Saddam Hussein's Execution A Public Murder, Says Dr Mahathir

Barbaric, sadistic and a public murder -- this was how former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad described Saturday's execution of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

In a strongly-worded statement here Monday, Dr Mahathir said the execution was sanctioned by U.S. president George W. Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair, whom he labelled as war criminals.

He said the sadistic act of broadcasting the execution to the whole world was a travesty of justice and meant to demonstrate the imperial power of the United States and served as a warning to peace loving people that they must either bow to the dictates of the Bush administration or face the consequences of a public lynching.

Dr Mahathir, who is a member of International Committee for the Defence of Saddam, said the former president's lynching was also an insult to all Muslims as it occurred on the Holy Day of Eid when Muslims devote themselves to prayer and forgiveness. " It is all too clear that the war criminal Bush has no sensitivities whatsoever for Muslims on their pilgrimage to Mecca. This barbaric act is a sacrilege," he said.

He said Saddam's entire trial process was a mockery of justice in no less a Kangaroo Court. "Defence counsels were brutally murdered, witnesses threatened and judges removed for being impartial and replaced by puppet judges. Yet, we are told that Iraq was invaded to promote democracy, freedom and justice.

Dr Mahathir, a vocal opponent of the U.S-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 when he was prime minister, said what happened now was that a peaceful country had been turned into a war zone. Over 500,000 children died as a result of economic sanctions, and the latest findings by the medical journal, Lancet revealed that over 650,000 Iraqis had died since the illegal invasion.

He also accused Bush of killing more Iraqis than President Saddam ever did. "If President Saddam Hussein is guilty of war crimes, then the world must find Bush, Blair and John Howard (Australian prime minister) equally guilty and the International Criminal Court cannot but prosecute these war criminals," he said. He said the inaction thus far by the International Criminal Court against Bush, Blair and Howard exposed its double standard when it did not hesitate to prosecute war crimes committed in Darfur, Rwanda and Kosovo.

"If we support human rights and justice, we must condemn this barbaric lynching of Saddam Hussein. There can be no excuse whatsoever for this injustice under any circumstances. Bush and the puppet regime in Iraq have made a mockery of the rule of law," he said. (Bernama)

****** There are many who would agree with the sentiments expressed by Dr Mahathir. "Double standards" the Tun said. "Barbaric lynching of Saddam" he cried out. He has a point when he claimed that a peaceful country had been turned into a war zone. During Saddam's time, many say, that there was stability, relative prosperity and freedom. Women were at liberty to pursue their education and were not shackled by any extreme interpretation of religious law and practice.

Has this hasty execution order given by the authorities in Iraq, under instruction from the Americans, turned Saddam into an icon and martyr who over time may become the rallying point for all Arabs against western imperialism? Should not they have left him to rot in some desolate prison? Of course there was the real fear that if he were kept alive and should the US withdraw as it must and will soon, he could have made a comeback. That would have been politically impossible to accept; not after so many thousands of American lives had been sacrificed. In many ways it was a Catch-22 situation - Saddam, dead or alive would have been equally dangerous.

As for Dr Mahathir's emotional outbursts, do you feel that he is justified in his statements and claims? Should Bush, Blair and Howard be the next ones to go? Should or should not have Saddam been executed? Let us know here.
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