Exporting American Justice: The Execution of Saddam Hussein

This has been a sorry mess from the gitgo so why can we be surprised if it gets sorrier? It will if Saddam is executed, publically or privately, for when the news hits the street, there will be rioting & destruction galore, retributive justice for the Sunnis & blood running in the streets. "We" may be about to get "our wish", but it was never mine nor would it be. One thing the U.S. wants him dead about is the poison gas given to him from The duPont Company's Wilmington, DE operation for use against Iran, although he used part of it against his own Kurds. Saddam could testify to this illegality, but the dead don't talk! Saddam may be likened to Noriega: a good footsoldier when needed, then expendable as garbage when the dirty work is done. Our national image has suffered badly, & our diplomatic force even exponentially as Dubya practiced diplomacy at the end of a bayonet only. No misadventure in our history is equal to this, and its cost is being rolled forward two generations accompanied by rakeoff tax reductions to the richest. The future will have a long time to judge Dubya in that they will pay for his policies of repression & death for decades. And all of this mischief was hatched up by a small cabal [Progress for a New American Century]. If Bush is not impeached, why not try this group on charges of treason? This would not be revenge but justice, but there will be no justice, count on it! Emigration has never looked better, better & better all the time. This country was overrated as 'great,' but whatever happened to its goodness of which there was a great deal?

The deed is now done. Reports coming in that they are dancing around his body. No dignity in death makes the Iraqis and their US masters look disgustingly brutal.

It is embarrassing to see the Iraqi Christians celebrating in Dearborn, MI on CNN. The heart of Jesus breaks, while his followers celebrate another killing.

I think that we need to be very careful about how we discuss this and be very clear about the different objections we have to the trial and the execution.

The trial was riddled with problems, from dubiously qualified lawyers, inadequet protection, biased judges, heresay evidence, etc. Additionally, the haste of the appeal process definately raises my eyebrows, but will take further investigation to make conclusive statements. Even if the appeal turns out to be above reproach, the trial was a sham. Any outcome of it could not be accepted as fair.

On a seperate issue, I don't think that its possible for a Christian to ever support the death penalty. After the horrible example of Jesus being executed by the Romans, how can we turn around and wish that same agony and humilitation on anyone else? But even beyond religious objections, the death penalty seems like its own human rights violation. The vast, vast majority of industrialized countries have rejected it as a form of punishment.

So as I see it, there are two issues, and when we talk about them, we need to be sure to make them clear: 1)There is significant evidence that Sadaam's trial failed basic tests of fairness and justice, and 2)We, under all circumstances, opposed the death penalty as a form of punishment.

If Sadaam was allowed to live in a prison, it would be possible for a few thousand Sunnis to free him. After a Civil War he could become a dictator again and continue to menace the world and murder his citizens. The world is better off without him. If the thousands of people who were killed because of Sadaam could speak, I don't think they would object to his execution.

Saddam was a monster, but there is another way to look at it.

The hatred between the Sunnis and the Shiites (sp?) is ancient, strong, and almost ubiquitous. His dictatorship kept the two from warring on each other, although he kept the minority in power and repressed the majority (sounds familiar?). He may have killed thousands of people, but at the same time his iron fist may have kept hundreds of thousands from dying. I would quickly admit that this is only conjecture, but I think that the evidence is strong that this conjecture would be accurate.

I too am not an apologist for the man- but at the same time I do see that there is another "take" on the situation.

At the same time- my fear all along was that Hussein would return to power in some fashion. This possiblity is now gone. However, so it the opportunity to question him about the purchase of chemical weapons (and other WMD supplies) from US companies. (THANKS, Arden, for that info- I didn't know about that, although I suspected!)

Like usual, the situation is far more complex than it appears at first glance.

nice site
http://www.aishwaryaraiworld.org/

Trying and killing a person in the heat of Battle is the same as murder it was not Godly it was done with hate and vengeance and God will not approve. Reason it could not have been a fair trial

One of you said, "...but to try him in front of people he had formerly oppressed is the very antithesis of the kind of impartial justice which Iraq needs to learn and which the world needs to see America support."

How we do speak out of both sides of our mouths as Americans! Because of the immense media and world criticism of the U.S.'s role in Iraq, our gov't was careful to let the Iraqi gov't. handle Sadam, his trial and his execution. He was first of all THEIR criminal, not ours. We are not over there to rule them but to prop up their efforts at democracy and prosperity such as we enjoy. We have been criticized for trying to impose our democratic values on this country --instead of letting them do things THEIR way. So we let them do this when and how they wanted without imposing either our values or our power. Seems I remember the press recommending that we do that --that we keep our hands out of the process. Now that we see they employed american style justice of 100 years ago --cowboy justice --the critics are doing their usual Monday morning quarterbacking.

"O poor Sadam! that wasn't NICE! Shame on us naughty Americans for not taking him where there is no death penalty --so he could live out his days in relative comfort --compared to those he tortured and killed in front of their families."

As for who should have the most right to accuse and punish Sadam, why NOT the ones whom he most oppressed? What is the point of saying you don't defend the man --but then you turn around and condemn the U.S. for what the Iraqis did to him??
Why so quick to defend Sadam --and quick to condemn the U.S. for simply letting Iraq take care of their own??

Our leadership is blamed if they do --and blamed if they don't --all the way. Had we not gone into Iraq, who knows what Sadam would be doing with Osama and what blame would be heaped on Bush for not seeing it coming?? I'm sure Sadam rejoiced to see what the terrorists did to us --as did the Palestinians in their streets. Sadam had sworn enmity to the U.S.; he would admire the inroads made by a few suicide bombers and be glad to join their cause and methods. As it is, we've seen already how insurgents treat people by beheading people who've done them no direct wrong --including people who only wanted to be in Iraq to be helpful or to report the news.

If they had not executed him, Sadam might've been restored to power or secreted away like Osama, thus evading the justice he deserved.

This egomaniac showed no mercy to people. No wonder they dance in the streets at his death. he really WAS evil --unlike George W. Bush, so ruthlessly maligned in the press and in this forum.

Even the democrats and the UN believed the WMD's were there --and I still believe they had plans to get nuclear power and to use it --that Sadam would have thrown his hat and money in with Iran and Osama in a joint hatred of the U.S. --on ideological grounds. We are the great Satan --and our libertine way of life is their evidence.
We can't afford to ignore the middle east any more --or the ideology promoted by Muslim extremists. We still are not good at communicating to them what is WRONG about their "kill the infidel" religion. and they aren't very self-critical here in the u.S. from what I observed. The Muslims seem to come out in public only to defend against Sadam's hanging --and our support of Israel. They aren't very self-critical --unlike Americans of other ideologies/religions or lack thereof. And I suppose it's because they can't trust their friends to not blow them up in defense of Islam.