What Now?
Saddam Hussein has this unique sense of entitlement that would survive any coup, uprising or occupation. At his first appearance before the newly appointed Iraqi court, he seemed to have the capacity to intimidate all those around him, almost convincing the audience at home that he was still, in fact, the leader of the country. As Christiane Amanpour and Peter Jennings looked on, Hussein snapped from confused prisoner, not used to the light, the attention or the people right in to despot mode.
You can take the dictator out of power, but you can’t take the power from the dictator. It is rather astonishing how sane he seems and how quickly he assumed his power, even if it were only for the benefit of himself. It is kind of great. He really believes in himself. I suppose that is what you need to be a truly efficient despot, to be able to abuse your own power to destroy your own people, and those nearby who are getting in your way. Confidence, moxie, balls.
He’s cleaned up since the spider hole days, when the world was subjected to the back of his throat and his overgrown beard. He looks sharp, slick, on top of his game, if only the game were not over.
I am not as familiar with Saddam Hussein the dictator, as I am with his identity as an anti-American. There are lots of dictators, many more than we’d ever thought possible, or could ever find through covert action. Is that why we are taking apart the government of Iraq?
Was the reason we took down the government of Iraq because of the crimes of its deposed leader Saddam Hussein? Because it wasn’t the issue of the ghostly apparitions of ‘WMD’s’ and imaginary ties with terrorists, of which we have found no evidence. Was he not put into power by the US in the first place? How have people completely forgotten this?
If we aren’t pleased with the governing party we have placed into power now, will we have to do this all over again in a year or so? If we are now the peacekeepers of the world, aren’t there other nations that we are obliged to rescue? Do we have to remain in Iraq to make sure our government there takes root? Does this mean we own that country now? Can we now visit without a passport?
What is it to have sovereignty and then to give it back? Do the Iraqi people look at us with anything but contempt, like we are a bad babysitter that gets paid by the hour for talking on the phone and letting the kids play in the whirlpool with all their long hair, ignoring their screams when one gets pulled under by the suctions and drowns because the sliding doors were shut so none of the details of last night’s party would be lost in the chaos?