Hole in the Wall
The Hypocritical Conclusion
RECEIVED Thu., Nov. 9, 2006
Dear Editor,
Saddam Hussein’s death sentence for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite men and boys is the hypocritical conclusion of the United States' relationship with a murderous dictator and an act of desperate political maneuvering by the Bush administration one day before U.S. elections to affect the outcome.
The evidence against Saddam Hussein is overwhelming and would have been equally powerful in an internationally recognized court. But the court for all intents and purposes was, as Saddam Hussein accurately accused: a puppet court. No serious observer could have ever doubted that the outcome was a forgone conclusion.
Besides aggravating sectarian violence in Iraq, Saddam’s death will clarify doubts any of the more unsavory U.S. allies might have about U.S. assurances. Namely, once the usefulness of an ally has expired, all bets are off. Saddam Hussein is paying for his crimes since he failed to realize this when he shook hands with Donald Rumsfeld a year after the murder of 148 Shiites.
Saddam Hussein’s death sentence for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite men and boys is the hypocritical conclusion of the United States' relationship with a murderous dictator and an act of desperate political maneuvering by the Bush administration one day before U.S. elections to affect the outcome.
The evidence against Saddam Hussein is overwhelming and would have been equally powerful in an internationally recognized court. But the court for all intents and purposes was, as Saddam Hussein accurately accused: a puppet court. No serious observer could have ever doubted that the outcome was a forgone conclusion.
Besides aggravating sectarian violence in Iraq, Saddam’s death will clarify doubts any of the more unsavory U.S. allies might have about U.S. assurances. Namely, once the usefulness of an ally has expired, all bets are off. Saddam Hussein is paying for his crimes since he failed to realize this when he shook hands with Donald Rumsfeld a year after the murder of 148 Shiites.
Justin Finney