Kurdish Media,
Iraq
Saddam Execution 'Greatest Travesty of Justice' for Kurds
"Imagine if Hitler's Deputy, Hermann Gering, was hastily executed before he ever had to answer for the extermination of millions of Jews.”
By Aya Biye
January 2, 2006
Iraq - Kurdish Media - Original Article (English) 
Saddam's
hasty execution is perhaps the greatest travesty of justice to have been
inflicted on Kurds in all of their history.
Here was
the supreme opportunity to have him answer for the crimes committed against the
Kurds; it was a chance the Kurds never had before and would never have again. Here
was a venue to put the chief perpetrator on trial to answer for his crimes and
to be broadcast around the world. It would have been a chance to bring closure
to years of suffering, to tell the story of hatred, death and destruction. It
was a chance to have the man at the center of the evil unleashed on the Iraqi
Kurds to stand and take account for his actions; to honor those that suffered
to achieve civility, peace, and justice ... a chance to acknowledge the Kurdish
Genocide from every level and to bring forth the truth ... to remember and to
ensure that it never happens again. It would be any Kurd's dream to fulfill
such an opportunity.
But
Saddam's execution brought an end to that dream. Saddam was given the easy way
out. He never had to face judgment before the world for his actions against the
Kurds. He never had to be branded guilty in a court of law for the thousands of
deaths on his hands and the millions he made to suffer. He never even faced a
trace of humiliation for his actions. For Saddam, such humiliation would have
been a far worse punishment than death; it would have been a punishment that
surpasses all others. Witnessing the humiliation of a dictator who once held
power and squandered the lives of millions would have brought true closure to
those he wounded.
Instead,
Kurdish history repeats itself. Another missed opportunity, another forgotten
page.
This
demeans the entire Kurdish struggle. Saddam's swift execution was the
equivalent of saying that the Kurdish struggle is too insignificant to wait
three days more until the end of Eid 
to hang him. It tells the world that
Kurdish suffering means little and that Saddam wasn't such a bad guy since he
was only charged for killing about 150 people.
How
pathetic to see that he was hanged for killing fewer people than those who
didn't wield power over the lives of millions. People like Timothy McVeigh who
committed the Oklahoma City Bombings . It's like saying that the lives of over a
thousand Kurds are worth less than one Arab. This is so much the case that they
wouldn't even give Kurds the chance to try Saddam for genocide. This belittles
the Kurds and their suffering. It was as if as soon as Saddam was found guilty
of killing 148 Arabs, justice was served. It's like sweeping the Kurds under
the rug, telling them they are like insects not even worth paying attention to
after hundreds of thousands of them have been stepped on.
It's an
enormous slap in the face. Not just because it's yet another disgraceful event,
but because the consequences of this particular event and missed opportunity
will be forever a part of the history of human civilization. Just imagine when
future Westerner reads the history books and see that Saddam was only charged
with the murders of around 150 people. Just imagine that children will think, "Oh,
Saddam wasn't such a bad dictator; he only did one tiny bad thing in Dujail. Sure,
there were hiccups here and there, but he handled Iraq way better than America
and Friends did. And those Kurds are just complainers ... Saddam never really
committed genocide against them, after all, he was never charged with genocide."
Now
imagine this. Imagine that at the Nuremburg Trials in 1946, Hitler's second-in-command
Hermann Goering was tried and executed for killing a few dozen French resistance
members in Normandy. Imagine if he was never tried for the Holocaust, and was
quickly executed before he ever had to answer for the extermination of millions
of Jews.
Hermann Goering.
---------------------------
And
imagine if the Jewish Holocaust had been buried so deeply in the pages of
history that it faded from the minds of the world's people, like old pictures
rotting on a shelf. In fact you don't need to conjure up such a scenario,
because that's exactly what happened on December 30, 2006. It's like awaking
from a nightmare only to realize that nightmare was true.
Saddam's
execution was no doubt politically motivated. But the reasons for his sudden
execution still remain a little elusive. Were "America, France and Friends"
afraid of the dirty secrets that would have come up during his trials (i.e. Ronald
Regan spoon-feeding Saddam)? Were the "Anti-Kurds" and [our] other enemies
afraid of their dirty secrets as well? Could it have something to do with the
shift in American strategy in Iraq? Was it to add a new punch line to George
Bush's upcoming speech? Or was it just a mix of good old fashioned Arab racism
packed into a convenient can of Aunt Jemima's Pancake Syrup?
Whatever
the reason, politics was the main factor.
Welcome
Kurds, one and all, to the 21st century.
[NEWSWIRE PHOTOS: Saddam Hussein].
