Bush's Carnival of Blood

The Logic of Kill and Be Killed

By MIKE WHITNEY
CounterPunch

"This is a dark day for Americans and Iraqis alike.

Killing Saddam Hussein isn't justice; its vengeance. Only Bush believes the two are the same.

How are we supposed to feel now that we know that Saddam will be hanged for his crimes?

Elated? Energized? Jubilant?

Will it wash away the oceans of blood that Bush generated with his misguided and tragic war?

The administration clings to the foolish notion that killing Saddam will somehow justify their unprovoked invasion and slaughter of 650,000 Iraqis.

It won't.

I expect that many people feel the same sense of disgust and emptiness that I do. The joy of executing Saddam is limited to a small cadre of men who revel in the suffering and subjugation of others. They are human in name only.

Sentencing a man to hang merely to improve one's prospects at the ballot-box is about as desperate as it gets. It may be the most cynical political-ploy we've seen in the last 6 years. It's a thoroughly vile act unworthy of anyone holding high-office.

"Pardon and do not take revenge on the invading nations and their peopleand unify in the face of sectarian strife."

Saddam's message of forgiveness and reconciliation won't be warmly received in Washington where they were hoping that he would fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness. That was another miscalculation. Saddam may be a brutal tyrant but he was never a coward. His courtroom performance will only strengthen the resolve of the resistance and make life that much more difficult for occupation forces.

Saddam's death will have the same effect as the appalling photos of the hooded prisoner at Abu Ghraib which offended the sensibilities of decent people everywhere. It will just generate more hatred and violence.

This isn't justice. It's another example of a nation's dark shame. "