The True End Of Saddam's Terror

By now, we all know the end of Saddam Hussein’s rein of terror. Interesting how it actually happened for the former Iraqi president/dictator.

It did not seem likely that he would be excused from the land of the living, I have to say. I thought that some groups, either human rights organizations, international political leaders or even the threat of more death from insurgents, would change the minds of the new Iraq government. I figured the most likely end for Saddam was either a life sentence, to be exiled and become a life-long guest of some country that would have him or make a daring escape with the help of his followers.

And maybe this is why I’m not a betting man in general. I did not think that justice would be served. Maybe it is because there is a lack of swift justice in this country that shaped my opinion of Saddam’s execution.

However, it was important that the sentence was carried out. To not follow through with the execution would have sent the worse signs to many people. It would have shown to the Iraqi people, who have suffered many unimaginable horrors under Saddam, that the new government would not be one of law and justice. In my Nov. 6 blog, “How Saddam’s Sentence Affects Iraqis, Islamic Dictators,” I said that the former tyrant’s sentence would send shivers down the backs of many leaders in the Islamic world because they, like Saddam, suppress and torture their own people and deny them basic human rights. Powerful people like them actually fear the little man who has been denied justice and will fight for a just form of government. And that is what happened in Iraq in many ways.

Maybe some thought like I did and that Saddam would escape that particular way of death. But I would imagine that many learned from the past and knew that once a dictator is overthrown, death by the hands of the “revolutionaries” would soon follow. However, I believe that many Islamic leaders in the Middle East never thought Saddam would go through a trail and be sentenced to death from a newly-formed democratic government. And that is another thing they must fear greatly.

Hopefully, there is a sense of closure for the victim’s and their families who suffered greatly by the hands of Saddam. Some Iraqis hope that his death will bring the end to the violence that has occurred on an almost daily basis by the insurgents. Others feel that they will retaliate and seek revenge for Saddam on a later date. But one must remember that people who torture and murder their own countrymen as the insurgents are doing need no motivations to justify their actions.