heinousness of the crime. The guy’s a bastard. But here in America, we have a thing called “rights” and “courtesy.” ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/9 "2001-10-05T05:05:08Z")
Umm. You all saw the frigging huge fireballs? What’s left of Atta is particulate matter. Kinda hard to bury smog. ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/10 "2001-10-05T05:07:48Z")
and it’s going to be damn hard making sure the particulate matter is facing Mecca without a cyclotron… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/11 "2001-10-05T05:08:52Z")
Whatever you could do to his body now is dwarfed by what’s happening to him in hell. He’ll have his skin peeled off a million times for every person he helped kill, and that’s just this week. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/12 "2001-10-05T05:17:43Z")
If a mod happens to wander in here, could you please delete the “his” from the thread title? Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/13 "2001-10-05T05:34:21Z")
**Flymaster** , I respect your cool headed approach to this question, quite sincerely. Personally, however, I’m of the school that says Atta arranged for the disposal of his remains when he chose a course of action that pretty much guaranteed that his ashes would be scattered to the four winds. If the winds bring some of those ashes to rest in a spittoon somewhere, along with some l’eau de Cranky, then who am I to argue with the forces of nature? It’s possible that some of these ashes ended up on the roof of my freaking _house_ (I live in Brooklyn). At this point, my interest in respecting his wishes is slightly less than my desire to pucker up to a rat’s posterior. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/14 "2001-10-05T05:45:39Z")
In case you’re wondering what [happened](http://www.theonion.com/onion3734/hijackers_surprised.html) to him. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/15 "2001-10-05T05:51:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by schplebordnik \* > \*\*and it’s going to be damn hard making sure the particulate matter is facing Mecca without a cyclotron… \*\* This just made my day…thanks ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/16 "2001-10-05T06:46:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > \*\ ***Flymaster** , I respect your cool headed approach to this question, quite sincerely. > > Personally, however, I’m of the school that says Atta arranged for the disposal of his remains when he chose a course of action that pretty much guaranteed that his ashes would be scattered to the four winds. \*\* Well, yeah, I agree. I mean, there’s no way in hell they’re going to find his body, and frankly, that suits me just fine. In fact, I’d piss on his ashes myself, given the chance. I just feel that what the government does officially, and what I want to do in a drunken barroom threat type sense, should be two different things. If the government does manage to find what remains, and they bury him facing Mecca, I urge every woman around to go piss on his grave. That WOULD make me feel at least a little bit better about the whole issue, as he’d be getting some small degree of payback for his disgusting, offensive, and just plain inhuman actions. But the government should have no part in encouraging or sponsoring such behavior, and if you DO piss on his grave, you should face the same consequences you’d face for pissing on any other grave (are there any? I don’t really know). ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/17 "2001-10-05T06:51:42Z")
I would surmise that anybody on those jets would have been cremated by the 2000 degree inferno. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/18 "2001-10-05T07:26:16Z")
Sorry Flymaster…I am a Libertarian and he “Atta” took away the rights of thousands upon thousands of lives if it is truly proven he was the mastermind with the help of others to accomplish this task. In light of that, he has no rights. He took away the rights of others to live the life that God may have had for them and their families. You take that right away, your rights are either severely restricted or they are taken away given the crime. No murderer should walk with freedom and have the same rights as you and me. Again, this is assuming he is guilty, and I can’t assume guilt until I have seen the evidence. However, if he is found to be the lead man in this, any woman could attend a “service” and spit or piss on his grave. If he was the man, he helped take lives which for to deserve his rights to preserved would be wrong. Religious “rights” aside, a man that can take away the rights of thousands of people doesn’t even deserve a funeral. He deserves what he gets and in my thinking he is in Hell – if there is one. But don’t once bring up rights in this manner. I am against the death penalty as a means to which to punish but he dealt the death penalty to himself and to many thousand people, he does not deserve a “rights” given ceremony here or anywhere, if in fact he was the ring leader. Oh and same goes for the rest of the players in this. Basic freedoms don’t mean you can kill and expect that you can sit back and play Nintendo and practice religion or free speech. If you are convicted of such a horrible crime, he or she deserves little rights other than a fair trial…in his death he’s in hell as far as I am concerned but deserves no rights on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/19 "2001-10-05T08:23:34Z")
Flymaster wrote: > [@](#): > > But the government should have no part in encouraging or sponsoring such behavior, and if you DO piss on his grave, you should face the same consequences you’d face for pissing on any other grave (are there any? I don’t really know). Do you really imagine that any law officer would actually _arrest_ a dancing, pissing woman who was found around his grave? (Or a dancing pissing man, what have you.) I mean, I think any law officer would look the other way, while the rest of us pissed and shat and did whatever the hell we wanted to his damned grave. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511/20 "2001-10-05T12:42:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by techchick68 \* > \*\*Sorry Flymaster…I am a Libertarian and he “Atta” took away the rights of thousands upon thousands of lives if it is truly proven he was the mastermind with the help of others to accomplish this task. > > In light of that, he has no rights\*\* Actually, he has no rights because he’s dead. Rights extend to living people. Corpses aren’t people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-honour-attas-wishes/85511.md?page=2)