http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/452/Hijacking_Eid_and_Hanging_Saddam
Hijacking Eid and Hanging Saddam
Timing and Hostile Repartee Creates Further Division
By NIR ROSEN 12/31/2006 2:17 PM ET
Saddam Hussein became the first modern Arab dictator to die violently
since Egypt's Anwar Sadat in 1981. Saddam's hanging at the hands of
chubby Iraqi men wearing ski masks is likely to be perceived by many
as an American execution and as part of a trend of American missteps
contributing to sectarian tensions in Iraq and the region. The trial
of Saddam was viewed by detractors as an event stage-managed by the
Americans. According to Human Rights Watch, the Iraqi judges and
lawyers involved in prosecuting Saddam were ill prepared and relied on
their American advisers. American minders shut off the microphones and
ordered the translators to halt whenever they disapproved of what was
being said by the defendants.
The important Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha was due to begin over the
weekend. For Sunnis it began on Saturday the 30th of December. For
Shias it begins on Sunday the 31st. According to tradition in Mecca,
battles are suspended during the Hajj period so that pilgrims can
safely march to Mecca. This practice even predated Islam and Muslims
preserved this tradition, calling this period 'Al Ashur al Hurm,' or
the months of truce. By hanging Saddam on the Sunni Eid the Americans
and the Iraqi government were in effect saying that only the Shia Eid
had legitimacy. Sunnis were irate that Shia traditions were given
primacy (as they are more and more in Iraq these days) and that Shias
disrespected the tradition and killed Saddam on this day. Because the
Iraqi constitution itself prohibits executions from being carried out
on Eid, the Iraqi government had to officially declare that Eid did
not begin until Sunday the 31st. It was a striking decision, virtually
declaring that Iraq is now a Shia state. Eid al Adha is the festival
of the sacrifice of the sheep. Some may perceive it as the day Saddam
was sacrificed.
Saddam had been in American custody and was handed over to Iraqis just
before his execution. It is therefore hard to dismiss the perception
that the Americans could have waited, because in the end it is they
who have the final say over such events in Iraq. Iraqi officials have
consistently publicly complained that they have no authority and the
Americans control the Iraqi police and the Army. It is therefore
unusual that Iraqis would suddenly regain sovereignty for this
important event. For many Sunnis and Arabs in the region, this appears
to be one president ordering the death of another president. It was
possibly a message to Sunnis, a warning. The Americans often equated
Saddam with the Sunni resistance to the occupation. By killing Saddam
they were killing what they believed was the symbol of the Sunni
resistance, expecting them to realize their cause was hopeless. Sunnis
could perceive the execution, and its timing, as a message to them:
"We are killing you." But Saddam's death might now liberate the Sunni
resistance from association with Saddam and the Baathists. They can
now more plausibly claim that they are fighting for national
liberation and not out of support for the former regime as their
American and Iraqi government opponents have so often claimed. A lack
of a hood (victims normally do not have a choice to wear a hood) a
scarf to prevent rope burn for the soon to be distributed photo, a
hallmark of US "We Got Him" psyops tactics. Even the US plane that
flew him to his final resting spot seems to indicate US management.
The unofficial video of the execution, filmed on the mobile cell phone
of one of the officials present is sure to further inflame
sectarianism, because it is clearly a Shia execution. Men are heard
talking, one of them is called Ali. As the executioners argue over how
to best position the rope on his neck Saddam calls out to god, saying,
"ya Allah." Referring to Shias, one official says "those who pray for
Muhamad and the family of Muhamad have won!" Others triumphantly
respond in the Shia chant: "Our God prays for Muhamad and the family
of Muhamad." Others then add the part chanted by supporters of Muqtada
al Sadr: "And speed his (the Mahdi's) return! And damn his enemies!
And make his son victorious! Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada!"
Saddam then smiles and says something mocking about Muqtada. "Muqtada!
It is this..." but the rest is blocked by the voices of officials
saying "ila jahanam," or "go to Hell." Saddam looks down and says "Is
this your manhood...?" As the rope is put around Saddam's neck
somebody shouts "long live Muhamad Baqir al Sadr!" referring to an
important Shia cleric who founded the Dawa Party and was also
Muqtada's relative. Baqir al Sadr was executed by Saddam in 1980. He
is venerated by all three major Shia movements in Iraq, the Dawa, the
Sadrists and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Others insult Saddam. One man asks them to stop: "I beg you, I beg
you, the man is being executed!" Saddam then says the Shahada, or
testimony, that there is no god but Allah and Muhamad is his prophet.
When he tries to say it again the trap door opens and he falls through
to be hung. One man then shouts that "the tyranny has ended!" and
others call out triumphal Shia chants. Somebody wants to remove the
rope from his neck but is told to wait eight minutes.
The Sunni Islamo-nationalist website Islam Memo claimed that the
Safavids (Persians, meaning Shias) burned Saddam's Quran after they
killed him. They also said that Saddam exchanged insults with the
witnesses to his execution and cursed one of them, saying "God damn
you, Persian midget." The same website also claimed that Ayatolla Ali
Sistani blessed Saddam's execution and that the Iraqi government
refused to provide Saddam with a Sunni cleric to pray for him before
the execution. Finally, they asserted that Saddam said "Palestine is
Arab" and then recited the Muslim Shahada, testifying that there is no
god but Allah and Muhamad is his prophet, and then he was executed.
The website claimed that following his death Saddam's body was abused.
Although the Shia dominated Iraqi media claimed Saddam was terrified
prior to his execution and fought with his hangmen, Saddam's on screen
visage was one of aplomb, for he was conscious of the image he was
displaying and wanted to go down as the grand historic leader he
believed himself to be.
Rest at: http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/452/Hijacking_Eid_and_Hanging_Saddam
Juan Cole, who linked to this, added the short gloss:
<quote>
Cindy Sheehan's son died fighting the Mahdi Army; Bush delivered Saddam into the hands of MA's political wing.
<end quote>
Michael