Saddam Executed
Well it happened. The end of a tyrant. An Arab tyrant for that matter. Only one of many. In a sense it might bring closure to the many people in the middle east whose lives Saddam destroyed one way or another. He has now paid with his life.
While I think that the man is one of the worst dictators - and there have been some pretty bad ones - that have ruled in the Arab world, he has long been out of the equation. From the day that the first American bomb fell on Baghdad, it's been curtains for him. The fact that it had to end in his execution seems natural in a place like Iraq, albeit - in my opinion - wrong on so many levels. Here are some reasons why.
1) He was tried and convicted for only one of sooo many crimes he has committed or authorized, and should have been tried for every one of his heinous acts.
2a) While the trial of Saddam was conducted by Iraqis and his execution performed by Iraqis, the fact that American army boots are still on the ground in Iraq does not give the proper feel of a sovereign action.
2b) It reeks of fear. It was a quick trial for one of many crimes with a speedy execution.
3) I don't believe in execution for reasons that have no place in this post.
4) The official videos released (and aired) of his hanging and of the moments before are in such bad taste. We would have taken your word for it. A picture of him dead - still distasteful but slightly less so - would have sufficed.
5) The unofficial video shot on some guy's cellphone that apparently made its way to the Internet (and to CNN) shows his executioners taunting him and cheering for Moqtada al-Sadr and Mohammad Baqer al-Sader (Moqtada's father in law, whom Saddam had tortured and executed). Ridiculously unprofessional and unnecessary. Reinforces 2b.
6) The fact that he was taunted so badly and obviously by his Shiite executioners, supporters of Sadr, is not gonna look good. How did they get there? And wayyyyyy more importantly, how are the Sunnis going to react?
I detested the man, his actions, and their impact on the lives and deaths of countless millions, but any which way you look at the execution, it just reeeeeks.
For one Iraqi perspective, check this out.
2 comments:
Chiites porks
#1 is very true... But i didn't expect more then this. We are very ill prepared for a real democracy. I don't agree with the way it was done, it was very 3rd world, but after all, that's Iraq. That's how they used to hang people during Saddams time.
I have respect for human life as well as human death, and shouting stupid slogans at someone as he's being hanged is so low & disgusting... But you are dealing with "nawar"... Uncivilized grade C govt. officials in a 3rd world country that is in total ruins! did we expect something decent? Something organized?
Ya, if the Americans took care of it, maybe. But ofcourse the U.S. won't have any part of it, cause then you will have every angry Arab screaming, LOOK AT THE AMERICANS KILLING SADDAM! Even if the Americans did it by lethal injection, in a clean place, with his loved ones praying around him. So why bother... Let the Iraqis take care of it THERE WAY.
The point is, i don't believe in the death penalty, but the Iraqis do, and the Shari3a does... The Iraqi court gave the sentence, and the Shari3a law blessed it: "Al qatel, yoqtal". (Tranlsation: The killer should be killed)
I wish the Muslim/Arab world would stop being so hypocritical.
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