SADDAM & U.S. COMPLICITY

I have been debating"pro-war" advocates on several lists over the newest developments in Iraq, but it seems that I've earned the disapproval of at least one antiwar advocate too, because of my"Death to Tyrants" approach to Saddam Hussein.

Let me say, in response, that I am second to none in my appreciation of the role of U.S. foreign policy in engendering the demons it now seeks to exorcise from the world stage. I address the issue of Saddam and U.S. complicity in this post, where I quote appropriately from scripture:"If we sow wickedness, we will reap the same."

My recent discussion of the lethal triangular relationship between the US government, the Saudi government, and ARAMCO is yet another instance of my emphasis on the role of US complicity in the eradication of life, liberty, and property. (And if you want to puke over the Saudi role in all this, take a look at this article.)

But I do not believe that US complicity qualifies as a"mitigating circumstance" in judging Saddam's guilt. It is not a defense in morality or international law for Saddam to say:"Hey, everybody knew I was doing this, and the US encouraged me, and nobody raised hell about it before. Why now?" Saddam deserves due process, and if found guilty, he deserves the ultimate penalty for his crimes.

Still. US complicity must also be put on trial. In the court of public opinion. It is my hope that such a court will begin to understand the horrific internal contradictions that US policy has generated, day-in, day-out, for decades now, with no end in sight. And perhaps its political pragmatism will be put to death too, to make way for the rebirth of a politics of principle.