>Let's look at this carefully. Mr. Ali begins by saying that he's
>disgusted that Saddam couldn't "die honorably," and that this would
>have been "the one decent thing he could have done for his country."
>Come on. I'm _glad_ he didn't take that opportunity. It is far
>_better_ that he be brought to trial, that he stand and be held
>accountable for his crimes (and maybe implicate those who helped
>him), and that he _not_ have the chance to make one final escape.
And what kind of trial is he likely to get from the gang who have him in custody? Will there be testimony on his 30-yr relationship with the U.S. - the lists of communists to be killed, supplied by the CIA, or the years of support during the barbaric Iran-Iraq war?
>As for "the responsibility of the Iraqi people," we could be really
>uncharitable to Tariq Ali-- and read this as a _condemnation_ of the
>Iraqi People. After all, they failed to live up to this
>"responsibility" for thirty-five years. Mr. Ali seems to forget that
>a dictatorship _deprives_ its subjects of political
>responsibilities. In fact, dictators tend to _murder_ those who even
>_try_ to shoulder it.
People can never throw off dictators on their own? They need the intervention of foreign superpowers, esp foreign superpowers that long supported those dictators who also lust for your resources?
>And once again, we get the hysterical fretting about the footage of
>Saddam's capture. Parading a captured prisoner (well, showing tapes
>of him having his beard combed for lice) is both the "new model of
>imperialism" as well as the pomp and circumstance of ancient Rome.
>So, Mr. Ali, how is this then a "new" model of imperialism? Sounds
>to me as though it's the same story as always-- with the adjustment
>that Saddam will actually have a _trial_. (It's also important to
>note that showing Saddam off makes a degree of sense-- to show
>Iraqis that the man is no longer the arbiter of their fates, the
>terror of their lives, or the murderer of their families.)
Doesn't it violate the Geneva convention to show POWs in humiliating poses? You share the Bush admin's idea that international law is only for pussies?
If you're going to criticize Tariq Ali for dealing in cliche, it'd be more impressive if you didn't come off sounding like a New Republic editorialist.
Doug