War brings an Iraq even worse than a dictatorship
Tennessean
by Saritha Prabhu
01/08/07
Two things we've been hearing a lot after Saddam Hussein's execution are, 'the world is a better place without him' and 'Iraq is better off without him.' Is that really so? These are two very moot points. Let's examine the report card. He was, undeniably, a very bad man who killed, tortured, terrorized his own people, waged regional wars and was a general nuisance to the world body. But, on the plus side, he held together the fractious elements of his country in what was probably the only way -- with an iron fist; he was secular and was actually a bulwark against Islamic radicalism; women and Christians enjoyed some freedoms during his time. What's more, from the point of view of ordinary Iraqis, Saddam's Iraq had the markers of 'normal' life -- garbage was picked up, electricity was on, children could go to school safely, you had a job, could attend weddings and funerals, go downtown to a kebab restaurant...
http://tinyurl.com/yxx6dx
Reconciliation is easier said than done
Christian Science Monitor
by Jeffrey Shaffer
01/12/07
Mr. Hussein was definitely a murderous tyrant who deserved to be held accountable for his crimes, but it will be bitterly ironic if his death creates a new divide within a population that’s supposed to be pulling itself together. Reconciliation is often a crucial factor in the process of building and maintaining a nation. In a perfect world, justice and reconciliation would work together to resolve collective grievances and break cycles of recrimination. I doubt that the crude video of Hussein’s hanging will encourage a spirit of national unity in Iraq. And people who taunt a condemned man on the gallows have crossed the line that separates justice from revenge...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p09s03-cojs.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=gallows
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=hanging
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=executed
by Saritha Prabhu
01/08/07
Two things we've been hearing a lot after Saddam Hussein's execution are, 'the world is a better place without him' and 'Iraq is better off without him.' Is that really so? These are two very moot points. Let's examine the report card. He was, undeniably, a very bad man who killed, tortured, terrorized his own people, waged regional wars and was a general nuisance to the world body. But, on the plus side, he held together the fractious elements of his country in what was probably the only way -- with an iron fist; he was secular and was actually a bulwark against Islamic radicalism; women and Christians enjoyed some freedoms during his time. What's more, from the point of view of ordinary Iraqis, Saddam's Iraq had the markers of 'normal' life -- garbage was picked up, electricity was on, children could go to school safely, you had a job, could attend weddings and funerals, go downtown to a kebab restaurant...
http://tinyurl.com/yxx6dx
Reconciliation is easier said than done
Christian Science Monitor
by Jeffrey Shaffer
01/12/07
Mr. Hussein was definitely a murderous tyrant who deserved to be held accountable for his crimes, but it will be bitterly ironic if his death creates a new divide within a population that’s supposed to be pulling itself together. Reconciliation is often a crucial factor in the process of building and maintaining a nation. In a perfect world, justice and reconciliation would work together to resolve collective grievances and break cycles of recrimination. I doubt that the crude video of Hussein’s hanging will encourage a spirit of national unity in Iraq. And people who taunt a condemned man on the gallows have crossed the line that separates justice from revenge...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p09s03-cojs.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=gallows
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=hanging
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=executed
rudkla - 10. Jan, 15:48
