Angry Sunnis march, Saddam video inquiry promised

Reuters ^ | 02 Jan 2007 | Claudia Parsons and Ibon Villelabeitia

[oceanview]

yes, its superficial, and it in no way has any bearing on whether saddam got what he deserved - he did.

but it does matter with respect to the nation building going on in iraq - the Sunni minority can't feel as if some Sadr mob "lynched" Saddam, it needed to appear as if a government did it. They failed to convey that message with this "leaked" video. At least the US acted fast to make sure the body was properly handled.

[oceanview]

I look at it this way - it can't help. A proper execution - professional, disciplined - would have been alot better then what we saw. and Maliki couldn't even pull that off.

[Purrcival]

No. He simply said, "I fear that it will backfire, not only on the Maliki government, but also on the United States", and that was the end of the interview.

[jveritas]

The execution of Saddam is very important because it is an end of an era of one of the worst brutal dictator in history. For the short run it will not have an effect on the level of violence in Iraq, the Sunni Arabs cannot do more violence than what they are doing now. However on the long run, when both the Shia and Sunni terrorists are greatly weakened because in few months they will be crushed by the biggest offensive against the them by US-Iraqi-Coalition forces, then the Sunni Arabs will realize that there is no Saddam anymore and it is easier for them to give up their delusions of controlling Iraq again.

[jveritas]

Get real, they will not hate us more than they hate us now because Saddam was executed or because he was mocked by one guard or one witness before he was dead.

[Purrcival]

That would make sense, especially since those in the room were taunting Saddam with Mookie's name, right before the execution.

[jveritas]

PS: Mark Ginsberg is a defeatist who wants us to cut and run from Iraq.

[raygun]

In the video, widely seen on the Internet, observers chant the name of Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr as Saddam stands on the scaffold, a convicted mass killer appearing dignified in contrast to the uproar below him.

"dignified" my ass, that bastige was crapping his pants. He was white as a ghost when he was standing there. Sure he displayed some defiance on occassion, but there was an exchange there that put the fear of God into him. I believe that was when the guard told him "God damn you." That shook him up.

Then he launched into his shahadal, his short tenure on this planet ending abrubtly in mid-incantation on the word Mohammad-

[indcons]

Thanks...I appreciate your viewpoint.

[Purrcival]

Actually, I'm RELIEVED that Saddam is dead, even if the execution wasn't done as "professionally" as we might have hoped. My fear was that once he was handed over to the Iraqis, there might be some loyalists who would spring him, and everyone would be back to square one. At least now, with the Unholy Trinity of Saddam, Uday, and Qusay all being dead, there's no chance of them coming back to power. That should erase that particular fear from among the majority of the populace.

[raygun]

You haven't gotten your marching orders yet? What's up with that? First you missed out on the Dixie Chick vendetta thing that we had going on, and now this? You're going to lose your status, and be relegated to under-Freeper, and then Freeper-in-training, and lose all Freeper rights and priveledges - except those that the left believes your are entitled to until they revoke them because of your inability to handle said privledges - in short order unless you straighten up and start flying right.

[Purrcival]

I realize that. I was simply relaying the opinion of one of the talking heads who appears on Fox News from time to time. And yes, he does strike me as a defeatist.

[oceanview]

well sure, we should have dropped a grenade into that spiderhole when we found him. case closed.

but that's not what we are discussing now. at some point, iraq has to start acting as if it has a GOVERNMENT. they failed here, and this same failure of professionalism and discipline - is what we see in their security forces. its the same problem, manifesting itself in different ways. that's what these comments apply to.

[oceanview]

charles krauthammer said the same thing.

[jveritas]

The Sunni minority hated us, the Shia and the Kurds, a week ago, a year ago, and many years with the same intensity that they hate us, the Shia, and the Kurds now.

Oceanview, and many freepers need to stop looking at the Middle East problem from a Western perspective. In the West and in the US in particular we get positively affected by nice gestures and get positively affected if we see good intentions being expressed. That is the not the same in the Middle East. That is why I am absolutely positive that if the Guards were kissing and hugging Saddam before his execution, a lot of Sunni Arabs will still be hate filled and angry and they will march in anger protesting the execution.

[jveritas]

Exactly correct.

[Purrcival]

Understood. Unfortunately, we are dealing with people who were oppressed by this man for several decades, with many of them having relatives who were tortured and murdered at his hands. They lived in fear, day in and day out because of him. How would you suggest that the fledgling Maliki government control the natural desire for revenge?

[oceanview]

there cannot be peace in iraq, and a stable government - without the Sunnis. unless you are suggesting we just turn Sadr et al loose and let them conduct a genocide against the Sunnis to supress them. Trust me, Sadr and the Shia would be just as ruthless as Saddam and Chemical Ali.

at some point, the Sunnis have to believe they are a stakeholder, as a minority within the country, in a legitimate goverment. if they do not, the insurgency will never end - they can continue this level of violence indefinetely, and we all know what american public opinion is on the war (113 US KIA in december). this execution, the way it was handled, didn't help to further this goal.

[org.whodat]

To get even, I propose the Sunnis should be allowed to hang Moqtada al-Sadr and taunt him with monkey sounds and "Saddam, Saddam, Saddam" chants. That will be helluva fun.

Now that sounds like a real plan.

[oceanview]

all that was needed here - was a professional, disciplined hanging. put the witnesses behind a glass wall where they can chant and no one will hear them. tell the guards conducting the hanging to shutup and do their jobs. the only words that need to be spoken are the prounouncing of the sentence, and the last words of the condemned.