I’m sure you have heard that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed at dawn, on Saturday, December 30, 2006. In a statement issued by a spokesman while President Bush was asleep, Bush said that the execution of Saddam Hussein “is an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy ... ”

     I must have been asleep that day in my political science courses. You know … the day when they taught us that executing people is a hallmark of a democracy. I attended my classes without fail, yet I have no recollection of that lesson having been taught.

     I do remember the professors teaching us that democracy is a system of government which gives the people of a nation the ability to govern themselves, but that is not what has happened in Iraq regarding the execution of Saddam Hussein.

     What happened is that after the invasion of Iraq, U.S. forces acquired custody of Saddam Hussein, and retained control over him right up until the hour of his execution? George Bush likes to kill people, and Saddam Hussein is the man who tried to kill his daddy.

     George Bush was determined to see Saddam Hussein executed. During his trial U.S. forces would escort Saddam Hussein to and from the courtroom, and were responsible for his physical control and security at all times.

     To me, that does not exactly sound like the people of Iraq governing themselves. It sounds like the government of the United States deciding what would happen, when and where. Sure, the Iraqis may have conducted the actual execution, but they were only allowed to do so at the last hour, after the United States said it was OK. This is supposed to be the important milestone on the road to democracy? I don’t think so.

     We all know what is really going on. I previously wrote here about the fact that George Bush says the exact opposite of what he really means. The same thing applies to this most recent statement. George Bush knows perfectly well that Iraq is rapidly losing its chances to become a democracy, and that the execution of Saddam Hussein is just going to further fuel the flames of civil war.

     But those facts are not helpful to George Bush’s own political agenda. So he just lies, and says that the execution is evidence of progress toward democracy.

     Far from being a milestone, the execution of Saddam Hussein is a millstone that will hinder efforts to build a just and sustainable government in Iraq. It creates a martyr for the Sunnis. It also deprives the Shiites and Kurds of the chance to confront Saddam Hussein regarding his other crimes.

     The execution of Saddam Hussein was an act of violent revenge, and will just reinforce the idea that violent revenge is a good way to deal with past wrongs.

     Iraq is a society that is now riven with hatred, suspicion and a history of past wrongs among many different groups of people. In order to build a new and functional society, they will need to learn forgiveness and reconciliation.  The execution of Saddam Hussein is a millstone that makes that outcome much less likely.

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