Justice
The "Butcher of Baghdad" claimed that he would face death as a martyr.
Hmm..... according to Webster:
martyr
1: a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion
Saddam was tried, sentenced, and executed by the Iraqis, not because he witnessed to or refused to renounce his religion, but because he caused the suffering and death of many Iraqi people.
2: a person who sacrifices something of great value and esp. life itself for the sake of principle
Usually, that "something of great value and esp. life itself" belongs to the martyr. One doesn't become a martyr by destroying the property and lives of others.
3: VICTIM; esp: a great or constant sufferer (a ~ to asthma all his life - A. J. Cronin)
The one who suffers is the martyr - not the one who has caused the suffering.
He was executed as a criminal. Plain and simple.
By his own people.
A US judge refused, and rightly, I think, to block the execution. Judge Kollar-Kotelly said U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another country's judicial process. Saddam's lawyer sent a letter to Bush saying he should be freed if the U.S. wants to end its problems in Iraq and earn the friendship of Arabs. OTOH, there have been widespread public demonstrations in Iraq cheering the guilty verdict and death sentence. Is there something about Iraqi public opinion that Saddam's lawyer "knows" that the people themselves don't? Yes, there will be those who will protest violently, just as Saddam taught them during his lifetime - it seems ironic, somehow, that they protest his innocence (or "righteousness" if not innocence, perhaps?) by behaving in the same way. ("We prove it is right to be a bully by being bullies.")
As Ronald Reagan believed, there is an immense power and value in human freedom. My prayer is that true courage will prevail in the Middle East, and that the death of the Butcher may give the common people more of the encouragement they need to stand up for their own freedom and self-determination.
Hmm..... according to Webster:
martyr
1: a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion
Saddam was tried, sentenced, and executed by the Iraqis, not because he witnessed to or refused to renounce his religion, but because he caused the suffering and death of many Iraqi people.
2: a person who sacrifices something of great value and esp. life itself for the sake of principle
Usually, that "something of great value and esp. life itself" belongs to the martyr. One doesn't become a martyr by destroying the property and lives of others.
3: VICTIM; esp: a great or constant sufferer (a ~ to asthma all his life - A. J. Cronin)
The one who suffers is the martyr - not the one who has caused the suffering.
He was executed as a criminal. Plain and simple.
By his own people.
A US judge refused, and rightly, I think, to block the execution. Judge Kollar-Kotelly said U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another country's judicial process. Saddam's lawyer sent a letter to Bush saying he should be freed if the U.S. wants to end its problems in Iraq and earn the friendship of Arabs. OTOH, there have been widespread public demonstrations in Iraq cheering the guilty verdict and death sentence. Is there something about Iraqi public opinion that Saddam's lawyer "knows" that the people themselves don't? Yes, there will be those who will protest violently, just as Saddam taught them during his lifetime - it seems ironic, somehow, that they protest his innocence (or "righteousness" if not innocence, perhaps?) by behaving in the same way. ("We prove it is right to be a bully by being bullies.")
(Nouri) Al-Maliki had rejected calls that Saddam be spared, telling families of people killed during the dictator's rule that would be an insult to the victims.
"Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence," al-Maliki's office quoted him as saying during a meeting with relatives before the hanging.
(Associated Press via Fox News: Saddam Hussein Executed by Hanging)
As Ronald Reagan believed, there is an immense power and value in human freedom. My prayer is that true courage will prevail in the Middle East, and that the death of the Butcher may give the common people more of the encouragement they need to stand up for their own freedom and self-determination.
posted by quidni | 8:48 PM
2 Comments:
Well, as I said in my own blog, good riddance dirtbag.
Hmm...doubtful, but does it count to be a martyr if you're the only one who believes in the principle you're dying for?
Regardless of my views on the war, I can't say as I even lost a second of thought over the death of a mass murderer. The only thing that disturbed me was that so many people wanted to watch it.
I agree with you 100% about a US judge rightly refusing to block the execution.
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