The Fate of Saddam Hussein?
Kurds anticipate dictator’s execution
In what should win an award for the most honest headline of 2005, the Washington Times reports on the view from the third of Iraq few news reports come from these days, Kurdistan. Then again, I could argue that Kurdistan hasn̢۪t been part of Iraq proper for years, but that would irritate our great allies, the Turks.
The question on people’s minds in Iraq’s largest Kurdish city as they watch Saddam Hussein’s trial on television is not whether he should be executed, but how and when.
Oh dear, from the European Union viewpoint, these people are savages, a death penalty? But those on the ground respond,
“Don’t rush it; let it take years,” Hero Talabani, the wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, told foreign reporters. Mrs. Talabani is the founder of a satellite television station that has been covering the trial.
“Let it be an example to Middle East leaders what can happen to murderous dictators,” she said. “If Saddam dies soon, the full horror will not emerge and people will forget quickly.” ….
“Whatever Saddam did to the Iraqi people, let him get the same. In front of me. Then hang him,” said 14-year-old Hunar Ghareeb, who said his uncle and cousin were killed by the regime.
He and his friend Ali, also 14, stood in a cell reading the desperate messages that prisoners had scratched on the walls. One such etching said: “I’m 10 years old but they claim I’m 17. Mummy and Daddy, the Ba’athists are going to kill me and I’ll never see you again.”
America has made mistakes in Iraq, but too many are willing to excuse the barbarity of the Ba’athist Saddam regime. Read the whole article for other reports I just won’t comment on, just too disturbing.
I wonder what messages Saddam in scratching in his cell walls.
Whatever they are, The New York Times will probably give a book of them their biggest thumbs up.