I've never made my mind up about capital punishment. The problem for me is that justice is carried out by imperfect humans. If justice was perfect, guilt was certain and executions were carried out regardless of race, poverty, gender or politics, then I could see how in some cases it would be appropriate. Those cases are ones in which the crimes were heinous and there was no real doubt about the accused's responsibility for them. Saddam Hussein certainly fits those criteria.
To put it another way, I'm not sure that capital punishment ought to be an element of any justice system, but it is, and I don't know of many people more deserving of it than Hussein.
I don't buy the argument that because Pinochet wasn't executed then Hussein shouldn't have been either. That claim reduces to the proposition that unless justice can be done everywhere, it shouldn't be done anywhere.
It would be nice to think that maybe the administration will now truly have accomplished its mission and pull American troops out of Iraq. It would be nice . . . .
Not likely is it?
Posted by: The Emerson Avenger | January 01, 2007 at 11:07 PM