More from the mailbag: The West and Saddam must stand trial

[DuctapeFatwa]

The West and Saddam must stand trial in front of this Ummah

On the 14th of December at an emotionally charged and triumphal press conference the US viceroy and dictator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, announced the capture of Saddam Hussein. The impact has been extraordinary, with leaders all over the world rushing to announce their support and praise for the American action. In Britain, there has been wall to wall media coverage with many commentators portraying it as a major breakthrough in the 'War on Iraq' and speculating endlessly about the nature and form of an upcoming trial.

Muslims in Britain have also reacted in a variety of fashions - some have reacted angrily, some have been elated, while others have become frustrated by the arrogance and hypocrisy of the West. However the debate now is exclusively about the nature, mechanics and form of a forthcoming trial. The issues of blame, accountability, cause and responsibility have either been ignored or are being presented in an over simplistic fashion.

Now that the hype and emotions are starting to subside, a number of points need to be made:

Western leaders should be tried for their crimes too
If we are going to talk about trials, docks or war crimes, then Western leaders should be the first to be tried for their deeds. Whether it was the systematic elimination of the Red Indian community in North America, whether it was the use of nuclear weapons on innocent civilians in Japan or whether it was the economic imperialism of the British Empire, Western leaders often came, saw and engaged in genocide. Even the charge sheet against the current leaders like Bush and Blair in Afghanistan and Iraq is long and growing and there certainly would be no need for a long and complex trial to find these leaders guilty. The systematic killing of thousands of innocents, the murder of young children, the bombing of critical infrastructure and the destruction of two countries for strategic and material interests is obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by the militant Western vision of justice - a selective and victor's justice system that allows crimes to be committed systematically on the Western side but which are only condemned if committed by others. No wonder the US and its leaders are afraid of signing up to even a flawed and secular based international criminal court!
Saddam and all the Muslim rulers are Western inventions
If Saddam is going to be tried, Western governments cannot absolve themselves of complicity in his crimes. In legal speak, they are not only accessories to the crime, but in reality they were the supporters and financial backers of the former dictator of Iraq. Saddam is no different to any of the brutal secular dictators in the Muslim world such as Mubarak, Musharraf or Karimov. They are all backed financially and politically to the hilt by Western governments. Indeed without this Western support, the Muslims of these countries would have removed these tyrants long ago and made them prisoners. For Western leaders to now seek to claim the moral high ground in removing one of 'their' dictators is the height of hypocrisy!
The trial is a publicity stunt to divert attention from the real issue - occupation
The central issue was not and still is not about the fate of Saddam, but rather the presence of occupying forces in Iraq. The illegal US led occupation reveals its true nature day by day. Whether it's the future plans for US military bases in the country, the overpayment to companies like Halliburton, a company previously run by the US Vice President, the oppressive and harsh rule being implemented over millions of Iraqi citizens or the killing of peaceful demonstrators, the occupation remains the malignant influence that needs to be reversed.
The resistance is not for Saddam but to reverse the occupation
The motivation behind the resistance, contrary to popular myth, is not the restoration of the secular Baathist rule, but the removal of the US led occupation. Millions of Muslims in Iraq are completely opposed to US hegemony and to dismiss these people as merely remnants of the previous regime or 'foreign terrorists' is simply propaganda to cover up for the complete lack of support that the so called 'coalition of the killing' has in Iraq. Yes, the world is a good place without tyrants, but it would also be a better place without a Western system which is only interested in colonialism, hegemony and the support of brutal dictators when it suits them
The Western ideology should be in the dock
The real problem is that Saddam and his accomplices are products of an ideology that today terrorises the world. It is Western Capitalism that is the source of these dictators, East and West, Saddam and Bush. It is Western Capitalism that forsakes all moral and humanitarian values for the pursuit of material interests throughout the world. It is Western Capitalism that exports immoral and decadent values around the world, taking away the innocence from children, modesty from women and makes all human beings subservient to their own desires, all for the sake of corporate exploitation. Saddam was a Western project, selected by the West to capture their resources, and today all of the rulers of the Muslim world are Saddam's.
As Muslims in Britain, this is not the time to be emotional, frustrated or naïve, but rather is a time to engage in productive thinking about the problems we face alongside the global Ummah because our fate is closely linked to the fate of our Ummah. It is time to break out of the narrow mindset established by the West, and think according to Islam. The problem we and the world faces is the rotten Western ideology, its values and regimes. So we must work against this ideology and system, by challenging, through the valour of our words, the West. This is not a time to accept the Western systems and solutions, but rather is a time to put them in the dock.

We, the supporters and members of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, call upon you to work with us to work against the western way of life and its rotten values. This is your contribution to the global struggle your Ummah faces against baatil . It is an irony of history, that Musa (as) brought down Firawn from within his own palace, whilst Firawn waged his own 'war on terror' against the sincere believers in Allah (swt) and the Last Day. This is a sign from Allah (swt) to the believers that empires will fall, and indeed the global Western empire will fall soon. So who will respond to this call?

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain
25th Shawwal 1424

[sistersofmercy]

1. Well, OK

I have to agree with some of the points in this rant particularly the accessory and extend to accomplice and/or depraved indifference. Lost me at the end though.

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. LOL all their stuff is the same way. They start out great, then

dissolve into pseudo kalifoid mumbo jumbo.

What is interesting is that in a way, Saddam is like the Saudi princes - people with diametrically opposed views hate them - but for different reasons.