Saddam Likely to Hang Next Month

The Iraqi High Tribunal has upheld the conviction and death sentence passed against former dictator Saddam Hussein. The crime for which he will die is the murder of 148 men and boys in Dujail in 1982 in revenge for an assassination attempt there that same year. It could just as easily have a plethora of other crimes. Under the Iraqi constitution, the president and two vice presidents must ratify the decision, and then, the government has 30 days to hang him. The farce is almost over.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker whom MSNBC says is widely seen as neutral by Sunnis and Shi’ites, said, “The people who wanted Saddam to be hanged and the people who were defending Saddam both were expecting this verdict.” Now, most Iraqis want it over with. As the bard wrote, “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly.”

While the execution may result in some additional violence in Iraq, there are Sunnis who want the bastard dead. Mithal al-Alousi, an influential Sunni politician is among them, “In the name of the good Sunnis, the liberal Sunnis, the patriotic Sunnis, we are happy to hear this decision. The people are asking us to make political pressure to execute Saddam immediately. We need to close this file. There’s no other way for Iraq to move forward.”

The reasoning behind a speedy lynching is the same given by this journal for a summary execution in the spider hole where he was caught. Mr. Othman said lots of people want it done right away “because they’re afraid that he might escape from prison. The more it’s delayed, the more people will talk about it. It will be a divisive thing in society.” The show trial was entirely unnecessary and needlessly risky.

The ex-dictator was never going to be acquitted of all charges, and there is absolutely no way that an Iraqi government could imprison him for less than the remainder of his life. Freed and in exile, he would be a constant source of instability, even if he had served a prison term. Without him dead, Iraq doesn’t move on, as Messrs. Alousi and Othman noted. While it may appear a legal proceeding, his death is a political sine qua non. His trial merely denigrated the idea of Iraqi justice. He’s lived too long as it is.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home