IT'S HARD to imagine anyone looking at the images of Saddam Hussein standing on the gallows with a hangman's noose around his neck and agreeing with George Bush's crass observation that the execution of the former dictator was an "important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy". The Irony is that When Saddam Hussein looked in disbelief at the over-sized noose that was fitted by masked volunteers around his neck, the man who helped to put it there by invading Iraq and toppling the dictator was soundly asleep at his ranch in Texas. Presidential spokesman Scott Stanzel said Bush was informed of the impending hanging Friday afternoon and went to bed shortly before it took place at 9 p.m. Washington time, with instructions not to be woken up.
Bush stated: “Hussein received fair trial”, then the White House issued a statement praising the Iraqi people for giving Hussein a fair trial. Fair trial?
Human Rights Watch, who observed every day of the process along with another NGO concluded that this was not a fair trial, and the soundness of the verdict is questionable. In this case, they say "the imposition of the death penalty - an inherently cruel and inhumane punishment - in the wake of an unfair trial is indefensible". They criticized the management of the trial, protection given to witnesses, the lack of material given to the defense (making this a "trial by ambush"), and prejudicial comments made by Iraqi politicians.
How can nation building begin at the end of the hangman's rope? Ask most ordinary Iraqis what they thought of Saddam's execution, for the vast majority of people in the country, Shia, Sunni and Kurd alike now themselves too preoccupied with personal survival to care much about his ultimate fate. Since when did execution become synonymous with peace and liberty?
A witness, Iraqi Judge Munir Haddad, said Hussein appeared "totally oblivious to what was going on around him. I was very surprised. He was not afraid of death." The former dictator refused to wear a hood as he was hanged Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said. Hussein's death came in "a blink of the eye" after his executioner activated the gallows just after 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday ET), said al-Rubaie.
In a letter written from his prison cell, Saddam Hussein said: "I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, he will place me among the true men and martyrs," the former leader wrote in the letter. He also urged his country men to unite against enemies.
In my opinion what happened this morning was an assassination, and I think that is how it will be viewed in most of the world. At the dame time this act has achieved the impossible; it has turned Saddam from a criminal into a martyr.
Anyone notice the irony that the US flag is flying at half-mast on the day Saddam is executed!
The White House has always maintained that personal grudges had nothing to do with the invasion of Iraq. And yet in September 2002, as preparations for war were well under way, George Bush the younger told a Houston fundraiser: "This is after all the man who tried to kill my dad." Now the personal side of this bitter family saga is over. But even from his unmarked grave, Saddam Hussein will continue to haunt the Bush administration and define the legacy of the 43rd president of the United States.
To view - Saddam's Full Uncensored Hanging - WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC
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