Front Sight, Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein�??s half brother and the former head of Iraq�??s Revolutionary Court were both hanged before dawn Monday, Prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon said, two weeks and two days after the former Iraqi dictator was executed in a chaotic scene that has drawn worldwide criticism.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam�??s half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar head of Iraq�??s Revolutionary Court, had been found guilty along with Saddam in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad.

The two men were to have been hanged along with Saddam on Dec. 30, but Iraqi authorities decided to execute Saddam alone on what National Security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie called a �??special day.�?� Source

While I am sure that Saddam and his chums richly deserve to do the Spandau Ballet, there is something about these hangings that strikes me as profoundly wrong. The Malaki government is showing itself to be just as vicious and vindictive as the Saddam government. Only the names and religious parties have changed. Saddam’s hanging was an atrocity. I’ve spent twenty years hating the old bastard and then found myself feeling sorry for him in his final hour. Also, I can’t see how these lynchings can do anything but further inflame an already terrible situation.

I know I’m going to sound like a racist pig for saying this, but I don’t think the Iraqis are worth the lives and money we’re spending on them. We need to drop all of this double-talk about making Iraq a democracy and bringing western values to that hell-hole. Our military campaign there should be defined by American strategic interests, period. If we have interests there worth fighting for, be it oil or to thwart Iran’s hegemony on the region, then focus the campaign on those objectives and kill every dirt bag that gets in the way. If not, if America’s strategic interests there really aren’t that great, then we should bring to troops home. If the Iraqis want to massacre themselves, then buy them a box of bullets and wish them well.

But western values and democracy? You’ve got to have something to work with, and I’m not seeing it. They have to get sick of their own bullshit before any meaningful change is going to happen. As long as we’re there pointing guns at them and telling them to act right, they have the perfect paper tiger to use to avoid facing their own toxic problems. Saddam didn’t get to be dictator in chief by himself. He had lots of help. As to the Spandau Ballet, Malaki can go next for all I care.