The Hindu: "...it would be mendacious ... to claim that justice was served" by Saddam's hanging

[BurtWorm]

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/31/stories/2006123103600800.htm

Outrageous

Saddam Hussein was a leader whose brutal actions and calamitous miscalculations brought unimaginable suffering to the people of Iraq and neighbouring countries. The brutal actions of his regime included the killing of political rivals and large numbers of civilians, above all Shias and Kurds, and the use of chemical weapons against Kurds and Iranians. President Hussein's two big miscalculations were the eight-year war of unprovoked aggression against Iran, in which hundreds of thousands of people were annihilated, and the akratic invasion of Kuwait. Following the first Gulf War, a million Iraqis, including hundreds of thousands of children, are estimated to have died because they were deprived of adequate nourishment and medical care on account of the economic sanctions imposed on their country by the victors. Arguably, Mr. Hussein had an opportunity to bring to an end this suffering by being more forthcoming and proving to the satisfaction of the world that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD). His refusal or failure to divulge that he had destroyed all his stockpiles soon after the 1991 war played into the hands of his enemies, above all President George Bush who came to office with the agenda of invading Iraq and destroying the Saddam regime for strategic reasons.

However, it would be mendacious for anyone to claim that justice was served when Mr. Hussein was executed before dawn on December 30, 2006. The judicial process set up to prosecute Mr. Hussein for "crimes against humanity" was designed by a United States-led coalition that had itself committed the supreme war crime of unprovoked aggression against a sovereign nation. The fact that the coalition's illegal invasion and occupation had caused the death of over 600,000 Iraqis evidently made no impact on the collective conscience of its leaders. The present Baghdad regime, which is propped up by the occupation forces, did not just lean on the judiciary; it went so far as to replace judges until a sufficiently partisan presiding officer was found. This judge did the bidding of his political masters and scandalously ensured that the defence was always at a disadvantage. The appeal court that confirmed the sentence of death handed down by the trial judge acted as if the completion of other cases against the accused was of no consequence. That all these legal proceedings were nothing but a sordid farce became clear to the whole world when the Prime Minister of Iraq, who had announced ahead of the appeal court's verdict that the former President would be executed before New Year, even usurped the judiciary's prerogative of setting the date for execution. To go by the manner in which the client Iraqi regime has behaved in all spheres, it was a small mercy that Mr. Hussein was handed over to it by his American jailors just before he was forced to mount the gallows. Various components of this regime run militias that have tortured and butchered hundreds of innocents. Those who engineered this violent and unjust end to the life of a leader who was overthrown by war — in flagrant violation of international law — have much to answer for before the court of humanity....

[MADem]

1. Even closer to home, here's what they are saying in Indianapolis

Fury may swell insurgency
Protest over Hussein hanging suggests rising support for militants

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Enraged crowds protested the hanging of Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland Monday, as a mob in Samara broke the locks off a bomb-damaged Shiite shrine and marched through carrying a mock coffin and photo of the dictator.


The demonstration in the Golden Dome, shattered in a bombing by Sunni extremists 10 months ago, suggests that many Sunni Arabs now might more actively support the small number of Sunni militants fighting the country's Shiite-dominated government. The Feb. 22 bombing of the shrine triggered the current cycle of retaliatory attacks between Sunnis and Shiites, in the form of daily bombings, kidnappings and murders.
Until Hussein's execution Saturday, most Sunnis sympathized with militants but avoided taking a direct role in the sectarian conflict -- despite attacks by Shiite militia that have killed thousands of Sunnis or driven them from their homes. The Sunni protests, which appear to be building, could signal a spreading militancy.
Sunnis were not only outraged by Hussein's hurried execution, just four days after an appeals court upheld his conviction and sentence. Many also were incensed by the unruly scene in the execution chamber, captured on video, in which Hussein was taunted.
Many Sunnis are also upset that Hussein was put to death the day that Sunni celebrations began for Eid al-Ahda, a major Muslim festival. A judge said that the former dictator's execution at the start of Eid was illegal according to Iraqi law and contradicted Islamic custom.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070102/LOCAL17/701020361/-1/ZONES04

I think the 'hasty hanging' is going to result in more trouble than many ever imagined....