The Banality of Evil

At a Cambodian genocide tribunal, Khmer Rouge torturer and executioner Kaing Guek Eav testifies that he was doing his duty:

On the first day of testimony at a landmark genocide tribunal in Cambodia, Comrade Duch, 66, related his journey from youthful idealist into one of history's most notorious sadists.

"I sacrificed everything for the revolution sincerely and absolutely," he said. "At the time I believed the path I had chosen was right." he said.

Asked why he was chosen for the role he answered: "They knew me as a sincere person who dare not hide anything."

"In my entire life if I do something, I do it properly," he explained.

If I do something, I do it properly. It's as if he's speaking about painting the spare bedroom, or cleaning up the attic. This gives me the chills. So much more frightening that he is banal about than if he had have gone off on a psychotic rant. As The Shadow said: Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?