Justice Served - Equation Balanced

With Saddam's passing I feel no surge of desire to engage in blood-thirsty fist pumping. Here is a soul that has committed atrocious crimes that has been sent back to his Maker for final justice. I wrote a few days ago about the scales of justice and the equation that cries out to be balanced in such crimes. My support of the death penalty is not about revenge or lust for blood. It is simply that until the death of the murderer, there is such a glaring imbalance: the victim(s) lie in the grave, the families of the victims suffer each day from the memory and the guilty one lives on.

In Saddam's case especially, he retained celebrity status even though he had lost all else. The media continued to fawn over Saddam. They bolstered his persona when he publickly rebelled against America and the new Iraq. Given his position these were really the acts of a clown, but the media was happy to mold it into something bigger. His continued existence fueled those like him. His life was a force of encouragement for those who supported his bloody ways.

Saddam had many victims. One life in exchange may not seem to balance the scales. However, considering the beginning of a long payment for crimes we look to his Maker to balance the equation. There is a strange reaction by some when a murderer dies before their trial. In this case Saddam was tried for only a fraction of his crimes and there are those who feel cheated. What poppycock! Saddam will be tried in the ultimate court before the ultimate Judge.

Now it is time for those in the Arab world to stand up and use this event for good. Unfortunately, many will not. Hatred and murder are the highest currency of the Arab world. Though Saddam caused the death of many innocents, there will be those who hold up his photograph as a symbol to rally around.

Finally, there are those saying that Iraq would have been better off keeping Saddam in power than what is happening now. Such thoughts can only come from those who are insane; or their thinking warped beyond repair. It is true that during Saddam's reign the Sunni's, Shias and Kurds sectarian violence was contained. At what cost and with what methods? By a very heavy hand and the frequent murder of any who was perceived to be an enemy of the state. By raping of wives in view of their husband. By torture. The world is either very forgetful of or very forgiving of Saddam to say that Iraq was better under his fist.

Goodbye Saddam. You will not be missed. Whether or not it is admitted, your death today is a sign of hope of a brighter future in Iraq.