You knew this was coming. By now you all know that Saddam is with his 40 virgins… or roasting in hell, whichever. He was executed by hanging on the 29th of December after an Iraqi court sentenced him to death for the killing of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail in 1982. Rule of law, right? End of a regime, right? He got what he deserved, right? Wrong, now let me explain.

I abhor tyrants and dictators. This in spite of the fact I understand they may sometimes be necessary to provide the iron will and grip necessary to drag a nation/peoples off their collective asses and whip them into shape. Still I detest them. That’s why I was fully convinced Saddam had to be held accountable for his actions while he was President of Iraq, in the same manner that Slobodan Milosevic was held accountable for war crimes while leader of Yugoslavia.

Slobodan was not sentenced to death, however. True he died of natural causes before the conclusion of his trial, but he would never have been sentenced to death. And if he was, footage of his execution would’ve never been broadcast.

Sidebar – I take issue with the blood lust with which people seem to welcome Saddam’s execution. Close friends have remarked, “Glad that fucker’s dead,” “I hope he was in pain,” and so on like Saddam personally aggrieved them in some way. Are you people mad? To wish death upon someone is no light matter. And you can’t ever imagine what it is you’re doing until you see your first dead body, or beheaded corpse, or limb-less infant. So for god sakes, restrain yourselves and try to be civilized. Now on with the explanation.

Iraq does not have functioning legislative, executive or judicial entities. As such, there can be no state of order, rule of law or enforcement of such. I’d go so far as to say the country is in complete anarchy. They had the choice to try Saddam at the International Court of Justice in the Hague (as Slobodan was tried). He would have been tried in front of Iraqi judges but far removed from the nihilistic events within Iraq. It would have been a fair and safe trial. What happened in reality was not a trial but rather a tribal proceeding of which the only conclusion could be revenge by death. We all knew that was going to be the verdict before the trial even started. Is that the essence of a fair trial? To know the outcome before it has begun? Anywhere else this would be considered a mistrial and a miscarriage of justice. Instead government officials from the US and UK lauded the fact “justice was served.” I beg to differ, what was served was a cold, bloody plate of vengeance sloppily dressed in retribution, generously slathered in reprisal sauce with a side dish of malice.

Per the BBC:

UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett welcomed the fact Saddam Hussein had been tried by an Iraqi court “for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed” and said “he has now been held to account”. This in spite of the fact that the UK does not officially support the death penalty.

Ok, fine. Let’s say the trial and sentence were fair. In ALL cases when a criminal has been sentenced to death, they are treated with the respect. After all, their life is to be formally ended in front of witnesses in cold blood. Hence the “last meal” request in US prisons, etc. And per the official video released by the Iraqi government, thats how Saddam moved on. Some of you may have seen the second clip filmed on a mobile phone with sound and translations, however, and this paints and entirely different picture.

The hooded men constantly taunt Saddam while he is being led to the noose. The shout things like “Go to hell” and their equivalents in Arabic (which I must add hold more weight than in English). As the noose is placed around Saddam’s neck, their obscenities reach a fever pitch, constantly damning him to hell and end with a rhythmic chanting of “Moqtada Sadr.” For those not in the know, Moqtada Sadr is the radical Shia cleric that commands the Mehdi Army militia and is personally responsible for ordering death squads to patrol neighborhoods. He is a filthy fucking religious zealot who now holds significant power in government. A voice in the background pleads with the others to let Saddam die with dignity but the chanting continues. Saddam then responds in a manner belying his impending fate and calmly replies, “Is this what you call bravery?” He then proceeds to recite a holy prayer and on the second verse the trap door is opened. The last frame of the clip shows Saddam suspended from the noose, neck broken, eyes bulging. It is a horrific sight.

So horrific, in fact, that I could only relate it to two events in the past, namely the filmed beheadings of the american subcontractor in Afghanistan and the reporter (Daniel Pearl) in Pakistan. Is this justice? A group of hooded men brandishing weapons, taunting their captive and finally brutally ending his life. It is exactly the same type of footage as the beheadings except this time around, people are welcoming it. That is a sign that we live in sick, twisted times. When questioned about the state of affairs apparent from the mobile-phone footage, a government official replied:

“These are employees of the prime minister’s office and government chanting in celebration.”

Furthermore, witnesses reported that celebrations broke out after Hussein was dead, and that there was “dancing around the body.”

It’s practically pagan. Finally, I want to extend a hearty fuck you to CNN, Fox News and the other media outlets that went into a tizzy broadcasting footage of Saddam’s execution in prime-time. Damn the little kids who may be watching. A little visual candy for those who already think hanging isn’t all that bad. Let’s make it seem more trivial by broadcasting it every five minutes for three days. Don’t think the media trivialized the hanging? Take a look at THIS article (apologies for the MSN link but the original article has disappeared)

News media, you are singly accountable for the death of these young people. I hope you realize that while sitting prim and proper at your desk under the glare of the spotlight baking in an inch-deep covering of makeup with plastic smiles or frowns plastered over your hypocritical, confused faces.

A serious miscarriage of justice occurred. It was made worse by an ethically repulsive proceeding. And then exacerbated courtesy a soulless, unthinking media.

Any WMD? Nah. Osama maybe? Nope. A stable democracy? Umm no. Peace in the Middle East? Haha, keep dreaming sucker. What do we have? A country torn by sectarian strife and the new hotbed of terrorism. Halle-fucking-lujah. Shoulda’ kicked Saddam’s ass but kept him alive and in power. Oh, the picture at right is former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld warmly shaking Saddam’s hand. Cryptic doesn’t even begin to describe the chain of events that led to where we are today. Open your eyes people and rid yourselves on the unwarranted blood-lust that courses through your veins.

Human nature isn’t to preserve, it is to destroy. When is that more apparent than now?

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