The saga of Saddam's end—his capture, trial and execution—is a sad metaphor for America's occupation of Iraq. What might have gone right went so wrong. It is worth remembering that Saddam Hussein was not your run-of-the-mill dictator. He created one of the most brutal, corrupt and violent regimes in modern history, something akin to Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao's China or Kim Jong Il's North Korea. Whatever the strategic wisdom for the United States, deposing him began as something unquestionably good for Iraq.
But soon the Bush administration dismissed the idea of trying Saddam under international law, or in a court with any broader legitimacy. This is the administration, after all, that could see little advantage to a United Nations mandate for its own invasion and occupation. It put Saddam's fate in the hands of the new Iraqi government, dominated by Shiite and Kurdish politicians who had been victims of his reign. As a result, Saddam's trial, which should have been the judgment of civilized society against a tyrant, is now seen by Iraq's Sunnis and much of the Arab world as a farce, reflecting only the victors' vengeance. ...
As if to make that point, the entire Saddam death video has now made the Internet, complete with the taunts and jeers of Shiite onlookers as Saddam is led to the gallows. The former dictator faces his final moments amid very telling cries, not of "long live Iraq!" ... but of "Moqtada al-Sadr!" ... the real power behind the Shiite Maliki government (despite its Sunni window dressing.) It's in Arabic, but according to translations (via CNN, mostly, but also here) the mostly Shia onlookers tell him to go to hell, he tells them to go to hell. They curse him, he recites verses from the Koran. Then they drop him and his neck snaps on impact. Watch for yourself:
The brutality of the video is unsettling, but I think must see viewing for all Americans who wish to understand the ways of war, and of vengeance. Saddam Hussein deserved to be put on trial for his crimes, deserved to have justice meted out upon him. But as with everything else we've done in Iraq, this version of "justice" will not stand up in the eyes of the wider Arab and Muslim world. It will look to them like a good ole' Texas lynching.
And that doesn't help keep our troops alive in Iraq.
Related: Amnesty International has issued a statement deploring the execution of Saddam Hussein. It reads in part:
"We oppose the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, but it is especially abhorrent when this most extreme penalty is imposed after an unfair trial," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "It is even more worrying that in this case, the execution appeared a foregone conclusion, once the original verdict was pronounced, with the Appeals Court providing little more than a veneer of legitimacy for what was, in fact, a fundamentally flawed process."
Amnesty International said it had greatly welcomed the decision to hold Saddam Hussein to account for the crimes committed under his rule but this should have been done through a fair process. "His trial should have been a major contribution towards establishing justice and ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated when he was in power, but his trial was a deeply flawed affair" said Malcolm Smart. "It will be seen by many as nothing more than 'victor's justice' and, sadly, will do nothing to stem the unrelenting tide of political killings." ...
...At the time of his execution, Saddam Hussein was also standing trial before the SICT, together with six others, on separate charges arising from the so-called Anfal campaign, when thousands of people belonging to Iraq's Kurdish minority were subject to mass killings, torture and other gross abuses in 1988. It is expected that this trial will now continue against the other accused. The execution of Saddam Hussein is a major blow to the process of establishing the truth of what happened under his rule. and as such another squandered opportunity for Iraqis to find out about and come to terms with the crimes of the past.
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"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
