Why Saddam Hussein Had to Hang
Today Saddam Hussein swung from a rope until dead, as did his cohorts. This was a pivotal event in the history of human rights for it marked the first time that a bloodthirsty former ruler faced the hangman’s noose for mass murder and crimes against humanity. This execution was all the more significant because it was an Iraqi court that tried Hussein, composed of Iraqi prosecutors, and the chief executioner was an Iraqi. Not even the Germans who were anti-Nazi had the satisfaction of bringing Adolf Hitler to justice.
For the West this should be a time of reverent celebration. Aside from ordering the 1982 murder of 148 Shiites in Dujail, for which he was condemned to die, Saddam Hussein faced charges in the 1987-88 massacre of approximately 180,000 Kurds in Northern Iraq. His Baathist Regime was notorious for the wanton rape, torture, and murder of countless thousands of Iraqis throughout his rule. Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Persian Gulf War. During this conflict he was responsible for the kidnap, torture, and execution of many Kuwaitis; the launching of SCUD missiles against a non-belligerent, Israel; the damage to the environment by the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields; and for potentially destabilizing the entire Middle East.
If these atrocious crimes had been committed by any Western ruler, the United Nations, the EU, and human rights watch groups the world over would have called for that leader’s head on a silver platter. Because of the partisan unpopularity of the Iraq Campaign in the current conflict, there were many in the West who cynically viewed Hussein’s trial as a kangaroo court whose strings were pulled by the United States in a twisted sham of justice meant to exact revenge by the Bush family. Some Westerners felt a strange anti-American sympathy for Hussein, which they cloaked in calls to spare him from death lest he be turned into an Islamist martyr. There was no other bunk further from the truth.
If Americans, the West, and the rest of the world were to move forward in creating a global village in which human rights, democracy, and freedom were respected, valued, and defended, then Saddam Hussein had to hang. If world leaders were to be held accountable for their actions, especially if they were responsible for genocide, mass murder, and other crimes against humanity, Saddam Hussein had to hang. Even if you were one of those people who thought Bush launched an illegal war, lied to the American people, was guilty of war crimes, and should be impeached, Saddam Hussein had to hang. No matter what your political bent, if you believed that no man was above the law, then Saddam Hussein had to hang!
Know this. Saddam Hussein did not go to the gallows behind any American grudge against him; he didn’t swing because of his planned attempted assassination of George Bush, Sr.; he didn’t hang because he invaded Kuwait or because George W. Bush invaded Iraq to remove him and his evil regime, whether or not he had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was executed for the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Kurds—innocent men, women, and children—plain and simple.
Today Saddam Hussein swung from a rope until dead, as did his cohorts. This was a pivotal event in the history of human rights for it marked the first time that a bloodthirsty former ruler faced the hangman’s noose for mass murder and crimes against humanity. This execution was all the more significant because it was an Iraqi court that tried Hussein, composed of Iraqi prosecutors, and the chief executioner was an Iraqi. Not even the Germans who were anti-Nazi had the satisfaction of bringing Adolf Hitler to justice.
For the West this should be a time of reverent celebration. Aside from ordering the 1982 murder of 148 Shiites in Dujail, for which he was condemned to die, Saddam Hussein faced charges in the 1987-88 massacre of approximately 180,000 Kurds in Northern Iraq. His Baathist Regime was notorious for the wanton rape, torture, and murder of countless thousands of Iraqis throughout his rule. Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Persian Gulf War. During this conflict he was responsible for the kidnap, torture, and execution of many Kuwaitis; the launching of SCUD missiles against a non-belligerent, Israel; the damage to the environment by the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields; and for potentially destabilizing the entire Middle East.
If these atrocious crimes had been committed by any Western ruler, the United Nations, the EU, and human rights watch groups the world over would have called for that leader’s head on a silver platter. Because of the partisan unpopularity of the Iraq Campaign in the current conflict, there were many in the West who cynically viewed Hussein’s trial as a kangaroo court whose strings were pulled by the United States in a twisted sham of justice meant to exact revenge by the Bush family. Some Westerners felt a strange anti-American sympathy for Hussein, which they cloaked in calls to spare him from death lest he be turned into an Islamist martyr. There was no other bunk further from the truth.
If Americans, the West, and the rest of the world were to move forward in creating a global village in which human rights, democracy, and freedom were respected, valued, and defended, then Saddam Hussein had to hang. If world leaders were to be held accountable for their actions, especially if they were responsible for genocide, mass murder, and other crimes against humanity, Saddam Hussein had to hang. Even if you were one of those people who thought Bush launched an illegal war, lied to the American people, was guilty of war crimes, and should be impeached, Saddam Hussein had to hang. No matter what your political bent, if you believed that no man was above the law, then Saddam Hussein had to hang!
Know this. Saddam Hussein did not go to the gallows behind any American grudge against him; he didn’t swing because of his planned attempted assassination of George Bush, Sr.; he didn’t hang because he invaded Kuwait or because George W. Bush invaded Iraq to remove him and his evil regime, whether or not he had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was executed for the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Kurds—innocent men, women, and children—plain and simple.
posted by victor cass | 9:04 PM
1 Comments:
Capital punishment is hard for many folks to accept, but when a court of the people, in a systematic, open procedure, impose accountability on a mass murderer, then we must acknowledge that this punishment is judicious. So it was with Hussein.
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