Saddam Hussein Raises Torture Claim

The trial of Saddam Hussein on charges that he was a bad person who did bad things while dictator of Iraq took a new twist this week. The “Butcher of Baghdad” complained to the judge that the Americans who are holding him prisoner tortured him. After the photos of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib, there is a segment of Arab society that will believe the former tyrant. The case is proving two things. First, America needs to clear up its image on torture. Second, there should never be trials of former dictators, just summary executions.

That the Saddamite regime was vicious and evil is beyond dispute. The mass graves, the scars that the survivors can show, the wars against it neighbors all support the case against it. Dragging people away in the middle of the night to torture them, kill them, or simply make them disappear, is a decent reason for a regime to be removed – had Mr. Bush given that as his casus belli, this journal might even have supported him, provided he fought the war less incompetently.

So, if it is unacceptable for the Twit from Tikrit to torture prisoners, it must equally be unacceptable for the Twit from Texas to do the same. One may draw a distinction between the two in that the Iraqi dictator appears to have been present when people were tortured on his orders. Mr. Bush may not have given explicit orders (although his administration’s decision about “aggressive interrogations” may be construed as such), and he certainly wasn’t at Abu Ghraib when the deal went down.

All the same, there was Senator McCain (torture survivor, Hanoi, Class of ’73) and a great many other members of the US Senate demanding earlier this month that their chamber pass legislation requiring the US to follow the US Army Field Manual, which forbids torture. Arguing against them was the Vice President, obviously with the full backing of Mr. Bush. Thus, it may appear to the Arab in the street that the US does engage in torture, and when one sees the photos from Abu Ghraib through the eyes of people used to conspiracy theories, the claim of the ex-tyrant becomes plausible if not credible.

Of course, none of this foolish would matter if the Americans and their Iraqi satraps hadn’t insisted on a show trial. Saddam Hussein remains a threat to world peace for as long as he draws breath. If he should escape from custody while this farce goes on, it guarantees civil war in Iraq with countless thousands dead. Fifty rounds of .38 ammo can be had on the internet for $7.99 plus $3 shipping and handling. Two in the back of his head before he came out of the spider hole would have been a very good way to spend forty-four cents.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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