Interesting analysis on evil. Yet, it appear to me that Lucifer has been replaced by the Devil and like the Animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm, 'I have looked at Saddam to the Americans, and I can not tell one from the other.' The damage has been done.

You are right, the country will never be put back together. Our government, in our name, has destroyed not only the country, but any goodwill the people had for us. They do not want us there or any of our democracy....they have seen what it has done for them and what our democratic government has done in OUR names and I am ashamed. Ashamed of our government and for us for putting those inept, corrupt, rudderless, power hungry, crooked, lying sons of bitches in office in the first place...and with today being election day, it makes me sick that we will have no real choices but the same old crap. Makes me sick.

Sadam's sentence leaves me feeling unsettled. The people who put him in power and sold him the chemicals and weapons should be tried and convicted too. Instead they pretend justice has been done and act as though they had no part in the atrocities committed when in fact they used Sadam to do their dirty work. To top it off they have destroyed historic land marks, caused the infra structure to collapse and have killed more innocent people than Sadam ever did. There is something very wrong about this whole situation.

So what did getting rid of him prove? What good did it do? They still refuse to get along and try to have a peaceful nation tolerant of each's respective so called "religion". Bush and cronies opened a Pandora's box of violent people who daily prove they can only coexist in a state of a ruthless dictator. So they kill each other and they now kill those who are there to try to help them have a "better" life - a "better life" they apparently don't want. Maybe they need to release him and see if HE can restore order - civilized leaders have not.

I agree with Julia Radford, Ronald Reagan and his administration is to blame for supporting Saddam in the 1980's. Donald Rumsfeld was Reagon's envoy to Saddam at that time. The Americans made a monster out of Saddam and helped him to do their dirty work with Iran. They should be in court answering questions as well. Later in 1990, Bush Sr. sent his ambasedor GilisPi to tell Saddam that the US has no problem with Iraq's dispute with Kewait. It is like giving him the green light to invade. Then the US promissed to help the Iraqis if they apprise against Saddam, but once they did, the US baked off and left Saddam finish them off. Why would anyone think that Iraqis should trust the US and its policy again anymore.

Yes, it is true that the Americans helped Iraq in the Iraq/Iran war, which was a year after Iran held over 100 hostages for over a year in the US embassy in 1979.

Yes, Bush Sr. did have a conversation saying that Kuwait was a "Neighborhood quarrel" and none of our business, and then changed his mind. (Probably with much convincing from the Saudi's, who were afraid they were next.) And yes, they allowed the Shi'a in the south to be massacred after promising to help.

So, in light of all of these things, and all of us going back on our word time and time again on the Iraqi people, should it now be said, "Yes, America did promise (again) to help the Iraqis if they wanted to be free, but we pulled out after 3 years because it was hard work"? That would just continue the injustice.

The problem isn't that we are there, and the problem isn't that the Iraqis don't want freedom. The real problem is that we have not gone about it in a way that creates an environment conducive to freedom, and now we have given the power to a Shi'a in Muqtada's back pocket.

There are always mistakes, because you make mistakes doesn't mean you leave and give up. I don't agree that we should leave, and I don't agree that what we are doing there is working (i.e. tying our soldier's hands behind their backs and not giving them the logistical support and numbers they need to secure places like Baghdad).

I believe it is time for a major strategy change in which we realize that we are in a quagmire that we will have to actually fight to get out of, even if that means realizing we may have to start from the drawing board.

http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

While Saddam's guilt in the charges arrayed against him is surely not disputable, he is, in many ways, the Manuel Noriega of Iraq. Like Noriega, in Panama,
Saddam had outlived his usefulness to US policy after
his ill-fated (and US-supported) attack on Iran. Moreover, if anything, he should have been charged
with war crimes at that time, for his use of poison
gas on the battlefield, but that would have been too
embarassing to the US, who were highly complicit in this act of terror (another feahtg feather in Rumsfeld's "stuff happens" cap). Nevertheless, guilty though he surely is, Saddam should NOT be executed. Were the court to show leniency, this would send a conciliatory message to the Sunnis, whereas his execution will only exacerbate the current carnage. It can also be noted that the traditional role of the Iraqi president to exercice clemency in captial cases (which, ironically, Saddam himself never would have) was excised from the Proceedings at the insistence of the US government, who sponsored this show trial in the first place, in the best tradition of those formerly carried out in the Soviet Union.

