saddam’s penalty
i read two wonderfully different posts regarding saddam hussein’s death penalty on these two blogs : married with kids and lanka libertarian.
i have a lot of mixed up, confused feelings and opinions about capital punishment, particularly the hanging of saddam hussein. morally and principally, i am personally against the death penalty. i don’t believe in justice served through the execution of someone, no matter the crimes he or she is responsible for. i believe that those that have been wronged will never be served justice, even if the wrong doer is executed. i believe that the human does things for complex reasons, things are not as black and white as we make them out to be for our convenience. i think it’s just easy for us to say ‘he deserves to die’, rather than to analyze and accept what’s really wrong ; the system is flawed, we all contribute to this never ending cycle of mistakes and hypocrisy and selfish actions. i believe that a death penalty will not fix anything. it will only result in another death, another murder, another flaw in the system we create.
i am not pro saddam hussein. he has much more blood on his hands than i even care to think about. he was a selfish despot who would have let nothing stop him for getting the unadulterated power he wanted. he has committed too many crimes to ignore, and the whole world knows this.
but what about bush? are we prepared to ignore the humongous flaws in george bush’s plan? are we willing to ignore how selfish he is, how blinded he has become by his own victory, how thoughtless he has become through his own madness? george bush is crazy. there is no other explanation. but is anyone taking him to trial? are we investigating his crimes against humanity? how long can we ignore that the moment he has to, he will pull all his troops out of iraq and leave it in the care of another despotic (if not worse) government? that he never really cared about liberating the innocent iraqi people, that it was all about his private agenda?
everyone knows that bush has long been a proponent of capital punishment. during his six years as governor of texas, 152 convicts were put to death. he is paranoid and insane and obsessed with his own power game. there will be no stopping him, there already isn’t.
saddam’s death will not only cause catastrophic consequences internationally, it will fix absolutely nothing. it will not right any of the wrongs of the past, it will not justify the US invasion of iraq, it will not make everything ok.
its a vicious cycle ; saddam hussein will die but there will always be others to replace him. there will always come others who are far worse, there will be others who will shed more blood and cause more damage and we will never know why they do it or how to stop them. crime is a complex and many layered thing. suffering is unpatchable. it is easy to see things as we see easiest ; saddam is a monster and he deserves to die. but it is childish and disillusional if we believe that it’s going to make everything right, that it is going to serve justice. it is harder, but more right, to see things as they truly are.
No doubt he deserves his sentence. But, so do the Bushes, Blairs, Rices, Powells, and Rumsfelds of this planet…
Democracy teaches us that some eggs are more equal than others…
Comment by Fazli Sameer — November 6, 2006 @ 6:28 am
If GB should be sentenced for leading the US govt into Iraq, so should the Mahinda etc for leading the GOSL into shamelessly commiting disgraceful acts of vengance and hatred against innocent people right across the North East of S/Lanka.
What is the difference between George Bush and Mahinda. Both are dumb, both haven’t a clue and both are leaving a horrible and lasting legacy. One thing we need to be careful about Electra, is taking the higher moral ground about the US etc whilst turning a blind eye to what is happening in S/Lanka.
From where I sit, I support George Bush’s supposed desire to get rid of a murdering evil swine who treated his people with the utmost contempt. However, under the guise of God, Democracy and cheaper oil and ridding the world of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism; fools and horses (Tony Blair and others) followed George bush into Iraq.
If you take the higher moral ground and you say that God’s on your side - you had better be sure he is because boy will he let you know when you are lying.
George Bush and Mahinda will go down in histroy as men who led their people and their country astray.
So let this be on their heads - but don’t let it be on yours.
Comment by ashanthi — November 6, 2006 @ 11:36 am
ashanthi : spot on, you are right. i don’t expect god, or anyone, to be on my side. this is my personal opinion and i realize it is too heartfelt and naive, it is hardly practical, hardly realistic in this cruel world. let the man die, but let us not gloat about it by calling it rightful and justice. that was my point. i’m not against handing him the death penalty so much as i am against people turning a blind eye to the real problems by hailing this decision to hang him as the correct and only solution. it is much more complicated than killing one for one, and it only makes us immature and one dimensional to want to give saddam hussein’s murderer a medal. i want people, especially those of my generation, to open their minds to the complexity of our problems, to feel things as they are to be felt, to recognize redundancy and futility and not mistake it for something else, something better. i want people to try and understand something on their own, develop opinions of their own based on their own intelligence and feelings, and not get into this coveniently acquired habit of following the herd. it is important that we acknowledge the depth of the issue, even if we cannot solve it. it is important that we say how we feel about a death penalty, even if we cannot change it.
