Was it justice served for Saddam Hussein?

Answer 1

Justice....hard to say. He was an evil man. He is responsible for an incredible amount of suffering the Iraqi people endured. It's unimaginable how it would have been living in terror under Saddam.

If people deserve to be killed for their crimes, Saddam was a good candidate.

I think it was a huge mistake executing him though. History tells me this is the case. We Americans were under the perception that everyone in Iraq suffered greatly under Saddam. That was not the case. The Shiites and Kurds were the groups that suffered. The minority Sunnis lived prosperously, and in an upper-class fashion under Saddam. The Sunnis in Iraq largely still supported him. He became a martyr to some.

The execution comes at a terrible time as well. Right as we're supposedly changing our strategy, right as the sectarian strife (or formally put as Civil War) rages in Iraq, Saddam was killed. Take note of the circumstances. The Sunnis largely see this as an insult from the newly empowered Shiites. The crimes he was executed for were those perpetrated against Shiites. 182 were killed.

He wasn't tried for his crimes against the Kurds. He killed over 200,000 of them in his "al-anfar" campaign in the late 80s. 200,000!!!! This trial never took place, and can't properly take place ever without Saddam. The kurds feel cheated. After he was executed, the executors were chanting Shiite phrases and dancing. Also, this occured right as a major Sunni religious period is taking place, the very morning before it officially began,only an hour or so to be precise.Think of how the Sunnis likely view this. If Iraq's feuding groups are to reconcile, surely this shouldn't have happened.

Once again you asked if it was justice...for the victims of Saddam, it can be argued it is rather easily. For the Iraqis, it's a double edged sword. It can be said yes for all they endured, but no because of it's implications for the future of Iraq. Iraq is being torn apart, the Kurds look forward to independence, or a loose tie to the state of Iraq, the Shiites have power, much of Iraq's oil; and the Sunnis are left with the sand of the desert. The way this was carried out does absolutely nothing to slow or heal the wounds of their civil war, it is only an escalation.

What I believe should have been done is Saddam would have gone before an International court, had an indisputably fair trial, and most likely gone to jail for the rest of his life, as an ordinary criminal, fading into insignificance, like Milosovic. The Shiites refused to forgo their vengeance, and made a martyr out of Saddam to many, and poured fuel on the fire raging in Iraq today. It may prove to be a good decision in 20 years;however, the possibility that this may greatly contribute to there being no "Iraq" as we know it 20 years from now makes me wonder whether this was true justice for the Iraqi people.

Answer 2

If "justice served" means turning him into a martyr, than i guess you can say it was!

hope i am wrong in thinking that is what will happen, but looking back throughout human history, it is always the way it happens...a man message is always stronger in death than it ever will be during his life.

Answer 3

Yes

Answer 4

nope, this is nothing more then a song and dance to vaildate the "War on Iraq". Doing it now as opposed to 2 or 3 years from now or holding him indefinately is only going to make things worse on the troops on the ground.

Answer 5

No it was justice served for the Iraqi people. They are the ones that tried him and executed him.

Answer 6

You bet. The man was a monster. For the last 20 years or so, he was a threat to all the people in that part of the world. Good Riddance.

Answer 7

No..........Justice was served for the Iraqi people

Answer 8

No. They should have fed him to hungry pigs. That way we would have ended his miserable existence as pig excrement. THAT would have been true justice.

Answer 9

Damn straight justice was served!

Answer 10

Sic semper tyrannis.