Judge Not Least Ye Be Judged
Saddam Hussein will hang and the day can't come soon enough. His crimes against his own countrymen are monstrous. So I was shocked to read that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has come out against the hanging.
"Carrying out this verdict will explode violence like waterfalls in Iraq," Mubarak told the Egyptian press. He feared that hanging Saddam will deepen sectarian and ethnic conflicts, according to an Associated Press article.
Can Mubarak honestly believe that sparing Saddam's life will have any effect on the violence in Iraq? Whether Saddam lives or dies has become a footnote in the tragedy that is Iraq. "The Sunni insurgency is so entrenched and sectarian bloodlust so strong that Iraq seems set to continue spiraling into violence -- regardless of its former president's fate," said Robert Reid in an Associated Press analysis. Saddam's fate is not driving the forces that are tearing Iraq apart. That is the work of religious, nationalistic and sectarian politics, continually fanned to flame by zealots pursuing their own power-grabbing agendas. If there is a small spark in the violence on the day Saddam dies, will anyone even notice?
It seems more likely that Mubarak speaks for the entrenched Arab political community. Given the fact that Arabs often identify with their leaders, analysts wonder if those leaders aren't just a little worried about the precedent being set in Iraq. "Saddam's yearlong trial has shocked Arab leaders, including those who are against him," said Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan in an Associated Press article. "We've witnessed leaders being assassinated, but never being judged in the Arab world." Makes you wonder what they're afraid of.
"Carrying out this verdict will explode violence like waterfalls in Iraq," Mubarak told the Egyptian press. He feared that hanging Saddam will deepen sectarian and ethnic conflicts, according to an Associated Press article.
Can Mubarak honestly believe that sparing Saddam's life will have any effect on the violence in Iraq? Whether Saddam lives or dies has become a footnote in the tragedy that is Iraq. "The Sunni insurgency is so entrenched and sectarian bloodlust so strong that Iraq seems set to continue spiraling into violence -- regardless of its former president's fate," said Robert Reid in an Associated Press analysis. Saddam's fate is not driving the forces that are tearing Iraq apart. That is the work of religious, nationalistic and sectarian politics, continually fanned to flame by zealots pursuing their own power-grabbing agendas. If there is a small spark in the violence on the day Saddam dies, will anyone even notice?
It seems more likely that Mubarak speaks for the entrenched Arab political community. Given the fact that Arabs often identify with their leaders, analysts wonder if those leaders aren't just a little worried about the precedent being set in Iraq. "Saddam's yearlong trial has shocked Arab leaders, including those who are against him," said Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan in an Associated Press article. "We've witnessed leaders being assassinated, but never being judged in the Arab world." Makes you wonder what they're afraid of.
