Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Wednesday 12/17/2003

Welcome to my world. I received an email from a former GI Jane who echoed my sentiments concerning the capture of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein. She wished he would have raised the weapon on his lap and made the decision for us instead of creating another storm of controversy. She would have preferred the DNA sample be taken off a corpse. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and now it begins. How, and how long, will it take for justice to be served? Kofi Anonymous of the UN doesn't want a tribunal because Saddam could be sentenced to death. Human rights groups in Boston and New York don't want a tribunal or a quick trial or a death sentence. The U.S. wants months and months, a lot of time, to try to glean information from the notorious liar, while the Iraqis want a quick, televised trial, followed by a quick execution. I have to agree with the U.S. appointed Iraq Governing Council, whose members, for the most part, suffered because of Saddam's atrocities. Mouwafak al Rabbii, a human rights activist who was imprisoned by Saddam and is now a council member, says the man killed hundreds of thousands of people. If he has to be killed once, he thinks he has to be resurrected hundreds of times and killed again. The council appointed to rule Iraq is predicting a quick trial and quick execution. They are waiting for Iraq's occupiers, mean the coalition, to pass sovereignty to a new government. In the words of Rabbii, we will get sovereignty on the 30th of June. I can tell you Saddam could be executed on the first of July. The idea of allowing the Iraqis to bring this murderous madman to justice is the best way to handle the sticky situation because it lessens the chance of him becoming a martyr thus encouraging more terror. History is funny that way. A leader taken out by an enemy is remembered and revered, but a leader taken out by his own people becomes nothing more than a bad memory, as I see it ... I'm H.G. Listiak.