It might seem a bit late to blog about this, but I've got to talk about it.
It's been an interesting start to a New Year.
At the tail end of 2006, we saw the execution of Saddamn Hussein.
And we saw Americans around the country thirst for his death like torch-weilding villagers outside of Frankenstein's castle.
And in addition, there were the reports that people danced around his dead body in Iraq.
For the record,
this is why I'm essentially against the death penalty-- it brings out the inner-ape in people-- those few remaining threads of primitive genetic material that haven't evolved since our cave-dwelling, spear-hunting days.
As CNN showed footage of people around the globe who were rooting for Saddam's death, the looks on their faces astounded me... nothing but pure hatred and bloodthirst in their eyes... holding up their "Death to Saddam" signs with fake blood inked around the lettering.
You know...
I'm quite positive Saddam was an evil dictator.
However... he was a few other things as well. And just to name a few...
1. He was a bone of appeasment, thrown to the Americans to chew on when Bin Laden couldn't be caught.
2. He was a trophy, won by junior Bush to present to daddy Bush, like a small child who wins that first Little League trophy, after months of backyard training with his father. The trophy his father was never able to win himself.
3. He was a distraction from the foreign policy issues that Bush SHOULD have been dealing with.
And along with all of the things that he WAS, there's a real important thing that he WASN'T:
A threat to America.
And now that he is dead, the question must be asked:
Is the world safer?
Is AMERICA safer?
Are we closer to winning the so-called "War on Terror?"
Or the war in Iraq?
You can answer that one yourself by picking up a daily paper or watching a bit of the evening news.
The answer is a click away.
What do you think?
--James Mongold, 1/3/07
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11 comments:
He was also a dictator that we supported in the 80's. So his execution can be seen as an atonement for our governments' screwups. I find it interesting that the US government wanted to delay the execution, probably until the next presidential election race so that the Republicans would have their trophy, but that is just me being cynical.
I think republicans are in the shit-can right now, in more ways than one.
More people than ever are beginning to realize that Bush has done nothing but destroy our country during his reign over the White House.
I guess my question is, where were the Americans in that bit of video stream of Sadam's execution? I didn't see any.
I'm not a fan of "Bush Jr.," by ANY means, but to say that it was a ploy to win over "Daddy's" praise is probably ignorant. To be perfectly honest and "Daily Show"-esque, I'd venture to say that Bush Jr. has is own agenda, and Daddy doesn't play as big a part as critics would like to think. In fact, I think Bush Sr. knows damn good and well that there is no saving the Little Bush, from himself, so why bother to try? I think Bush Sr. is content in hanging out with Clinton, speaking at college graduations, and participating in aide/relief funds for some extra pocket change.
I digress: the middle East is chock-full of violence, and war, and terror, etc., and I'm still wondering if we should even be participating in it or not, as a "neutral, war against terror" country. At least, that is the campaign that our government has been feeding to us... am I right? Is this another Vietnam? Why has the American government suddenly decided that one fascist killing his own people, or people in neighboring countries, is now "wrong"? Is there something to be gained, just as there was when Hitler was put to death? Why are we just NOW scrutinizing it? I think the real question should be concerning our government's consistancy... You want to talk about primitivity and monkeys: look at who is setting the bar!
Anonymous:
The Americans were in the CNN footage. I don't know if you watched anything on the networks as Saddamn's execution inched closer, but there was a lot of footage of Americans around our country protesting in favor of the execution. That's what I'm talking about here.
As for America being netural in the war on terror-- that's hilarious.
The "War on Terror" was created by our hands. Some would say the terrorists started it, but let's step back further and examine why we are so completely loathed as a country.
I'm not really sure where you stand on this... you seem to be on the fence a bit. Am I wrong?
Yes, I AM on the fence. Some of our politicians claim that the U.S. is "neutral," and there inlies the hypocrisy. I really just like to hear what people think about this whole war scandal (wouldn't YOU say there is scandal, here?), and its funny what I hear. Some folks like to bring religion into this, because they are believers, and claim to live their whole lives according to the Bible. Lets be real here: the Bible is a cruel book... it would be blasphemus to say you live your life according to the Bible (rape, murder, greed, hatred, jealousy, incest, etc.)...
Others have a more vigilante/dictator approach: kill them all! Bomb the whole middle east, that way they're all exterminated (like cockroaches) and we don't have to worry about makeshift suicide bombings anymore...
Still others don't seem to have an opinion at all: if the president says we should be there, then we should, end of story. No gray area.
To me, none of these opinions make sense.
If I knew all of the details of this war, of this government, etc., not only would I have a much more formulated and concrete opinion, I'd probably be the most paranoid sober person on the planet. The problem is, they often do not share the information that is pertinent. Instead, we read stories and biased opinions from the media about the "facts..." Who knows WHAT the hell to believe, and given that question, who CARES anyway? This is why I'm a young person who has never voted, despite the fact that I know more about politics than a lot of my peers do. HELL YES, I'M ON THE FENCE.
Well, at least you're certain about being on the fence.
As for your concerns,
it's understandable.
The constant stream of opinions from all directions and contradictory "facts" that hit a person every time they turn around... it can be enough to make most people throw up their hands and scream that they don't give a shit anymore.
But...
It's an interesting situation the world has gotten itself into here.
That, cannot be denied by anyone.
I think that Anonymous has touched on a problem that we have in this country in general. We are on the fence. We have been pushed so many ways over so many issues that many people, especially college and high school age people have no idea which way to go. Keep hope, you are not alone. Just look at the evidence from your own perspective, through the lens of your own experiences and make up your mind. Remember, no matter what anyone says you can only be wrong if you disagree with me.
I think that it serves him right. Someone needed to get rid of him the way he killed women and children was ruthless.
It is my understanding that Saddam was not executed for the Americans. He was executed for the Iraqi's. Saddam had no dictatorship in the Americas whatsoever. That's Bush's realm. ;) The execution was turned into a "trophy" because now either Bush can say, "Look, see? The war is working! We've taken down a terrorist!" And the sheep eat it up.
Most American sheep are confused that Saddam was executed for America because of the whole war-on-terror propeganda that they've been spoon-fed. Thus, if they were thinking at all, then they may have been celebrating out of spite. Remember all the celebrating that took place in the middle east at 911?
I think what Anonymous was asking was, where were all the Americans in Iraq at the time? The only ones I saw on camera who were actually there in Iraq at the time of the execution, were the military. The partying Americans seen on the news footage were here in America, not in Iraq. Also Saddam was tried, sentenced and executed by the Iraqi government, not the US. US military were there to protect the body because the Iraqi's wanted to desecrate it. I personally don't blame them.
On the subject of primal urges and behaviors, if someone came in, tortured you, slaughtered your mate and children, blew up your city and whatever else, would you not behave the same way if the bastard was executed? Think about it.
*Opinions herein are subject to change without notice. ;)
Not to be a trainspotter, but Hitler wasn't put to death. (comment 3)
Saddam was not a good guy, but the world is no safer with him gone. And Iraqis are certainly no safer with his regime gone, with no guess as to when they will be...
My feeling is, they should have made him stand trial for every massacre, gas attack, etc. of which he was accused. It might seem redundant (wasn't the one war crime enough?), but a more thorough tribunal accounting would hurt nothing and dull the Robespierre atmosphere of the proceedings. Nobody in Iraq was rallying around the imprisoned Hussein.
It all seemed out of the blue to me.
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