As the verdict was read, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!" Later, his lawyer said the former dictator called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.
Nice of him to reject what he has encouraged up until now. The man's a saint, no doubt. Of course, the latter discouragement of violence was according to his attorney who is trying for a remorse and a change of heart strategy. Still, Saddam's outburst seems to nullify his attorney's spin on his client's views. Still, since Saddam is the enemy of the Iraqi people and their duly elected representatives, his cry rests on a certain confusion about just who exactly gets to say who is an enemy of the people these days. Saddam is actually getting his wish!
The Iraqis are to be congratulated. They have set an incredible example and dictators will sleep a little more uneasily with this example before the people of the region.
But I do hope we get on with the execution. If it takes this long for the hundreds of thousands dead at his hand in his long and bloody rule, Saddam will die of old age before all the trials are done. But this verdict is a symbol for them all:
"The verdict placed on the heads of the former regime does not represent a verdict for any one person. It is a verdict on a whole dark era that has was unmatched in Iraq's history," said Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shiite prime minister.
I hope that the Kurds will be happy to have him die for this narrow crime rather than press for a new trial for Halabja and countless other atrocities. The Shias seem happy enough not to press for a verdict on every one of their far greater deaths at his hands.
But of course, the celebration is tained by the unnamed "some" stupid people who are out in force with an opinion:
Some feared the court decision could exacerbate the sectarian violence that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war, after a trial that stretched over nine months in 39 sessions and ended nearly 3 1/2 months ago.
We need to get the often cited "some" a bit of education since they always seem to have idiotic opinions when found by reporters.
Are "some" people seriously arguing that a person who has enough willing killers behind him should never be brought to justice because those killer supporters will want to kill even more after their beloved thug mass murdering dictator is about to meet justice at the end of a rope?
I'd say Rumsfeld needs to rethink his defense in this light.
But seriously, congratulations to the Iraqi people. I'm glad they didn't make the mistake of trusting the UN to try this monster. The UN should be lucky that a good number of their employees aren't co-defendants, to be honest.
Hang Saddam as soon as possible. There are Sunnis out there who actually believe he could return to power.
