Saddam hanging one more colossal Bush screw up--so what else is new

[bklyncowgirl]

If anyone actually thought that perhaps, just perhaps, the execution of Saddam Hussein might have been done in a way that demonstrated the power and dignity of the rule of law they have either been watching too many old James Cagney prison movies or share the Bush administrations delusions about the sort of people they've put in power in Iraq.

This was the law used as cover for Shiite revenge. It was done in a way designed to insult and outrage the Sunni's from the choice of the date on a religious holiday usually devoted to expressions of joy to the masked executioners who shouted "Long live Mouqtada al Sadr" before pulling the lever that sent the Butcher of Baghdad to his death.

The official Iraqi government announcement that Saddam appeared a frightened and broken man at his execution was immediately belied by the grainy cell phone videos showing the Iraqi dictator defiant to the end.

Saddam Hussein looked like a damn martyr and hero while his executioners, supposedly the impersonal enforcers of law and justice, looked like moonlighters from the Shiite death squads.

Why did the Bush administration go along with this farce before they'd even tried the man for his most heinous crime--the gassing of the Kurds? Was it a vote of confidence in the new democratically elected Iraq government and a bow to Iraqi law? Was it the desire to get rid of a witness before Democratic committee chairmen started flocking to Baghdad subpoenas in hand looking to get Saddam on record? Was it the fear that trying Saddam Hussein for using poison gas on the Kurds would embarrass the U.S. who had at the very least turned a blind eye toward their then ally's brutality? Was it a desire to cause even more chaos in Iraq to justify Bush's planned escalation--er pardon me--I meant to say surge? Was it Bush's New Years present to his father? Hell, I don't know, take your pick. This thing was so rushed that they hadn't even taken the time to consider what to do with the man's body.

The only thing that I know is that we're about to hit the magic 3000 number in young Americans who are as dead as Saddam Hussein and that somewhere, presumably in a cave on the Afghan/Pakistan border, there's a guy who killed 3,000 innocent Americans laughing his ass off.

[madaboutharry]

1. Very well said.

Bklyncowgirl, you have stated the truth very well here.

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Thanks, tragic isn't it. nt

[kurth]

2. Best post so far on the Saddam lynching/execution

Now his grave will be another holy site for Sunnis worldwide.

[gardenista]

3. A desperate move.

My hope is that the media will now deconstruct the relationship between Saddam and the US, or at least some of the media will...

[RestoreGore]

4. Will Democrats In Congress Speak Out Against This?

Or will they stay quiet again? I would like to see the same candor come out of their mouths.

[bklyncowgirl]

7. Sadly, I doubt it.

A few of the usual suspects will probably say something but the coverup regarding our coddling of Saddam Hussein during the 80s is a bipartisan affair.

[Renew Deal]

6. So Al-Sadr is on our side?

That's what I was wondering. Is Al Sadr alligned with the government? How and why is his name chanted at a government event?

[NoPasaran]

8. Yeah, weren't we fighting his army a year or two ago?

I have the feeling that we may be like two vehicles, traveling for the moment down the same road but ultimately to different destinations.

[bklyncowgirl]

9. I think we're still fighting them--aren't we supposed to be stopping the Shiite death squads?

Of course maybe the Decider has decided that we will support the Shiites and screw the Sunnis. But then the Saudis told Cheney that if we let the Shiites massacre the Sunnis that they will go ballistic and the shit will really hit the fan.

[smoogatz]

12. Al Sadr is, to some extent, running the government of Iraq

although he has no official position in it, at present.

[Rene]

10. I agree this is the best post on the situation thus far.

Hussein had to be unable to testify, before the Dems take control of Congress - to the entire list of issues you've stated.

[Beam Me Up]

11. Well you got it all right except for the last paragraph.

Less evidence has been presented that bin Laden was involved in 9/11 than that Sadam had WMD -- and we know how that all turned out don't we?

[malaise]

13. Great post

K & R

[Cass]

14. An excellent commentary on this subject, bklyncowgirl.

Hussein's trial was a sham and his execution was a barbaric circus with the taunting before hanging, dancing around the body, the shouting, and publication of death video/photos.

The United States prides itself on its judicial system. Allowing this disgusting and despicable spectacle to occur under U.S. supervision in a country we are occupying outrages me to the core. This is not who or what we once were. I cannot believe this is happening.

