Worse Than The Scandalous Video
Elias Harfoush Al-Hayat - 04/01/07//
The savagery of the executors and the 'audience' who attended Saddam Hussein's execution festivity is worse than the scandalous video that recorded Saddam's last moments before he was hanged. It made room for sympathy for a man who ruled for three decades, during which he killed his people and waged wars in the eastern and southern fronts mercilessly!
What is worse than the scandalous video is that it makes us wish that the US occupation authority had assumed the Iraqi judiciary, as it might have been more merciful and 'professional' than what we witnessed on the morning of the Greater Bairam. US military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said that if Saddam's execution had been left to the Americans, they would have executed him in a different way. Is there something that makes us disbelieve the Americans simply because they are Americans? Iraqi government officials chose three vindictive, ill-intentioned, veiled people to execute Saddam. But their malicious feelings should not have been released in the execution room.
What is also worse than the scandalous video is that it refuted the authenticity of the official tape, in which the execution seemed to be carried out in a professional way; meant to give the impression that the execution was carried out in full respect of the former Head of State, and that there was no need to show hatred toward him while he breathed his last breath. Thus, the one who recorded the cell phone footage of the 'execution party' and released it on the Internet - as a source of money - has embarrassed and served the Nouri al-Maliki government at the same time. He embarrassed it because he emphasized that the official statements of the Iraqi government need to be confirmed by cell phone footage in the future, and he served it because it can be cautious in the pending executions (of Barzan Tikriti and Awad al-Bandar), so that they can be carried out in a more professional manner. Or it can also ban its officials from taking cell phones into the execution room.
I know that many victims of Saddam's crimes and wars are wondering: where were you when Saddam killed and hanged hundreds after pseudo trials without videos or objection? The question is legitimate and justified. But it was believed that the fall of Saddam would turn over a new leaf in Iraq that has nothing to do with the past, especially with respect to history of vengeful 'justice' and pseudo trials?
Nouri al-Maliki's responsibility is grave regarding what happened. He was the only one who signed the execution warrant, regardless of whether this was legal or not (many lawmen doubted the legitimacy of the execution). The judgment, however, seemed to be vengeful, or - to be more frank - sectarian. When judgment is issued in this way, justice disappears and sectarianism and personal, as well as partisan, interests prevail. This was Saddam's exact idea of 'justice'.
The criticisms leveled on the way Saddam was executed will not bring the man back to life. I believe only a small number of people, those who were close to him and those among his collaterals, wept over Saddam's death. Criticism should highlight the 'violations' in Iraqi security and judicial bodies, which have become unequivocally sectarian. It has become certain that this vengeful way in dealing with the figureheads of the previous era has dominated the behavior and most of the decisions of the Iraqi government. When this takes a sectarian approach, the consequences will not be confined to Iraq's internal front and its future, but rather its relations with its neighbors in the region: hence the negative reaction of most Arab counties toward the way Saddam was hanged. These reactions should have been understood, rather than disregarded or disapproved of by the al-Maliki government.
Elias Harfoush Al-Hayat - 04/01/07//
The savagery of the executors and the 'audience' who attended Saddam Hussein's execution festivity is worse than the scandalous video that recorded Saddam's last moments before he was hanged. It made room for sympathy for a man who ruled for three decades, during which he killed his people and waged wars in the eastern and southern fronts mercilessly!
What is worse than the scandalous video is that it makes us wish that the US occupation authority had assumed the Iraqi judiciary, as it might have been more merciful and 'professional' than what we witnessed on the morning of the Greater Bairam. US military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said that if Saddam's execution had been left to the Americans, they would have executed him in a different way. Is there something that makes us disbelieve the Americans simply because they are Americans? Iraqi government officials chose three vindictive, ill-intentioned, veiled people to execute Saddam. But their malicious feelings should not have been released in the execution room.
What is also worse than the scandalous video is that it refuted the authenticity of the official tape, in which the execution seemed to be carried out in a professional way; meant to give the impression that the execution was carried out in full respect of the former Head of State, and that there was no need to show hatred toward him while he breathed his last breath. Thus, the one who recorded the cell phone footage of the 'execution party' and released it on the Internet - as a source of money - has embarrassed and served the Nouri al-Maliki government at the same time. He embarrassed it because he emphasized that the official statements of the Iraqi government need to be confirmed by cell phone footage in the future, and he served it because it can be cautious in the pending executions (of Barzan Tikriti and Awad al-Bandar), so that they can be carried out in a more professional manner. Or it can also ban its officials from taking cell phones into the execution room.
I know that many victims of Saddam's crimes and wars are wondering: where were you when Saddam killed and hanged hundreds after pseudo trials without videos or objection? The question is legitimate and justified. But it was believed that the fall of Saddam would turn over a new leaf in Iraq that has nothing to do with the past, especially with respect to history of vengeful 'justice' and pseudo trials?
Nouri al-Maliki's responsibility is grave regarding what happened. He was the only one who signed the execution warrant, regardless of whether this was legal or not (many lawmen doubted the legitimacy of the execution). The judgment, however, seemed to be vengeful, or - to be more frank - sectarian. When judgment is issued in this way, justice disappears and sectarianism and personal, as well as partisan, interests prevail. This was Saddam's exact idea of 'justice'.
The criticisms leveled on the way Saddam was executed will not bring the man back to life. I believe only a small number of people, those who were close to him and those among his collaterals, wept over Saddam's death. Criticism should highlight the 'violations' in Iraqi security and judicial bodies, which have become unequivocally sectarian. It has become certain that this vengeful way in dealing with the figureheads of the previous era has dominated the behavior and most of the decisions of the Iraqi government. When this takes a sectarian approach, the consequences will not be confined to Iraq's internal front and its future, but rather its relations with its neighbors in the region: hence the negative reaction of most Arab counties toward the way Saddam was hanged. These reactions should have been understood, rather than disregarded or disapproved of by the al-Maliki government.
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