Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Any Doubts?
If you had any that Iraq is in the midst of a deeply sectarian civil war, check out this story (and this one too) about Saddam's hanging:
He held a Quaran, and when guards shouted out the name of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, he replied, sarcastically, "Moqtada," which was his last word.

The timing of the execution was the subject of some speculation, coming as it did at the beginning of Eid, a Muslim holiday that usually involves the sacrifice of a sheep. One of Hussein's lawyers told the L.A. Times that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki chose the date of the execution to "make a gift during Eid to his party." Hussein "will be the sacrificial lamb for the Shiites, and the Iranians in particular," the lawyer said. In a separate story, the L.A. Times finds several Islamic scholars who say it was inappropriate to have an execution during Eid.
Even the execution of Saddam is surrounded by politicians making a sectarian case for themselves. But what's really interesting is that al Maliki felt the need to push for that particular execution date to placate Shiites, and that obvious Moqtada al Sadr militia carried out the sentence.

As I said below, the entire trial and execution of Saddam was fraught with illegitimacy. He should have been tried in an international court and suffered a sentence imposed by the international community. But much like everything that is Bush in Iraq, we took the wild cowboy route.
Written at 8:53 AM by Greyhair.
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