Saddam and Iraq

Photo by: Triborough

I don't know quite what to say about the execution of Saddam Hussein. As the politics are deep and convoluted, I am not an expert. But, my gut feeling, upon seeing the news in the papers and hearing about it on television, is one of regret, that somehow this is a grave and sad mistake, for the accusers.

I do not doubt his cruelty as a dictator. But his defiance to the end (perhaps tinged with madness -- when does consistent defiance become madness?), makes him a possibly admirable martyr, and weakens the hypocrisies of those labelling him as the scapegoat for the Iraq war.

His trials seemed a charade (and he was in the middle of a genocide trial when he was hung), and his execution bizarrely rushed.

On a related note, the recent January edition of Vanity Fair magazine has a mind-boggling article about the neo-conservatives whose pro-Iraq war agenda encouraged the U.S.-Bush path there. The knives come out as they deny any responsibility and lay George W. Bush, Caesar-like, dead on the Senate floor.

Hopefully 2007 will give us cause to be proud to be members of the human race.