“Saddam not hanged ‘for revenge’”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6221481.stm
bq. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s execution on Saturday was not an act of revenge, Iraqi officials say.
bq. “This whole execution is about justice,” Hiwa Osman, an adviser for the Iraqi president told the BBC.
Right. Preserve me from that sort of “justice.”
Look, there’s no doubt the guy was guilty, and a war criminal. The magnitude and horrific nature of the crimes he committed could very well have been proven fairly in a real court of law. It might have been necessary to do that internationally, but it could well have been done.
Instead, we see a trumped up kangaroo court nearly as bad as what was done by Saddam’s own regime, and a rushed execution carried out in a manner that clearly smacked of vengeance, not the rule of law. That he undoubtedly _deserved_ what happened to him in no way excuses the manner of his death.
Iraq has no hope until the people there outgrow the practice of blood feud. We aren’t responsible for a culture that embraces revenge as a way of life — but we are to blame for giving the people of that culture so many opportunities for revenge.
Update 1/1/2007 - More in a similar vein “from the Guardian”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1980902,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