[bklyncowgirl]

15. Nauseating isn't it.

The trial had some facade of respectability but it seems that the so called Iraqi government can't even keep up the charade that this was a judicial execution and not a revenge killing.

Now it sounds like they've buried the man in public out in a place where his followers can create a monument to his memory.

The Shiites want to goad the Sunnis on so that they can crack down.

This will not end well for anybody.

[UTUSN]

16. Blowback on the hanging. Looking for the transcript

Saddam (yes, doubtless a monster) comes across as positively dignified and prayerful compared to the shrieking banshees taunting him. Well, it's human nature. When our own Lib purests scold some of the others of us for taking pleasure in our Rethug enemies' misfortunes, I say we're ALL a mixture of good and bad.

But let's add up the talley:

1- Shrub lied about (among other things) WMD, nuclear. Saddam didn't when he said he didn't have them.

2- Poppy BUSH got creamed for his LITTLE lie (compared to his BIGGER ONES) about taxes. Shrub has gotten a pass on SCADS of lies.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Here's the transcript.

From an Iraqi blogger:

http://www.healingiraq.blogspot.com /

Saddam (as the noose is put around his neck): Ya Allah (Oh God).
Someone in the audience: Mercy be on those who pray for Mohammed and the household of Muhammed (Everyone repeats the prayer, including Saddam) -
Executioner and two people in the audience: ... And hasten his return (the Mahdi), curse his enemy and grant victory to his son, Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada! (This is a common Sadrist chant.)
Saddam (smirking): Muqtada? Is this your manhood? (unclear)
NSA Muwafaq Al-Rubai'i: To Hell!
Saddam: (laughing) ... disgrace to you. (unintelligible)
Prosecutor Munqidh Al-Far'awn: Please, no.
Muwafaq Al-Rubi'i: Longlive Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr!
Someone in the audience: To Hell!
Prosecutor Munqidh Al-Far'awn: No. Please, no. I beg you.
Saddam (solemnly recites the Shahada prayer): I witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is the messenger of Allah. I witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is the- (trap door is opened).
Audience: Prayers for Mohammed and the household of Muhammed.
Someone: The tyrant has fell. May Allah's curse be upon him.
Someone: May Allah's curse be upon him.
(commotion in the hall)
Someone: No. No. Stay back.
Someone: Leave him for 8 minutes, boys. Don't take him down.
Someone: Everyone. Stay back. Everyone. Back.

comments from the blogger:

It utterly disgusts me that Sadr's supporters have infiltrated every level of the state, and that the witnesses, including Iraqi government officials, have made this look like a sectarian issue. They were doomed to repeat Iraqi history by hanging their former oppressor and labeling it as justice. In a perfect situation, Saddam's execution would have united Iraqis, but thanks to the actions of the new Iraqi rulers, it will only serve to divide further. I doubt any of them will prevail as much as Saddam did, though.

UPDATE: Some Iraqis are saying this was part of the deal for the Sadrist bloc to return to parliament, that they would take care of Saddam's execution themselves. Recent statements from Sadrists demanding a swift execution of Saddam seem to support this theory. In any case, the fact that masked Sadr followers took care of the hanging follows a familiar formula in modern Iraqi history, where the victors taunt and execute whoever was in rule before them. It looks like Iraq is doomed to repeat that cycle.

[leesa]

17. It was entirely in keeping with the rest of the murderous hatchet job on Iraq

The US will pay dearly for this as well as for the rest of it. By the way, it was probably Iranian gas that killed the Kurds...so much for babies thrown out of incubators and fantasy troops massing on the borders.

[bklyncowgirl]

18. That of course is another reason to get rid of the guy before the Kurdish trial

Maybe the evidence just wasn't there--or the evidence that was there was stuff that the Bush admistration did not want publicized.

[kentuck]

19. And the sad thing is...

We have a Congress that sits back and does nothing as this insane person continues to tear down our country. Why?

[whatelseisnew]

20. You Talkin' t' Me?

?

[tabasco]

21. Gee I wonder where Iraq got nerve gas.

Oh maybe that's why they didn't want a trial on the chemical attack on the Kurds.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0908-08.htm

[snot]

23. I'd believe . . .

that it was "the desire to get rid of a witness before Democratic committee chairmen started flocking to Baghdad subpoenas in hand looking to get Saddam on record" -- but that raises the questions of why Saddam in his farewell letter released by his lawyers didn't bother to spill anything we didn't already know?