Lets not forget that Hussein is responsible for his actions. Be as anti-American as you like, and call those to justice who might be responsible for injustices, but it would be a mistake to let Hussein off the hook, for even a moment. He is a madman who personifies evil, and still believes in himself as a deity. Sound familiar!?

U.S. national security politics and foreign policy are all about promoting the national interests and security of the U.S. Regardless of a foreign ruler's policy towards other issues and peoples within his borders, the U.S. (and any other country promoting their own interests)will side with the one who will promote the interests of the U.S. The United States created Saddam Hussein. He was in vogue as long as he was fighting the then (and now) hated Iranians. Likewise, when the Vietnamese took occupation of Cambodia (and in part saved the Khmer people from further genocide), the U.S. and U.N. regarded the Khmer Rouge (the perpetrators of the genocide)as the righful Cambodian government and allowed them to continue to hold the Cambodian's U.N. seat in New York. Spreading freedom is a noble cause, but more and more it looks as if the U. S. is not really concerned about the welfare we claim we want to liberate.

I am astonished by these blogs. Sadam is just a tired old tyrant and he will be killed for crimes we permitted, big whoopy. It really is time to get out of that part of the world. It's going to explode and return to where it was pre-american involvement. No big thing, we just need to leave and save american lives. Howard

Hi again,
Sorry this is a little off topic but please let people know if they are sending anything here Christmas to the troops they need to send it by Thanksgiving.

The goodwill of the people is not gone! How many people were demonstarting FOR the Saddam verdict as opposed to how many demonstrated Agianst it. I talk to soldiers every single day here who are having great interactions with the Iraqi people. I am having great interaction with the Iraqi people. The problem is as many here see it is simply this America is seeing the acts of the few and thinking everyone is that way. I have seen this before many times. Right after 9/11 many people thought all Muslems were evil bomb carrying terrorist. Again the bottom line is that the press doesnt report a balanced story. For example take a look at what is going on in the north of Iraq. Take a look at the millions of Iraqis who understand that America is keeping this place stable right now. We wont always be needed but for crying out loud people pull your heads out and realize something this difficult takes time.

We need to back our troops out temporarily and give the good people a chance to get out. Then we need to nuke Iraq and Iran for supporting world terrrorism. And if any other Arab Islam radicals would like a piece, they can have some of the same. Afterwards we can pump the oil dry to pay for all the damages and terror they've caused and rebuild for the innocent people and soldiers families. We can send them to their maker and end most terrorism at the same time.

Dear Jane, I want to say I follow your stories from the heart of the war everyday & thank you for your sacrifices for us back home. I don't believe I could watch Saddam die in a public venue as Iraqui's would have us watch. I do believe he deserves what he gets. Do you think the courts will have the manpower to carry out the execution order without American forces? Or will it look like the US is in a plot to kill Saddam? This is my biggest fear for our Men & Women over there now. Including You!! Take care and watch yourself. John Graham in Orlando, FL.

Well Jeff, aside from the obvious effects of nuking Iraq and Iran (such as, millions of innocent people dead, world outrage, and the spark of WWIII) once you were done with that, are you going to send in our people into a radiation filled nation to pump out oil, so that they can die too? Or are you going to wait 20-30 years and go in there with full suits for protection?

Nuking either of those places is going to create more than just terrorism, and will do nothing to abate it. That's reprehensible.

