All I have to say about Saddam's execution

By Lee Russ

Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 05:14 PM

Right or wrong is debatable given the nature of the man and how you feel about capital punishment.  What I don't think is debatable is:

1. There were almost undoubtedly ways to remove him from power that would have caused so much less bloodshed.

2.  There is little doubt that most of the weapons employed in the atrocities for which he was hated came from, through, or because of us, the United States.

3.  The little game that much of the American media played--breathlessly discussin the mechanics and medicine of death by hanging, speculating on whether the execution would be shown on television, showing audiences the later released video of Saddam with the noose around his neck but sanctimoniously assuring viewers they wouldn't see the actual hanging made me so much less than proud to be an American.

4. The execution may have salved the feelings of Saddam's victims, but it is beyond foolish to think that it will have any significant effect on the civil war + insurgency tearing Iraq to shreds.

5. Like everything else in the series of events that led to the current state of things in Iraq, the consequences of the execution won't be known for many a year.

6.  While we stare directly at Iraq to try to guage how "Muslims" or "Arabs" are reacting to the execution, the reaction that will most likely matter most is occurring outside our view in places like Pakistan, India, and Indonesia.