Letters to the Editor
-
Bush Is Great: did Yahoo shutting down its message boards hurt you..?
Fucking troll.
-
No Need for Pretense
Saddam had a political revenge 'trial'. This was only to be expected. It provided the fig-leaf for what the Dawa Party really wanted -- revenge. And don't drag the US govt in. This is an Iraqi govt, doing exactly what any Shia post-Saddam govt would've done --even without the Americans. The latter are certainly culpable for their invasion in the first place, but the Iraqis _do_ play a role in their own history. They don't just play a supporting role for the Bush administration.
-
Saddam and Pinochet
Funny that David Schlaefer should cite Augusto Pinochet in comparison to Saddam. Does he realize that both dictators as well as many others like them were at times great favorites of the US governments? David, do you remember the handhake pictures of Rumsfeld with Saddam on the occasion of the latter aquiring the (in)famous WMDs for which he also was supposed to be tried? That trial never happened, could it be to protect good ole Rumsfailed and Cheney? Why was Saddam not tried before a really independent court like the ICC in denHaag? His well deserved suffering was was unfortunately shortened . Why?
-
The Convenient Hanging of Saddam Hussein
The timing was exquisite.
Air America is down for the holidays. All the "mainstream" media are gushing about the Iraqis dancind for joy at his death.
It also occurred late on Friday, the dead newsday when no one pays attention. No meaningful commentary can be made until Tuesday of next week--by that time the hanging of Saddam Hussein will be a moot topic.
However, the New York Times bravely publishes a column--I wonder where the Times found the backbone to do this--by Najmaldin Karim, neurosurgeon, and president of the Washington Kurdish Institute:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/opinion/30karim.html
According to Dr. Karim, "Killing Saddam now, however, for ordering the massacre at Dujail in 1982, means that he will not face justice for his greatest crimes: the so-called Anfal campaign against the Kurds in the late 1980s, the genocidal assault on the Marsh Arabs in the 1990s, and the slaughtering of the Shiite Arabs and Kurds who rose up against him, with American encouragement, in 1991."
-
What Did the Ghoul-in-Chief Do?
I wonder, did the Ghoul-in-Chief masturbate with Saddam's pistol as the hanging was carried out?
-
If only Bush pursued justice so vigorously for American deaths...
Great, Saddam is dead. He was an evil man. It is unfortunate the path we took to kill him lead him to martyrdom, but that is another point. My question is:
Does anyone wonder why Bush feels more inclined to pursue justice for Iraqis than he does for Americans?
His mouth pieces have been out all week speaking about how pointless it is to pursue Osama bin Laden, and how his capture and execution wouldn't fix anything. Why do they hate America and love Iraq?
-
I thought Righties would be pissed off over this....interesting
Most Righties I know or hear from all say that muslims in the Middle East are all a bunch of stone-age barbarian ragheads who hate America. Yet they have no beef about the fact that Bush has sent our troops and treasure to Iraq in order to avenge the deaths of said barabrians. Not to mention the fact that Bush allocated these resources to Iraq at the expense of otherwise pursuing justice for the thousands of Americans slaughtered on 9/11.
I guess justifying their allegiance to Bush outweighs their allegiance to their country and to rationale thought.
-
Heating a Frying Pan to 10,000 Degrees is Hard Work
I don't mind telling you, I thought that old dictator would never show up!
All's well that ends well. He's safely esconced in his skillet, right between Marx and Hitler.
Oh, and tell Fidel I've got one on the fire for him right now.
-
Saddam: The death of a dictator
Juan Cole begs the question, justice or revenge?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave advice, I believe, to his son on giving a speech, “be concise, be brief, be seated.” ; assuming that relates to making a point, I will follow that advice.
We all know who and what Saddam Hussein was. He was a tyrant who ruled with a heavy hand. He mercilessly butchered people he perceived as enemies, along with his enemies, or for that matter, anyone who even resembled a perceived opponent. He has been compared to Hitler, Stalin, et al.
For many years, where it was convenient for the United States, Hussein was their man. The U.S. had him on a short leash even when he fell out of favor and Hussein never posed a threat against the United States. Yes, he barked no differently than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, but never bit. In actuality, Kim Jong Il poses a legitimate threat to the United States and yet, he is left alone rattling his pocket knife.
When Hussein’s hubris and self aggrandizement took over all of his senses, he attacked Kuwait to expand what Hussein perceived as his glorious empire of Iraq. When he was checked by George H.W. Bush, he publicly declared he was going to put a hit on the former President.
It has been widely admitted to by many senior staffers that George W. Bush Jr. wanted to attack early on in his presidency. The events of 9/11 gave President Bush, in his mind, the green light to exact his revenge.
The United States has entered into a an inexplicable war. Costing many thousands of innocent American and Iraqi lives for no clearly definable reason, this occupation of Iraq continues. G.W. Bush Jr. has admitted to his many mistakes in this decision and yet, there exists no end-game or strategy.
In closing, George Bush’s mandated execution of Saddam Hussein is the crowning achievement to the President’s many failures in this entire matter.
-
Scammed
I think even Juan Cole has been scammed this time. I doubt very much that the individual hanged in Baghdad was the real SH. SH was very smart, and very clever, having at any one time multiple doubles or look-a-likes.
Nothing is as it appears...it is all illusion back to Source.
jhawk
-
siffsscorn
Saddam had to go. If the Anfal Campaign were to be debated in court, Saddam's lawyers would have produced all kinds of documentation about how Reagan/Ford administrations' henchmen Donny Rumsfeld and Dicky Cheney provided Saddam's military with the conventional weapons, the chemicals and the delivery systems for exterminating the Kurds.
The Bush administration could not afford to have that kind of egg on its face going into 2008.