What are the real issues at stake here?
- Are people who are against the death penalty for Saddam those who are against it in general? If you are pro-DP for Saddam, are you against it otherwise? Is there such a thing as a special case?
- Is SH the same as Australian drug traffickers who are executed in parts of Asia? Is this a matter of degrees or is there no such thing?
- Is the DP a good enough punishment? Should we instead, as Josh Lyman from the West Wing says, sit them in a room watching hours upon hours of home video footage of their victims, of their families forever?
1 comment:
I reckon there's always a special case, but that Saddam isn't one of them. Killing him won't bring his victims back. It won't deter others from becoming murderous tyrants (if anything it will harden the irrational resolve of those already out there). And it certainly doesn't represent justice in a civilised world (e.g. how do we plead for mercy for our moderately attractive drug dealers overseas...)
Instead I propose nothing cruel or unusual. Just a life sentence so his supporters can watch him wither and age and instead of being a glorious martyr he'll die forgotten like the other guy (you know the one...)
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