Comment by electra — November 6, 2006 @ 12:27 pm
for the record i too have “mixed up, confused feelings and opinions” about capital punishment ( though perhaps not confused ones). while i oppose it , i will not make generalized statements like “capital punishment is always wrong”. every case is different from each other. specifics and details are all important. in fact my main objection to capital punishment is its non reversible generalized quality. ( an objection that can be arguably overridden in this particular case, while imo it cannot be argued against in most capital punishment cases). if that does not make sense, sorry, I may write more on this more clearly in my blog later if i get some free time.
we are all selfish and act almost exclusively on selfish motives. that is not a crime. ( i am always surprised at the way some ppl assume it is ; recently there was a sl blog post somewhere about why we fight the war and listed various selfish reasons ( as opposed to altruistic motives we put forward ) that underly the war as if they are “wrong”, i was too busy at the time to respond). it is how we go about furthering our selfish interests that will be judged, case by case, esp if we lose.
in the end ppl are free to choose and are thus responsible for their actions however “complex” their reasons. “system ” is not an excuse.
saddam was not judged bc he was selfish . he was convicted bc he killed specific ppl in a way that exceeded what most ppl ( and law regarding crimes against humanity) consider acceptable. when that happens ppl demand justice. ( which btw is not revenge but let’s not get in to that question or whether we need justice, now, this comment is too lengthy as is ). anyway if we accept justice as a one of the pre conditions of civilized human society, justice was served yesterday. will it make everything ok ? no, it is only one part of what is required.
btw i don’t think bush is “crazy”. his actions with regard to iraq were rational ( whether we accept his idealistic neo conservative agenda, or his alleged selfish real politic agenda ). imo history will judge him and all those who took the collective decision democratically under his leadership with him much more kindly than certain type of ppl do right now. while there is not much room for such change of opinion about saddam.
Comment by sittingnut — November 6, 2006 @ 1:47 pm
s/nut machan - “certain type of ppl”? Come on don’t go all soft on me know
.
We agree indeed on many points electra. As I have just said on s/nut’s blog - we have more to gain by studying this monster than by killing him.
The thought of people lining the streets of Iraq mourning and weeping for him - worries me. Makes me sick really. They should think so carefully about what he might become in death. Stalin and Hitler as you know are still hailed as great men.
The spectre of a show trial looms.
Instead he should be shown a little mercy in exchange for gaining some answers as to why he did what he did. He’s an old evil bastard he hasn’t got long to go.
I wish I could say the same for the despots who run S/Lanka.
Comment by ashanthi — November 6, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
My biggest gripe with capital punishment is that its proponents confuse it for justice. Justice is when the victims are given closure, an end to physical and/or emotional strife. When the victims in this case are dead - buried in some pit, were burnt alive or worse - where is, I ask, the closure? Do their families pretend everything is okay now that the man responsible is going to die as well?
Saddam’s death penalty is nothing more than judicial revenge.
Kudos, Electra. Great post. I hope this post will become a discussion for capital punishment.
Comment by Theena — November 8, 2006 @ 9:29 pm
Theena - the families who continue to live on after the victim is dead are the ones who often call out for revenge. Interstingly enough in the US’s deep south full of fundamentalist Christians, this is where revenge is desired. On the other hand, people who do not believe in capital punishment have let go of an eye for eye and developed through Christian principles of forgiveness and do unto others as you would have done to you.
I despise Saddam and all other despot mad evil bastards like him (as you know we have a few of our own in S/L) but I think behaving like them only makes matters worse. Who is to say that all Saddam wants is to be a martyr anyway? That would behis last revenge.
Comment by ashanthi — November 8, 2006 @ 10:01 pm
theena : i dont think its proponents confuse it for justice. those that condone it know very well that in its essence, it is far from justice. perhaps that’s just the way they put it to us stupid commoners? to make it sound alright? to make us support their actions? and if you don’t think about it too hard and you dont think about it independently, it might be fairly easy to believe, and not really believe but convince oneself that it is justice, because it sounds suspiciously like that.
Comment by electra — November 9, 2006 @ 5:38 am
Ashanti - I am aware of the American South’s record when it comes to capital punishment. People have to understand, though, that violence breeds violence.
You know what I thought was interesting? The way Saddam played the religious card during his trial and especially on the day of the verdict. Saddam has been secular leader most of his life. The fact that he chanted “God is Great” and “Allah is great” tells me one thing: when he dies, he wants to be seen as a martyr for Muslims. If it strikes a chord amongst the Sunni population - as it is already proving to be - you can expect the situation in Iraq to worsen the day after his execution. Especially if some media organization decides to (irresponsibly) fan the flames of discontent.
If that happens, it will be Saddam’s ultimate check-mate. This time, George Bush won’t have a scape goat.
Electra: From my understanding of the death penalty issue in the American South, it is perceived as justice. I can see how that would happen: if say someone was to harm one of my loved ones today, I’d want to hurt that person. Badly. Consider that example on a macro-social example, and you can see that seeds for capital punishment has well and truly been laid.
However, its not really difficult to consider that the issue may have been given various spins by different politicians. I think the one question that opponents of capital punishment haven’t been able to answer properly is this: what is the alternative to capital punishment? If a man who has been proven to be the architect of horrific crimes against humanity (like Saddam), what punishment is appropriate?
I can think of only one sentence - life sentence with an indefinite period of solitary confinement - but even then the question remains: was justice served?
Comment by Theena — November 9, 2006 @ 8:51 am
I was honestly ticked off about this death sentence for some reason.. and decided to try and vent myself.. yet the words never came.. cos in this country.. names can’t be used
Comment by Mr. Evil — November 11, 2006 @ 10:20 am