What Have We Done?

With the execution of Saddam Hussein, the pure irony of violence as a response to a political issue is glaring. For some, it may feel justice is served. For others the late dictator's hanging speaks volumes in commentary on the futility of an act that served so little. Saddam Hussein lived by the very ideology that placed him in the gallows to meet his death. That he arrived there surely seems fair. But how does this prevent further injustice? Is this one quick moment of pain and surrender of a life at all sufficient to heal the misery he was responsible for through his regime? The answer is clearly no, and his people continue today on their journey of securing peace and civility in their lives, which will never be the result of injury inflicted on anyone.

What have we done to believe democracy is served with this man's hanging? Saddam Hussein was so distantly removed from any possibility of return to power it could easily have remained a plausible outcome for Iraqi society to know he sat powerless in a prison cell stripped of his authority. Perhaps by their standard of justice this execution was inevitable. But for George W. Bush to frame this as 'an important milestone' in the process of bringing Iraqi people democracy only demonstrates an ignorance of what freedom must truly be based on:

"Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror."
-- President George W. Bush
December 29, 2006

Mr. Bush acknowledges Saddam's execution will not end the violence Iraq suffers, but does not offer an answer that will. In fact, it was his choice to depose Saddam and be involved in Iraq militarily that catalyzed and perpetuates the condition Iraq faces today. It is unfortunate Mr. Bush remains our president unable to face this 'War on Terror' with no solution but his conviction in these continuing acts of violence that would seem to isolate or control the presence of the perceived evil of the world.

I wonder how he reconciles his philosophies and policy with the unmoving position of the Christian mind, clearly stated in the Vatican's response to Hussein's death through their spokesperson Federico Lombardi:

"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes. The position of the Church has been restated often. The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society. On the contrary there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence. In these dark times for the Iraqi people one can only hope that all responsible parties truly make every effort so that glimmers of reconciliation and peace can be found in such a dramatic situation."

What have we done to celebrate this as a moment in history that we took Saddam Hussein' s life to secure justice or democracy? We have created a perpetration of legitimacy in violence, almost an abysmal failure to come to terms with what really brings it to the world. We have ignored the real impact of breaking ourselves into quarters of good and evil where the evil can somehow be controlled or destroyed with same instrument of it's senselessness. There is far more to gain through understanding than suppression or denial. There is far more to learn while our answers continue as these pitiful charades.

What we have done is postpone our responsibility.