Saddam's execution

Barbaric hanging deepens divisions

THE HANGING of Saddam Hussein on 30 December had nothing to do with obtaining justice for his victims or the working people of Iraq and everything to do with satisfying the agenda of the elite Iraqi Shia-dominated government and US imperialism.

It has further polarised sectarian divisions in Iraq, with the predictable consequence that ordinary Iraqis will pay a heavy price due to reprisal bombings and other attacks.

Those who lost family members and friends at the hands of Saddam's repressive regime are celebrating, while many in the minority Sunni population - which Saddam was part of - are outraged, not least because of the way Saddam was mocked by his Shia executioners. However, even among Iraqis who suffered most under Saddam's regime, can be found many who see their living conditions and security since his 2003 removal as being much worse than when he was in power.

The conviction was based on only one of many charges against him: the one regarding the deaths of 148 Shia civilians from the Iraqi town of Dujail. The hanging was rushed through to suit the political agenda of Iraqi prime minister Maliki, also to avoid further challenges to the court process and to avoid trial of a charge of genocide against Kurds, in relation to the killing of 100,000 Kurds at the hands of Saddam's regime.

A trial of this second charge would have further exposed the friendly trade, aid and weapons links between the US, Britain and Iraq during the 1980s, when the US, British and other governments backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war.

Saddam's decades in power were brutal and repressive. However, his execution is a continuation of the US Bush regime's hypocrisy and aggression towards Iraq. Worldwide, there is no shortage of national presidents who use extreme brutality to counter domestic opposition. Yet US imperialism maintains friendly relations with those who remain under its influence, no matter what their crimes against working people and the poor.

Bush declared that the hanging of Saddam was "an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming democracy", when the real agenda of the US hawks was their desire to punish Saddam for the 1990-91 Gulf war and to gain control of Iraq's oil fields. Most Iraqis firmly blame the nightmare situation since the 2003 invasion on US imperialism and its allies in the war and occupation.

Degree of sympathy

The masses of the Arab and Muslim world, although mindful of Saddam's brutality, also recognised his support for Arabs against the threats and actions of US imperialism, including against economic sanctions inflicted on Iraq after the 1990-91 Gulf war, and against US staunch support for the Israeli regime's repression of Palestinians.

Saddam presided over the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis through repression and war, but so now has US and British imperialism. There will therefore be some degree of sympathy and even, for some, 'martyr' status for Saddam amongst sections of the Arab and Muslim masses and others internationally who detest US imperialism.

The Human Rights Watch organisation described a number of flaws in Saddam's trial, including 'political pressure' exerted and the judges' contempt for the defence, concluding that the verdict was 'unreliable'. However abhorrent the acts of an individual, socialists and democrats defend his or her right to a fair trial, which should be by ordinary working people and not unelected judges.

Also, nothing progressive has been gained by applying the death penalty. It has de facto denied the Kurds and others who suffered atrocities during Saddam's regime the right to hold him, his regime and his international backers to account. Where it is legal in the world, capital punishment inevitably leads to the death of some innocent people.

While few would regard Saddam as innocent, his execution will not solve any of the acute present problems in Iraq, nor will it prevent new brutal dictators from assuming power in the future. Only the Iraqi working class and rural poor, by organising a strong movement against imperialist occupation and for a government of their own representatives to act in their own interests, can prevent such a future outcome.