Forget everything you’ve heard and seen
in the mainstream American media
for just one second
Saddam Hussein was rushed to the gallows pole on December 30. This occurred in the coincidental wake of President Gerald Ford’s death (and Ford’s released comments how he firmly disagreed with Bush’s invasion of Iraq) in addition to the holiday of Christmas. Yes, the celebration of Christ’s birthday (even though it’s in March) is the celebration of a man who believed in redemption, peace, love, and forgiveness. While there may be no forgiveness for what Hussein did in the early 80’s under Vice President George H.W. Bush’s guidance and assistance, there is the old “eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” philosophy of passive resistance that so many heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Jesus himself used to spread peace throughout the world. These great leaders believed in justice, but they recognized that justice sometimes comes from the heavens above. They were humble enough to realize that neither they nor any other human is mighty enough to be the ultimate judge. There are not enough people like them.
Many Americans consider the Hussein execution a final accomplishment of 2006. They’re not concerned with punishment. Rather, they are happy he is dead and relieved of his punishment. That punishment of sitting in a cold cell deprived of the royal food he once ate and the royal luxuries he once enjoyed with nothing but time to think about his crimes was taken away by people looking for the quickest fix on a wound that’s not really going to ever go away. For many like the Bush family, his execution was a personal victory in a decade’s long vendetta. The truth is: VP George H.W. Bush and our U.S. government gave Saddam lethal weapons to use on Iranians and any Iraqis who would not follow their agenda. When Saddam used those weapons and accomplished his task, the U.S. then put him in a corner and demanded more. This is perhaps the only thing Hussein did have in common with Osama Bin (still missing) Laden. Hussein’s resistance and a surge of national revolt along with terrorism against the government led to more horrible deaths. U.S. sanctions and bombings that began in the early nineties would go on to kill more than 500,000 Iraqi civilians, far more than Hussein ever killed. So who is the real murderer here? Who is the accomplice? If the execution of Hussein is valid, then one of George H.W. Bush should be expected to follow.
But only the ones in power decide who gets killed, like the ones who killed Jesus, the man Christian Americans including the Bush family were paying respect to this week, even though they don’t follow his values. It is apparent that those who support the death penalty and the execution of Hussein have a little more hypocrisy than just their failure to acknowledge the role of the U.S. and its ex and current president. Take the sixth commandment for example, “Thou shall not kill,” of which most are in violation of by condoning or taking part in any death, whether it’s the death of a dictator, Iraqi civilians, American troops by way of wrongful war, or even the animals slaughtered for their food on a daily basis.
Of course, not everyone is celebrating. Within hours of the news of the execution, violence erupted on the streets of Iraq. Thousands of Sunnis marched in angry protest holding up a giant mosaic of Hussein. Hundreds more mourned Saddam in his hometown of Tikrit. “God bless you, and I thank you for honoring Saddam, the martyr,” said the hanged leader’s eldest daughter Raghad Saddam Hussein. So we can only expect more violence to come out of this execution as well as the expected martyring of Saddam.
This death penalty has done nothing more than make situations worse for our soldiers who have been thrown into a wrongful personal war in which its invokers have personally profited. See Who’s Profiting from the Iraq War? http://broken-nation.blogspot.com/2006/11/who-is-profiting-from-iraq-war.html#links
So think twice before you say you want to see the video of Saddam being executed; you’d actually be resorting to his level of brutality as well as condoning all the violence that will be unleashed on our troops in harms way.
Meanwhile, the U.S. death toll just went up to at least 3,002 by December 31, 2006. The Associated Press count of fatalities showed that at least 113 U.S. service members died in December, making it the most fatal month of 2006.
Iraqi authorities reported that 16,273 Iraqis — including 14,298 civilians, 1,348 police and 627 soldiers — died violent deaths in 2006. The total exceeds the Associated Press count by more than 2,500.
If anything is learned from Saddam’s execution (and the United States involvement demonstrated in the following links), it is that we should be very careful who we elect as president/vice president e.g. Reagan, Bush. For it is those elected official’s decisions that affect not just our future, and the futures of other civilians around the world, but also the future of would be dictators.
Just imagine how different things would have been if the Reagan/Bush administrations hadn’t aided Saddam with weapons from 1980-1990. Who would they have been hanging instead?
