Few will shed a tear for Saddam Hussein, whose reign as a dictator came to an end as have so many others of his stripe. But the particular charges used as the rationale for his execution — among many others that might have been levied — is as inexplicable as was the invasion that drove him from power, and provokes as many questions.
Saddam's death sentence followed his trial for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. At that period in Iraqi history, however, Saddam enjoyed a considerable amount of U.S. support. An April 10, 2003 report by UPI writer Richard Sale stated that Saddam's "first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim.... The CIA/Defense Intelligence Agency relation with Saddam intensified after the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September of 1980. During the war, the CIA regularly sent a team to Saddam to deliver battlefield intelligence obtained from Saudi AWACS surveillance aircraft to aid the effectiveness of Iraq's armed forces, according to a former DIA official, part of a U.S. interagency intelligence group."
In a briefing with White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on January 27, 2003, White House reporter Russell Mokhiber referenced an article the previous day in the The San Francisco Chronicle that a number of major American corporations — including Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel — helped Saddam Hussein beef up Iraq's military in the 1980s. Mokhiber said that, in the same article, it was reported that Donald Rumsfeld (who recently resigned as Secretary of Defense) went to Baghdad in December 1983 and met with Saddam Hussein.
In an article in the Washington Post for December 30, 2002, "U.S. Had Key Role in Iraq Buildup," Michael Dobbs also referenced the 1983 meeting between Rumsfeld and Saddam, describing the future defense secretary as being "among the people instrumental in tilting U.S. policy toward Baghdad during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war." Dobbs continued: "The administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush authorized the sale to Iraq of numerous items that had both military and civilian applications, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological viruses, such as anthrax and bubonic plague."
It is one of history's greatest ironies that the United States government should use the goal of uncovering Saddam's weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for launching the invasion that removed the dictator from power when, in all likelihood, the weapons were supplied by U.S. sources. (As to their present whereabouts, that question must remain unanswered.) Adding further to the irony is the fact that of all possible charges possible against Saddam, those responsible for his conviction and execution stem from an incident that occurred while he enjoyed considerable U.S. support.
Sadly for Saddam, he did not know enough history to realize that when dictators accept support from Western sources to gain power, that support can be fickle, indeed. And when those who brought the despot to power have no further use for his services, it is standard operating procedure to remove him from power and throw him to the wolves.
The hangman's noose has brought one despot to an inglorious end, but the despot-makers are free to ply their trade elsewhere.
Saddam's death sentence followed his trial for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. At that period in Iraqi history, however, Saddam enjoyed a considerable amount of U.S. support. An April 10, 2003 report by UPI writer Richard Sale stated that Saddam's "first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim.... The CIA/Defense Intelligence Agency relation with Saddam intensified after the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September of 1980. During the war, the CIA regularly sent a team to Saddam to deliver battlefield intelligence obtained from Saudi AWACS surveillance aircraft to aid the effectiveness of Iraq's armed forces, according to a former DIA official, part of a U.S. interagency intelligence group."
In a briefing with White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on January 27, 2003, White House reporter Russell Mokhiber referenced an article the previous day in the The San Francisco Chronicle that a number of major American corporations — including Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel — helped Saddam Hussein beef up Iraq's military in the 1980s. Mokhiber said that, in the same article, it was reported that Donald Rumsfeld (who recently resigned as Secretary of Defense) went to Baghdad in December 1983 and met with Saddam Hussein.
In an article in the Washington Post for December 30, 2002, "U.S. Had Key Role in Iraq Buildup," Michael Dobbs also referenced the 1983 meeting between Rumsfeld and Saddam, describing the future defense secretary as being "among the people instrumental in tilting U.S. policy toward Baghdad during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war." Dobbs continued: "The administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush authorized the sale to Iraq of numerous items that had both military and civilian applications, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological viruses, such as anthrax and bubonic plague."
It is one of history's greatest ironies that the United States government should use the goal of uncovering Saddam's weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for launching the invasion that removed the dictator from power when, in all likelihood, the weapons were supplied by U.S. sources. (As to their present whereabouts, that question must remain unanswered.) Adding further to the irony is the fact that of all possible charges possible against Saddam, those responsible for his conviction and execution stem from an incident that occurred while he enjoyed considerable U.S. support.
Sadly for Saddam, he did not know enough history to realize that when dictators accept support from Western sources to gain power, that support can be fickle, indeed. And when those who brought the despot to power have no further use for his services, it is standard operating procedure to remove him from power and throw him to the wolves.
The hangman's noose has brought one despot to an inglorious end, but the despot-makers are free to ply their trade elsewhere.
