Which would be, it appears, the case here. The new book jacket is obvious. The old photo, however, some may not remember as well as I do. The photo shows the execution of a prisoner. It is not a fake - the man really died after being shot in the head by South Vietnam Lt. Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Loan, Saigon Chief of Police. The picture was taken by Eddie Adams in Saigon in 1968. "Supposedly, the execution was originally to take place inside a nearby building. The Colonel decided that the photographers needed more drama, better angles and light, not to mention keeping the inside of the building clean. The execution was staged on the street with a careful setup of the photo opp. Apparently it was important to the Colonel how his profile was displayed. Mr. Nguyen later became a General, was evacuated to the US where eventually he died in peace. Mr. Adams won a Pulitzer Price. The prisoner simply died and disappeared. His wife never found out what happened to him. No trial and no one seem to know the exact crime committed."
This, however, is not the real story. According to the Pulitzer Prize book the year this photo won the award, the prisoner was dragged up to General Nguyen, then engaged in fighting Viet Cong guerrillas in the streets of Saigon during the Tet uprising. It was explained to him by the guards that the prisoner had been taken in the midst of throwing a satchel charge into a restaurant. The general, being a man of action and probably already pretty pissed off that day, whipped out his pistol and shot the guy in the head. I've seen the video of this, and there was no elaborate prequel. He showed up, his story got told, and he got shot. Direct action, if extra-legal, but nothing more sinister than that.
Now, if you're the poor guy with his brains all over the street, I'm sure you're thinking (in that last millisecond) Hey, what about my rights? What about due process? But then it's too late, and you're already dead.
Bummer.
Hell of a photo, though.
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