New Saddams” Must Also Face Justice
Now that Saddam has been convicted, Iraq's other criminals - its corrupt officials, militia leaders and terrorists - should be tried too.
New Saddams” Must Also Face Justice
Now that Saddam has been convicted, Iraq's other criminals - its corrupt officials, militia leaders and terrorists - should be tried too.
I don't generally agree with the death penalty, but Saddam is an exception. Many Iraqis agree with me that even the death penalty may not be enough for people like Saddam.
I am an Iraqi Kurd from Halabja, where thousands of people, including some of my family members, were killed in a chemical attack by the regime in 1988. I understand the suffering of the people of Dujail - for which Saddam was sentenced to death - and I am pleased with the verdict. But at the same time, I fear that Iraqis will never truly see justice for the crimes that were and are being committed against them.
I must say that I felt more relief and hope the day Saddam was arrested. I thought that the trial would be quick and would bring together rather than divide my country, as I see is happening now. I also tried hard to convince myself that the verdict didn't have anything to do with US politics. But the fact is that the sentencing of Saddam and his associates was delayed until two days before a crucial congressional election that tested US president George Bush's policy on Iraq.
To me, Saddam is the source of all the miseries Iraqis experienced: he led the country through several wars, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people and destroyed Iraq's infrastructure. He changed the demographics in the cities and made ethnic groups hate each other. Saddam's legacy is still ruling Iraq, and it will continue.
I can see how the verdict has divided Iraq, which saddens me to my core. While we have various identities I first consider myself an Iraqi, bonded with all of my countrymen. We all suffered under Saddam, and I strongly believe that those who oppose the verdict are in a state of denial.
It also saddens me that the future of Iraq does not look brighter. We are being torn apart and are living in horrible conditions. Our leaders are both ignoring and inflaming the situation rather than resolving it.
Now more than ever, we need justice. In order for this to happen, Saddam and his aides must be kept alive until he can be tried for crimes like Halabja. And Iraq's other criminals – its corrupt officials, the militia leaders and terrorists – also must face justice. They are the new Saddams in Iraq.
Saddam's sentence should be a lesson for the new Iraqi officials that there is no way to get away with crimes and wrongdoings. We technically have a democracy and have held elections, but they were riddled with fraud. The country suffers from instability, sectarian violence, corruption and lack of basic services. Those are crimes and the perpetrators need to be brought to justice.
The Iraqi government has proven itself to be a puppet government of militias that are controlling the streets and cities in Iraq. Dozens of people are killed daily and the government has failed to end the bloodshed. Sectarian violence is growing and once enjoyable mixed neighborhoods and cities are disappearing.
Corrupt officials are stealing Iraq's money from north to south and east to west, but none of them has been brought before the courts. So to me, it is not only Saddam and his aides that need to be tried. There are more in the queue.
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is the Kurdish editor for the Iraqi Crisis Report and a master's candidate in journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
I am an Iraqi Kurd from Halabja, where thousands of people, including some of my family members, were killed in a chemical attack by the regime in 1988. I understand the suffering of the people of Dujail - for which Saddam was sentenced to death - and I am pleased with the verdict. But at the same time, I fear that Iraqis will never truly see justice for the crimes that were and are being committed against them.
I must say that I felt more relief and hope the day Saddam was arrested. I thought that the trial would be quick and would bring together rather than divide my country, as I see is happening now. I also tried hard to convince myself that the verdict didn't have anything to do with US politics. But the fact is that the sentencing of Saddam and his associates was delayed until two days before a crucial congressional election that tested US president George Bush's policy on Iraq.
To me, Saddam is the source of all the miseries Iraqis experienced: he led the country through several wars, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people and destroyed Iraq's infrastructure. He changed the demographics in the cities and made ethnic groups hate each other. Saddam's legacy is still ruling Iraq, and it will continue.
I can see how the verdict has divided Iraq, which saddens me to my core. While we have various identities I first consider myself an Iraqi, bonded with all of my countrymen. We all suffered under Saddam, and I strongly believe that those who oppose the verdict are in a state of denial.
It also saddens me that the future of Iraq does not look brighter. We are being torn apart and are living in horrible conditions. Our leaders are both ignoring and inflaming the situation rather than resolving it.
Now more than ever, we need justice. In order for this to happen, Saddam and his aides must be kept alive until he can be tried for crimes like Halabja. And Iraq's other criminals – its corrupt officials, the militia leaders and terrorists – also must face justice. They are the new Saddams in Iraq.
Saddam's sentence should be a lesson for the new Iraqi officials that there is no way to get away with crimes and wrongdoings. We technically have a democracy and have held elections, but they were riddled with fraud. The country suffers from instability, sectarian violence, corruption and lack of basic services. Those are crimes and the perpetrators need to be brought to justice.
The Iraqi government has proven itself to be a puppet government of militias that are controlling the streets and cities in Iraq. Dozens of people are killed daily and the government has failed to end the bloodshed. Sectarian violence is growing and once enjoyable mixed neighborhoods and cities are disappearing.
Corrupt officials are stealing Iraq's money from north to south and east to west, but none of them has been brought before the courts. So to me, it is not only Saddam and his aides that need to be tried. There are more in the queue.
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is the Kurdish editor for the Iraqi Crisis Report and a master's candidate in journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
