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January 05, 2007
A crime against the people of Iraq
It's been hard to convince myself to worry too much about the "dignity" of Saddam Hussein's death. The women and children he murdered weren't afforded it when they were tortured and dumped into pits, and part of me thinks Saddam went too quickly and too painlessly. That's awful and un-Christian, to say the least, but in one sense it was all to easy for Saddam. It always is.
I also recognize the Middle East results in strange bedfellows, including the kind of gents we might not want babysitting our kids. I also recognize the American jihadist media was more than happy to exaggerate the "outrage" after the execution, and the "backlash" -- to portray this as one more thing Bush did wrong in Iraq.
Still, I don't know how anyone could look at the ham-handed, DIY video and defend that imagery. When I first saw the video I found myself wondering how Americans were supposed to support a war being fought for the thugs who brought Saddam to the gallows. This isn't exactly the picture of a "free and democratic Iraq" President Bush has tried to paint. In fact, it's that other picture -- the one offered by the John Kerrys who are just itching to say "civil war." (In fact, had the Dems not been in the midst of gussying up their image for the new Congress, I have to think we'd have heard more from them.)
So after a circus trial, and a circus execution, the "new" Iraq looks a lot like the "old" Iraq, and when people think about Saddam Hussein they won't think about the children, and the horrific nightmare it must've been to live in Saddam's Iraq. They'll think of him being taunted by thugs up the stairs to the big rope. That, as Charles Krauthammer says, is a crime against the "new" Iraq -- meaning, the people who now look ahead to years of living under a new set of thugs. And even if it means agreeing with John Kerry, it's plenty of good reason to wonder what, exactly, we're hoping to defend by sending in more American troops.
Posted by bill at January 5, 2007 10:13 AM
Comments
Saddam turned his trial into a circus by his conduct. It was by no means a perfect trial, but it was probably as fair a trial as could be held given the circumstances, and in that culture. It was a far more fair trial than any of Saddam's victims ever got.
The excecution was tainted by sectarian taunting, but even that was a step-up from the usual Iraqi method of torture with power tools prior to shooting in the head and dumping in the river. It was about all that could be expected from a government dominated by Islamists, and not too far from executions in parts of the United States as late as the 19th century. At least we have progressed.
We're probably deluding ourselves if we think we can turn Iraq into a model of democracy overnight, or even in a few decades. The culture there is one of "death to the infidels," where even fellow Muslims from different sects are "infidels." The multicultural liberal kooks here will never admit that all cultures are not equally meritorious or socially advanced, despite glaring evidence to the contrary. But the neocons should know better and start resigning themselves to the fact that democracy in Iraq is illusory. Détente under threat of violence is probably the best that can be achieved. Hopefully, that détente will evolve into a grudging peace and cooperation in the generations to come.
Posted by: Raygun ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.citizen-journal.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 5, 2007 11:13 AM
It bothered me not. I wish we would allow family members of those we execute to have the final word. I know that is a little creepy, but I am a former prosecutor who saw too many victims not have the final word that they deserved.
Posted by: mike ferg at January 5, 2007 07:02 PM
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