And all of the "good people" aren't just going to up and leave so that you can nuke their country. There are plenty of other ways to fight a war than with nukes.
http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

Saddam is a scary murderous man who has repeatedly committed crimes against humanity. The fact that most Iraqis celebrated when they heard he was sentenced to die should tell the rest of us all we need to know about this man.

saddam has been sentenced to hang for killing 140 people
our invasion has cost civilians over 600,000 lives
who's the real criminal

I have to laugh at what Jeff just said. If it was so easy. I spent 5 months in Iraq as a leader of a Vulnerability Assessment Team. I was able to see the entire Iraqi theater of operation and got to meet many of Iraq's most influential leaders / ministers. However, tt appears that nothing changes in Iraq even though Saddam has been ousted. Some of the Ministers are just as bad as Saddam and just as corrupt. And guess what, "We" the US government helped get them elected. But hey, it is a new government and they will learn over time.

On a different note, I stongly feel that Paul Bremer not Rumsfeld, should be held accountable for what is going on in Iraq. He and his absent-minded cronies disbanded a million man army and threw them out in the street with no money or hope of providing any of life's necessities for their families. Instant insurgents....I saw a lot of good being done in Iraq by our military members, however our political leadership seem stumbled every step of the way. Our military has done a great job and many of the Iraqi people are greatful for us being there but our political leadership seems to playing right into the hands of the press and the insurgents. At the beginning of the war there was solidarity between both parties. Now there is a huge division, and the people of Iraq once again see the US as waivering and weak. We as a country have to do what is right and stay the course. It may take us getting our hands bloody but we have to show resolve and keep our promise to the Iraqis that do support us. Keep the faith and we will prevail.

Jeff, wow you have a career as a bush advisor.
So your solution to fight terrorism is to nuke everyone off the face of the earth? So let's set a new foreign policy where we nuke anyone who presents a threat to the U.S. You are not different than the Arab Radicals who are blowing up planes and buildings.

Don't you realize that will only add fuel to the fire?

what good have we done to irag, only made it worse, atleast saddam had a short leash on everyone in his country, atleast he had peace, unlike what we are doing, he knew how to control his people, reasons to invade irag are in doubt, no such weapons found so far, we are only after their OIL... nothing else

Bush should have listen to his junior and senior advisors at his intelligence agency and never invaded Iraq. When abused people get tired of tyrant leaders they eventually find away to get rid of them. Americans are some of the most naive people in the world...believing everything their government tells them. The real victors are Cheney, Haliburton and its shareholders. They made a killing off the unnecessary deaths of over 2800 young American men and women by encouraging the invasion. I can't say it was a war because one was never declared. If we are going to execute tyrant leaders in the name of justice, lets not stop at Hassam, lets get Mugabe, that president in Equatorial Guinea and the many many more leaders that kill and oppressed their people but share tacid support and protection of this administration.

Americans should be ashamed! Regardless of who was helping who in the '80's, or any other time, when a person has the capability to cause destruction among human lives, he or she should pay for it. Even if the U.S. didn't take care of the problem in Iraq years ago, as some Iraqi's would have liked, when it first began, most of the American population was FOR IT! We toppled Saddam's empire and although many brave Americans have lost their lives in Iraq, that country's history will be changed forever and their future can be better. Now, a few years later, when things are tough, Americans want to "quit" and "give-up" and leave the mess that has been created. It's a cowards way out and irresponsible, and Americans should be ashamed of the attitude toward Iraq and the war presently.

The conviction of Saddam is an important step for the people of Iraq. The people in that country that want peace can move forward. We are there we should have done it right the first time but politics internal and international got in the way. But we have to make a stand as a nation and see this through. Our policies are too politically driven when it comes to war. Somilia was a good example war is fine until someone gets hurt and then we better pull out. The problem is that sends a message to enemy and they think one more soldier and the Americans will leave. It's adds to their resolve when we don't have enough. And it sends a message for future conflicts that cost American soldiers their lives. Let's not give them an excuse to fight another day in this conflict or any future one. Stay the course and finish the job.