Saddam was hanged. Was it worth it? Really?
What we will hear all day and for however long this news cycle lasts:
- “Butcher of Baghdad”
- “reign of terror”
- “mass graves”
- “Saddhams trail of terror”
- “important milestone”
- “terrible tyrant”
- “Saddam received a level of due process he denied to his victims”
And what we will not:
But what are we not hearing? What are we not seeing? What does any of this have to do with the reasons we invaded Iraq?
Saddam Hussein killed a hundred thousand Iraqi’s. So that means that we have to out do him and kill 200,000 Iraqi’s? Or did he kill that 200,000 or, according one report I heard, 2 million? How many civilians does a leader have to kill to be tried and hung?
Ariel Sharon killed over 200 sleeping Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps of Lebanon. George Bush has killed over 100,000 Iraqi’s for a variety of dubious reasons that have changed depending on political fortunes at home. But now Saddam is dead so it’s all worth it. Really?
At the same time that Saddam was being executed, the toll of American soldiers killed continued to rise. December officially became the worst month of the year for US soldiers. The number of Americans killed quickly approached the 3,000 mark. Has it been worth it? Really?
We have no idea how many Iraqi’s have been killed because they are not worth counting to US military leaders unless, of course, we’re counting the number that Saddam killed. And how many of those were killed with gas supplied by the US? How many Iranians were killed by Saddam with US support? How many other Iraqi’s died in the process? Was it worth it? Really?
Is it worth continuing to play the “good guys” while we annihilate a population. Or are we trying to annihilate a race? Or could it be an entire religion?
The US media will continue to fulfill its role today and every neo-con nut-bag will pound his chest. The image of the US cavalry coming in to save the day and kill the bad guy will prevail.
And tomorrow more American soldiers will die and more Iraqi’s will die and for what? One bad guy will be dead, but there are others. Is it worth it? Really?