The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein

Hold fast to the rope of Allah, and be not divided

Edited by Hanan

Sign Reader, I'm afraid there is a lot of truth in what you say, but I
have noticed you are always quick to assume violence, war and the
use of force is an answer to conflicts. Inshallah you are wrong.

It seems to me the use of hecklers at Saddam's hanging was a
planned event in order to set the stage for a future US assault against
Sadr city and usefull to explain the future killings of what they will
tell us are Sadr militia. It only fuels the flames of sectarian violence
within Iraq in the hope of drawing Iran into the fighting and provide
another excuse to nuke Iran.

I mean seriously, since when has Moqtad Al Sadr been Saddam's arch
enemy? This is a set up. I believe this heralds the downfall of Maliki's
useless government (not interested in appeasing the sectarian
fighting, and as far removed from reality as his sponsor GWBush.) In
order for the Bush government to find a glaring excuse for never
withdrawing, and beginning his long planned for assault on Iran,
seeking 'regime change'.

Robert Fisk writes:

�Nor was the Pentagon unaware of the extent of Iraqi use of chemical
weapons. In 1988, for example, Saddam gave his personal
permission for Lt-Col Rick Francona, a US defense intelligence officer
- one of 60 American officers who were secretly providing members
of the Iraqi general staff with detailed information on Iranian
deployments, tactical planning and bomb damage assessments - to
visit the Fao peninsula after Iraqi forces had recaptured the town
from the Iranians. He reported back to Washington that the Iraqis
had used chemical weapons to achieve their victory. The senior
defense intelligence officer at the time, Col Walter Lang, later said
that the use of gas on the battlefield by the Iraqis "was not a matter
of deep strategic concern".

We still don't know - and with Saddam's execution we will probably
never know - the extent of US credits to Iraq, which began in 1982.
The initial tranche, the sum of which was spent on the purchase of
American weapons from Jordan and Kuwait, came to $300m. By
1987, Saddam was being promised $1bn in credit. By 1990, just
before Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, annual trade between Iraq and
the US had grown to $3.5bn a year. Pressed by Saddam's foreign
minister, Tariq Aziz, to continue US credits, James Baker then
Secretary of State, but the same James Baker who has just produced
a report intended to drag George Bush from the catastrophe of
present- day Iraq - pushed for new guarantees worth $1bn from the
US.�

Please bear all of this in mind, when repeating the official mantra
about Saddam�s atrocities. It is not possible to condone any one�s
crimes against humanity, there are no excuses for knowingly
supporting murderers and so-called �war criminals�, and obviously
none of these observers is making a statement of support for
Saddam�s regime. The important point to push home to all who
supported his trial and preordained execution is that Saddam was
once used by America and its ally Britain; that his use of chemical
agents was common knowledge at the time; that he was once a
valued trading partner and strategic contact. The extent of the
West�s hypocrisy and criminal negligence is breathtaking.