As American citizens prepared for New Year's celebrations, it came over the wire that Saddam Hussein had been hanged by the neck until dead.
I thought it would be at least another month before this happened as indicated by Iraqi officials when they announced Hussein's appeal had been denied in November. It seemed evident the timing of this execution was meant to coincide with, if not altogether distract Americans from, reaching the disheartening plateau of 3,000 dead American soldiers.
We now surpass the Sept. 22 death toll, which seemed an unthinkable body count. We've matched it, though we had eclipsed it long before when taking into account American lives lost in Afghanistan during its invasion and subsequent occupation. Condoleezza Rice assures us the war is ”winnable” and ”worth the investment” in American lives and dollars. Perhaps we might consider diversifying our portfolio.
As flags across the United States waved at half-staff in honor of our fallen ex-Commander-in-Chief, Gerald Ford, I was reminded of his presidential pardon to Richard Nixon for his Watergate scandal. One must wonder if such a pardon will ever be granted to George W. Bush for crimes against humanity.
The Abu Ghraib prison debacle and its timeless photographs will forever beset the American people as racist, sex-peddling perverts in the eyes of Islamic nations. In one fell swoop, we collapsed our national dignity.
Our entire invasion strategy qualifies as a blatant disregard for our own definition of an ”act of terrorism” which has been officially explained as an activity that (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping.
In a letter to the American people released weeks prior to his execution, Saddam Hussein posed questions and provided answers for many of the things he had wanted to address. In his letter he asked, ”who has authorized America to make the countries of the world tailor their policies to America's measurements, and if they don't oblige, then war should be waged against them? How can one understand America's call for democracy if it does not permit a difference of opinion even in issues of a regional character, to say nothing of international ones? ... who, after all, appointed the American government to be the world policeman, to form the world in the mold that it like, giving national orders to the countries of the world?”
Without question, Mr. Hussein is no one to be admired. His own list of atrocities - the war with Iran, as well as the invasion of Kuwait, and his own death-dealing to the villagers whose crimes were they lived near and amongst would-be assassins, put the death toll up around 2 million dead Iraqis. For the better part of two millenia, Iraq finds itself perpetually embroiled in a political conundrum of tri-party mayhem, as Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis wield in-fighting of ethnic and Islamic denominational hatred that only a Baath party gangster like Saddam could hold down and whip into the relatively tame state we watched in the '90s.
When Bush Sr. ordered the withdrawal of our troops, Hussein signed a treaty, providing guarantees to not develop nuclear, ”weaponized” technology, along with a laundry list of NATO-backed demands, the bulk of which were adhered to with great care. Keeping his promises landed him no such relaxed conditions of free trade. Rather, he ultimately had to sneak Iraqi oil out of the country so it might be sold to the nearest, willing bidder. He was slowly able to rebuild Iraqi society to the brink of economic stabilization before we came in to ”save the day.”
Hussein continues, ”Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, whoever missed his or her chance to take action to try to prevent the war still has a chance to act to end it and bring back peace and freedom to Iraq in accordance with the choice of its people without foreign interference by anyone whoever that may be ... Or will you invite the machine of death to continue to eat away at the flesh of Iraqis and the flesh of American without doing anything to resolve this?”
Again, Hussein is not a man to be admired. Is Bush worthy of admiration for his efforts, or is merely a puppet in a larger scheme to line the pockets of wealthy investors that turn chaos into profit with their marriage of industrial-wartime-technology and politics?
Is Bush prepared to undergo impeachment proceedings, or are they just set aside for an extra-marital affair? That was an impeachable offense in ”Clintonian America,” but where have all the Kenneth Starrs gone?
Lying to the citizens of the country claiming the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in order to rally a nation into a war which leaves tens of thousands dead should be grounds for dismissal, if not intense investigation.
This is a war of attrition, of occupation, of outlasting a resistance movement that only gains momentum fostering anti-American sentiments which dwarf those that led to Sept. 11.
Congressional oversight should investigate all activities that have brought American morality into question, so that the world stage can view us as the benevolent landlord we insist ourselves to be. American lives, despite the declarations of an antagonistic administration, are not ”worth the investment” when we, as a proud people, are not even clear as to why we are fighting.
Joshua Reese is a resident of Folcroft.