#filkins

I read of a man who killed another man cut out his eyes and then went to visit a third man to prove to him that the first man was dead for after all look here here in my pocket here are his eyes. There are no other available details.

We have butchers in this country. I suppose if you were a butcher it might not mean so much to cut the eyes out of a dead man’s body a job of work a skilled trade.

Did he carry the eyes in something? An eyeglass case or a can or a simple bag plastic or otherwise?

Did the man he showed them to recognize the man who had been killed from his eyes as they were proffered? Was there anything distinctive or particular about them when they had previously been in use?

Did the Sheikh (because he was) when shown the eyes think fucking hell I didn’t mean his actual eyes? Or not.

Was there a gift involved then? What do you give the man who brings you the separated eyes of your enemy?

Many questions details but more than anything the emptying of the word disbelief for it doesn’t meet my incapacity for understanding any of it.

Or the sharing of this world with any of three men involved in this story two of whom presumably are still living and perhaps even now considering what might be available in the refrigerator because it’s gone four and after all and I have to pick up my boy from school (the day’s gone by so quickly) we’re going to buy art supplies and a burger some dry ice for his science project.

For every reporter who asks a question like this (and who could forget Zeleny's equally as charming 'Has Bill Clinton gotten into your head?'), there's always a reporter like Dexter Filkins. Here are some of the things he's done recently (though you should read The Forever War, if you get the chance):

What's Left in Iraq.

Tawwakol Karman's Moral Vision.

Is Pakistan America's Ally?

Killing Rabbani.

The Journalist and The Spies.

Who Killed Kim Sah Nae?

His work at The New York Times.

OneRepublic - Good Life (Live)