In DC over the weekend, the conversational buzz at coffee shops, wine bars, and holiday parties has focused on the graphic reports of Saddam Hussein's execution. Friends from both sides of the political fence are using words like "banal," "barbaric," "creepy," and "grotesque" to describe their reaction to the events. Questions about the timing of the execution, the chaotic nature of the trial, and the not-so-civilized death penalty, ("Only in Iraq and Texas...), serve as fodder for much of the chatter.
The mood is a stark contrast from cable news coverage and the front page headlines celebrating the "justice delivered" to a "brutal dictator," with pictures of Arabs celebrating in Dearborn, Michigan and Iraq, or file footage of Saddam shooting guns into the air or unsheathing swords.
Absent from mainstream coverage is mention of the intense criticism from world leaders of the use of the dealth penalty and the major questions raised about the trial. Buried in the back pages of the Sunday NY Times are just a few glimpses of an alternative take on the events.
HEADLINE: Around the World, Unease and Criticism of Penalty
Erkki Tuomioja, the foreign minister of Finland, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said, "The European Union has a very consistent stand on opposing the death penalty and it should not have been applied in this case either -- even though there is no doubt about Saddam Hussein's guilt over serious violations against human rights." In an editorial, The Guardian newspaper in London took an even more unequivocal position, saying, "The death penalty is an unacceptably cruel and unusual punishment, even in Iraq." The Vatican went so far as to call the execution "tragic" -- echoing expressions of revulsion by Muslim leaders, both in the West and in the broader Islamic world. "A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes," said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman. "The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society. On the contrary, there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence."
HEADLINE: Hussein's Case Won't Bolster International Human Rights Law, Experts Fear
Despite this application of international law against Mr. Hussein, experts say, his conviction for crimes against humanity has not significantly reinforced efforts to apply concepts of international human rights law around the world. They argue that the trial has been too widely perceived, both in Iraq and abroad, as a chaotic and politicized process with many serious flaws carried out by inexperienced judges. "It's highly doubtful that courts elsewhere might cite this judgment, given its poor credibility," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international justice program. Although domestic courts are now trying cases that include violations of international human rights law, the credibility of the Baghdad tribunal was also questioned by some because it was organized by the United States. European countries that had been asked for help said they could not participate because they had abolished the death sentence.
Rights groups and some international lawyers have deplored the execution as hasty. Some said the execution, based on a comparatively small case involving the killing of 148 civilians, cut short Mr. Hussein's second and far weightier trial for genocide, the gravest charge. "Such a rapid execution before the conclusion of the genocide trial is a serious legal setback and harms the credibility of the court," said Antoine Garapon, director of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies in Paris. He and some other lawyers argued that even if others were to stand trial for genocide against the Kurds in 1988, the person deemed most responsible would never face judgment. Many Kurds, in fact, say they have mixed feelings about his execution because it denies them the satisfaction of seeing Mr. Hussein face further evidence of genocide presented at the Kurdish trial, which was only a few weeks away from a conclusion.
Here at ScienceBlogs, the popular PZ Myers has this to say on the matter.
OVER AT THE HUFFINGTON POST, they capture Tom Brokaw's comments on the Don Imus Show comparing Hussein's hanging to the "wild west."
AT TRUTHDIG, Robert Sheer has this to say about the US Coverage of Hussein's Hanging.
From Spain. It is really depressing how has been hidden this condemn in USA media. Here there is a small example of the condemn to death penalty from several leaders of the European Union: the foreign affairs minister of Finland,the spokesman of the EU, the commissar of development of humanitarian help,the German government, the Vatican and the foreing affairs minister of United Kingdom. The text appeared on December,31st in El Pais, one of the main newspaper in Spain and the headline is really clear, it could be translated like: "Wave of condemns in the European Union"
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Oleada/condenas/Union/Euro…
Yes, the invinsible Bush.....always f#@cking up international relations with his delusion of grandeur and addiction to control and power. Will not this low intellect rich boy with the religous mental illness ever go to rehab or taste reality? Will we ever stop him? Wake up America...he's guilt of high crimes and in much need of impeachment and punishment!
from india. he killed thousands during his rule... by killing him, how many u are going to kill now? i think one should think about the present and future first... past u can forgive... media should bring a positive thoughts in people's mind... but we don't know the real reasons why? may be political pressures...
Good for us, then. And ignore the anklebiters like Spain we must. And for good reason. Their faux grandstanding when they got hit with terror a couple of years ago demonstrates they are in no position to preach to anyone. Running away, cowardice, and complacency in the face of danger are not noble attributes for a single person, much less for what used to be a great and noble nation. Boy--golly--Spain really showed her muster when over 200 of her citizens were burned and crushed alive by terrorists with a beef about Iraq (and YOU thought there was "no connection" between Iraq and the realm of terror, eh!?. The bodies say otherwise) and ran away in abject horror.
But then none of Europe is what she used to be. Al Quaida can now change elections in Europe almost by whim or terror fiat if nations react how Spain did and decide that no fight is worth a fight.
For Hussein: Well, just think of this whole unpleasantry in a more positive vein as in "Justice delayed is justice denied". If the "graver" charge of a larger genocide is missing or downplayed? Too bad, I say. Then..... he IS gone.
Yes, that's a shame, and its missing in the media is shameful. No, not a shame he is gone, but I'll admit it IS shameful we didn't get the full fun down on the hundreds of thousands of human beings he liquified and how smelly types took to the streets to make sure he stayed in office. Hell, for that matter some entire nations made a pitch for the continuing recognition of his wonderous and austere head-nipping governance. (see France and Germany, et al.)
Hussein was a gruesome man who got his justice, however.
That will have to do.
And yes, the punishment should fit the crime. Nothing else suffices, as life imprisonment would actually be more cruel than playing harps in the presence of Allah or getting serviced by 72 hot teenage chicks, or whatever the current legend is in Islam's many promises.
--WT