# January 1, 2007 by Bill Lawrence
US CORPORATIONS THAT ARMED IRAQ FROM 1980 TO 1990
http://www.rense.com/general32/suppe.htm
1 Honeywell
2 Spectra Physics
3 Semetex
4 TI Coating
5 Unisys
6 Sperry Corp.
7 Tektronix
8 Rockwell
9 Leybold Vacuum Systems
10 Finnigan-MAT-US
11 Hewlett-Packard
12 Dupont
13 Eastman Kodak
14 American Type Culture Collection
15 Alcolac International
16 Consarc
17 Carl Zeiss - U.S
18 Cerberus (LTD)
19 Electronic Associates
20 International Computer Systems
21 Bechtel
22 EZ Logic Data Systems, Inc.
23 Canberra Industries Inc.
24 Axel Electronics Inc.
Arming Iraq: A Chronology of U.S. Involvement
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/arming_iraq.php
September 1980 The beginning of the Iraq-Iran war. [8]
February, 1982. Despite objections from congress, President Reagan removes Iraq from its list of known terrorist countries. [1]
October, 1983. The Reagan Administration begins secretly allowing Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt to transfer United States weapons, including Howitzers, Huey helicopters, and bombs to Iraq. These shipments violated the Arms Export Control Act. [16]
November 1983. George Schultz, the Secretary of State, is given intelligence reports showing that Iraqi troops are daily using chemical weapons against the Iranians. [1]
December 20, 1983. Donald Rumsfeld meets with Saddam Hussein to assure him of US friendship and materials support. [1] & [15]
July, 1984. CIA begins giving Iraq intelligence necessary to calibrate its mustard gas attacks on Iranian troops. [19]
January 14, 1984. State Department memo acknowledges United States shipment of "dual-use" export hardware and technology. Dual use items are civilian items such as heavy trucks, armored ambulances and communications gear as well as industrial technology that can have a military application. [2]
March, 1986. The United States with Great Britain block all Security Council resolutions condemning Iraq's use of chemical weapons, and on March 21 the US becomes the only country refusing to sign a Security Council statement condemning Iraq's use of these weapons. [10]
May, 1986. The US Department of Commerce licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq between
May of 1985 and 1989, including at least 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax. [3] May, 1986. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade botulin poison to Iraq. [7]
March, 1987. President Reagan bows to the findings of the Tower Commission admitting the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for hostages. Oliver North uses the profits from the sale to fund an illegal war in Nicaragua. [17]
Late 1987. The Iraqi Air Force begins using chemical agents against Kurdish resistance forces in northern Iraq. [1]
February, 1988. Saddam Hussein begins the "Anfal" campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq. The Iraq regime used chemical weapons against the Kurds killing over 100,000 civilians and destroying over 1,200 Kurdish villages. [8]
April, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of chemicals used in manufacture of mustard gas. [7]
September, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade anthrax and botulinum to Iraq. [7]
December, 1988. Dow chemical sells $1.5 million in pesticides to Iraq despite knowledge that these would be used in chemical weapons. [1]
July 25, 1990. US Ambassador to Baghdad meets with Hussein to assure him that President Bush "wanted better and deeper relations". Many believe this visit was a trap set for Hussein. A month later Hussein invaded Kuwait thinking the US would not respond. [12]
August, 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. The precursor to the Gulf War. [8] July, 1991 The Financial Times of London reveals that a Florida chemical company had produced and shipped cyanide to Iraq during the 80's using a special CIA courier. Cyanide was used extensively against the Iranians. [11]
August, 1991. Christopher Droguol of Atlanta's branch of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro is arrested for his role in supplying loans to Iraq for the purchase of military supplies. He is charged with 347 counts of felony. Droguol is found guilty, but US officials plead innocent of any knowledge of his crime. [14]
June, 1992. Ted Kopple of ABC Nightline reports: "It is becoming increasingly clear that George Bush Sr., operating largely behind the scenes throughout the 1980's, initiated and supported much of the financing, intelligence, and military help that built Saddam's Iraq into [an aggressive power]." [5]
More references:
Who Armed Iraq?
http://www.alternet.org/story/15322/
How Did Iraq Get Its Weapons?
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0908-08.htm
Helping Iraq Kill with Chemical Weapons: The Relevance of Yesterday's US Hypocrisy Today http://www.counterpunch.org/boles1010.html
U.S. Had Key Role in Iraq Buildup
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&contentId=A52241-2002Dec29
How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical Weapons
http://www.counterpunch.org/dixon06172004.html
