The Iraqi Quagmire...
Yesterday's Guardian reported that the US and Britain "believe at least some members of the Iraq government are complicit in sectarian killings, particularly by members of the police force" on page 1) and (on page 4) that in Washington there is "a general disillusionment with the Shia Muslim-dominated government led by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is increasingly viewed as condoning - or at least failing to act against - sectarian killing". Apparently "the view of the US military in Iraq is that the police force is so riddled with sectarianism that the only possible course was to disband it and start again..."
Radio 4 this morning had John Prescott describe the manner of Saddam's execution as "totally deplorable".
George W Bush has described the execution as an important step in "democratising" Iraq.
On Sunday the Observer reported "...there is now a fear among Sunnis of an emerging Shia crescent formed by Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, dominated by Teheran". Saudi Arabia has publicly criticised the timing of the execution (on Saturday, the first day of Eid al-Hada). So too have Tunisia and Egypt, while Libya has ordered 3 days of official mourning and flags have been lowered to half-mast on public buildings.
And Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish MP in Badhdad, has criticised the decision to execute Saddam before the Anfal trial. Saddam, he says, has taken many secrets to his grave including vital knowledge about "the foreign companies and countries that supplied the parts and expertise to make chemical weapons".
Radio 4 this morning had John Prescott describe the manner of Saddam's execution as "totally deplorable".
George W Bush has described the execution as an important step in "democratising" Iraq.
On Sunday the Observer reported "...there is now a fear among Sunnis of an emerging Shia crescent formed by Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, dominated by Teheran". Saudi Arabia has publicly criticised the timing of the execution (on Saturday, the first day of Eid al-Hada). So too have Tunisia and Egypt, while Libya has ordered 3 days of official mourning and flags have been lowered to half-mast on public buildings.
And Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish MP in Badhdad, has criticised the decision to execute Saddam before the Anfal trial. Saddam, he says, has taken many secrets to his grave including vital knowledge about "the foreign companies and countries that supplied the parts and expertise to make chemical weapons".
posted by Politaholic at 8:47 am
1 Comments:
Politaholic great post- have you come across this article by Juan Cole whcih demonstrates all the disadvantages of the execution especially the way it was done it backs up so many of the Sunni myths about Saddam as a martyr. It still amazes me that we couldn't find some murders of Sunnis to prosecute him for. Good post.
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