Saddam Execution

Saddam Hussein received so called ‘justice’ as he was executed on the 30^th December 2006 just before the dawn prayer. The former president of Iraq, 69, was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on 5 November over the killings of 148 Shias from the town of Dujail in the 1980s. We saw the video of him taken to the gallows, the noose placed around his neck we all know what happens next.

Saddam Hussein had already seen his two sons killed by the Americans and now it was his turn to die. The video shows people taunting him, “God damn you” a guard said, “to Hell” someone is heard saying, another man says “Long live Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr” the uncle of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Saddam replies questioning their bravery. Saddam Hussein recites the article of faith “There is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammed is the messenger of God. There is no God but Allah and I testify that Muhammed...” the trap doors open and the former president is executed.

Amnesty International called it an unfair trial, a trial which saw three people to be assassinated including Saddam Hussein’s defense lawyer. There was political interference during the trial undermining the independence and impartiality of the court which caused the first presiding judge to resign.

This is still considered a fair trial by the coalition just as long as the person being tried is an enemy of the West. The trial is only fair if the verdict given is what the American administration wants it to be. Is this justice?

The court was set up by the Americans, the Iraqi government is in place because of the Americans, the trial took place in Iraq because of the Americans, and the death sentence was from the Americans. This is obviously considered justice, dished out American style.

News media across Britain carried headlines of the former Iraqi presidents execution as an execution for his ‘crimes against humanity’. Yet there are many who carry out such crimes, but we do not see them bought to justice. We are witnessing history being written before our very eyes. Those who write history are the ones that have the power to manipulate it to agree with their world view. We are oblivious to the many ‘crimes against humanity’ America and Britain have committed. Due to the illegal war with Iraq we have over six hundred thousand dead civilians, women and children. The very people the so called coalition claimed it was going to help have paid with their lives at the hands of the ‘liberators’.

This dictator who at one time was an ally of the west, who we supplied with weapons, who we supported covertly as he used chemical weapons against Iran, who we turned a blind eye to as he massacred the Kurds. The very same man who we built up was finally executed, thanks to Iraqi ‘justice’.

Saddam Hussein was used to fight Iran in an attempt to weaken the Islamic Republic. The Arab world supported his as they feared the Shia threat, but they turned their backs on him when he invaded Kuwait. The leaders of the Arab world saw it a step to far and a threat to their own leadership.

But it was America that gave Saddam Hussein the green light for the invasion of Kuwait via Ambassador Gilaspie. When discussing the issue with the former President regarding his dispute with Kuwait, she said “We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America.”

When the Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait the Western powers were quick to react, we showed fake satellite images to Saudi Arabia, of Iraqi troops amassing on the border preparing to invade the kingdom. The Saudis gave their support and invited the Americans on to their soil, and so it began. The Osama Bin Ladens were born, angered at the presence of American troops so close to the Muslim sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina. The entire Muslim world saw the extent of the corruption of the house of Saud, supporting the Americans in their quest for oil.

The embargo which affected the Iraqi people, depriving them of essential medicine, was due to the west. After the first gulf war over half a million children died because of the depleted uranium we used to fight this dirty war. If we are to claim the moral high ground and begin executing people for ‘crimes against humanity’ then let us begin with Bush and Blair for their hand in the murder and constructive chaos of Iraq. Let us hang the Israeli leadership for the death of the Palestinian civilians and policies of apartheid and for their war crimes in Lebanon. Did we forget about Pinochet? Once praised by Margaret Thatcher. The hypocrisy is sickening, the truth is scarce.

With Saddam Hussein’s death comes an assurance to the West that the knowledge of the extent of Western support over the years has died with the former President of Iraq. But what the West fails to realize is that unlike the people of Britain and America the people of the rest of the world do not have short memories. The Muslim world will remember that the execution took place on Eid al-Adha, they will remember it was due to the Americans, an insult to Muslims around the world. Saddam Hussein had his final show, he battled in the court, and he put on a performance that the Arab and Muslim world witnessed. After the pictures of him captured by the Americans and undergoing a humiliating medical were broadcast across the world, the trial inadvertently helped restore his image as a strong and outspoken leader.

The blood bath will continue. Congratulations are in order for the ‘liberators’. Well done for the rape of a country, well done for your constructive chaos, well done for making those in Israel feel slightly more at ease. The corporations are still filling their pockets; the revenues of the oil and gas taken from Iraq are not going towards the Iraqi people. Yet again America has achieved its two main objectives 1) carrying out Israel’s foreign policy 2) Securing Iraq’s oil and gas supplies. Enjoy the blood bath.

By Michael Olson