Juan Cole (www.juancole.com) mentions it in his latest entry.

I think 2007 will still be a year Muqtada is taken out.

The irony in all this is that just 5 years ago Saddam was seen as a Zalim (Oppressor) throughout the Arab world, yet at his death he is seen as a Mazlum (Oppressed) and a Martyr.

How is any of this meant to be good for the region?

I found Robert Fisk’s analysis best, and in my view this entire event has confirmed that the occupation is in sync with the sectarian thugs.

It also makes me wonder who will be chosen as the next Iraqi bogeyman to keep the “occupation spirit” now that Zarqawi and Saddam are out. Any guesses?

Is this what the coalition of the willing has brought to Iraq? it is indistinguishable from the type of grotesque display that Saddam would arrange himself.

My other point concerns the trial itself, which was a sham. Undoubtedly he is guilty and deserves execution, however if one wishes to conduct a trial then it should be a court with some semblance to justice, rules of evidence etc. From the snippets one sees and reads about the trial itself was farcical, with an almost operatic quality.

This is in keeping with the rest of the war on terror where reality is replaced by crude symbols and slogans, beneath which there is no real substance. So civilised POW arrangements are replaced by camp x ray and rendition, the laws governing fair trials are replaced by draconian arbitrary rules that are unfair, and now trials themselves are replaced by street theatre of the absurd.

It fits into the underlying theme that the coalition believe, i.e. that Muslims are less than human, less than civilised and that western or worldwide standards of human treatment need not apply to them.

Unfortunately the way that some Muslims behave (as witnessed by this execution) reinforce this view.

The link below show Saddam in an earlier Christmas in happier times (1983) with a close friend

here

This meeting occurred 16 months after the crime in Dujail for which he has now been executed

Rumsfeld hides his moral outrage very well

It shows Saddam’s last minutes and it doesn’t stop where the official one does. It shows Saddam with the noose around his neck standing for some seconds while a group of men chant Shia slogans and others praise Muqtada al-Sadr and Muhammad Baqer Al-Sadr (the godfather of PM Al-Maliki’s Al-Dawa Party). Then it shows someone cussing and shouting “go to hell”, then Saddam falling while saying the sentence every Muslim has to say before death: “I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”. In fact, he wasn’t even given the chance to complete his sentence.

The execution scene shows some militiamen in civilian outfits covering their faces, either with black face masks or by T.V. digital blurring, holding and moving Saddam who refused, while handcuffed and shackled, to cover his face. The execution scene did not at all resemble a State execution; rather, it looked like a chaotic sectarian act of revenge interrupted by shrieking militiamen who received him from the U.S. forces less than 30 minutes before killing him.

Saddam was given the chance to look like the calm and brave leader who didn’t fear death, and who claimed to love and defend Iraq and the Islamic nation until the last second. At the same time, his executers, hiding their faces, demonstrated themselves as vengeful thugs supported by the occupation and representing only their political party and sects.

It takes a lot of stupidity to lose moral authority to a former dictator with a noose around his neck. It takes a lot of stupidity to turn Saddam’s execution to an event dividing Iraqis furthermore instead of uniting them. It takes a lot to turn Saddam from a former dictator to a symbol of resistance and pride. I can go as far as comparing this to how much stupidity and hard work John Kerry put into losing the elections to an inept president like Bush.

But what struck me the most is how perverse and grotesque the whole “spectacle” was. A loud, horrific execution. And I don’t see how anyone can rejoice in watching such a punishment (dancing, fireworks). It’s too disturbing to even contemplate. The man is being executed, that is your vindication. To dance makes it even more barbaric.