Ding, Dong, Saddam is Dead!
At 8 pm today I first received word that Saddam Hussein had been executed.
Working where I do, there were actually some people who were trying to put either a bad or at least a "fair" spin on this. A common sentiment was to wish Bush or Rumsfeld hung as well for their "crimes." I felt a combined amusement, fear, and sardonic glee to hear these opinions: amusement, because these people were so disconnected from reality; fear, because if enough people start feeling this way, we really will start playing politics that way; sardonic glee, because of course if that happened, these naive leftists might be a bit surprised as to how it would actually turn out. (For one thing, the people deciding who got hanged would be more likely to be fascists than San Francisco liberals).
My overwhelming emotion was of relief.
Up until now, I had really been afraid that Saddam might somehow get away with it.
That, having murdered tens of thousands of his own people and indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands more in several nations; after being one of the main causes of Iraq's current agony owing to his idiotic refusal to order a general surrender when his army was shattered; that after all that he would somehow manage to either trick or threaten the Iraqis into letting him live. That then we would pull out of Iraq; Saddam would somehow make it back into power; and we'd be facing yet another war against Saddam in a few more years.
But, nope, didn't happen. Saddam's no more: or, if I was religious, I'd imagine that he was in Hell.
And Iraq has a chance.
Working where I do, there were actually some people who were trying to put either a bad or at least a "fair" spin on this. A common sentiment was to wish Bush or Rumsfeld hung as well for their "crimes." I felt a combined amusement, fear, and sardonic glee to hear these opinions: amusement, because these people were so disconnected from reality; fear, because if enough people start feeling this way, we really will start playing politics that way; sardonic glee, because of course if that happened, these naive leftists might be a bit surprised as to how it would actually turn out. (For one thing, the people deciding who got hanged would be more likely to be fascists than San Francisco liberals).
My overwhelming emotion was of relief.
Up until now, I had really been afraid that Saddam might somehow get away with it.
That, having murdered tens of thousands of his own people and indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands more in several nations; after being one of the main causes of Iraq's current agony owing to his idiotic refusal to order a general surrender when his army was shattered; that after all that he would somehow manage to either trick or threaten the Iraqis into letting him live. That then we would pull out of Iraq; Saddam would somehow make it back into power; and we'd be facing yet another war against Saddam in a few more years.
But, nope, didn't happen. Saddam's no more: or, if I was religious, I'd imagine that he was in Hell.
And Iraq has a chance.