So now the sentence has been spoken. Will this bring peace to the region? No, on the contrary: this verdict will be seen as the victory of one of the two sites: Shiites are jubilating, Sunnies are revolting.
Ok, Saddam was a "bad guy", as they say in the US in their simplifying way (even the official media use this expression). But there are so many worse guys in this world who do not get sentenced to anything. Saddam deserved a trial and a sentence, and I think that he got a fair trial - although there are voices who express concern about that (for example, Amnesty International claims that this trial had not been). But he got a verdict that comes out of the attitude of the middle ages: death by hanging. Is this barbaric verdict appropriate to the justice system of the 21st century? I do not think so. In the US, the only Western country where the death penalty is still legal, there is of course no objection to this sentence. It is, however, quite revealing how in the other Western countries this sentence is being commented: here in the UK where the death sentence is outlawed, the officials wind themselves in justifying this verdict, without condoning explicitly the death penalty - a true display of double standard, of hippocracy.
This verdict will be a burden for the future of Iraq - it will be seen as a revenge act which will provike further revenge acts.
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