Saddam is dead - are we there yet?
The Iraqi government hanged Saddam. Does this mean the war is over or we just created a martyr.
I caught the end of an NPR report which outlined Saddam’s reign and prompted this post. This closing line in particular.
Defiant until the end, Saddam Hussein leaves behind an Iraq mired in turmoil and sectarian violence and on the brink of chaos.
Yep. ‘enuf said. But the language almost says that it was Saddam himself has caused the turmoil and sectarian violence currently beseiging Iraq. I don’t think so. It starts with those who enabled him a long time ago and culminated with a foreign occupying power and understanding why Iraqi’s still don’t have the basic needs.
Need / want an unbiased analysis on the implications of Saddam’s execution? Read Juan Cole’s article on Salon.
Dec. 30, 2006 | The body of Saddam, as it swung from the gallows at 6 a.m. Saturday Baghdad time, cast an ominous shadow over Iraq. The execution provoked intense questions about whether his trial was fair and about what the fallout will be. One thing is certain: The trial and execution of Saddam were about revenge, not justice. Instead of promoting national reconciliation, this act of revenge helped Saddam portray himself one last time as a symbol of Sunni Arab resistance, and became one more incitement to sectarian warfare.
The rest is here
Revenge or Reconcilation?
Oh, you want to recall Bremer’s speech announcing the the capture? Click on We got him.
I’ve always said that the US was going to follow cowboy movie school of jurisprudence regarding Saddam, as in “We’re gonna give him a fair trial an’ then hang him.” I never expected our cowboy diplomats to take the notion so literally.
The truly sad thing is that Bush even fucked taking out Saddam. We’ve squandered years and millions of dollars on a shabby show trial that just turned Saddam into a martyr. We could have gotten better results 3 years ago if we were willing to kill Saddam outright. Just dropping a grenade into his spider hole would have been “cleanest” in terms of strategy, but even arranging a quiet assassination (where Saddam died “trying to escape” or “resisting arrest”) would have been palatable.
While the whole Iraq invasion was a strategic disaster, killing Saddam in 2003 could have possibly slowed the insurgency, to the extent that it discouraged the “bitter end” Baathists from fighting or funding other insurgents.