Today witnessed the end of the “Butcher of Baghdad†as Saddam Hussein was hung for crimes against the people of Iraq during his 24-year totalitarian reign.
Today effectively ends the chapter of the Baathist and Sunni rule of Iraq. Certainly, the insurgency fueled by Baathists and Sunnis will not be ended because Saddam is dead, however his death shows that their ability to restore the old rule of Iraq no longer exists.
Today also effectively begins the clock against the current Iraqi government as to whether and how it will restore the rule of law in Iraq and end the current sectarian violence that rocks Iraq on an almost daily basis.
Just like the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did not end the insurgency, neither will the death of Saddam Hussein. However, just like the death of Zarqawi, Hussein’s death marks the opening of another chapter in the history of Iraq as it struggles against the forces of fundamentalism, radicalism, and tyranny that threaten it.
Saddam’s death is another victory on the long road toward defeating the forces of fundamentalism, radicalism, and tyranny around the world. It is not the first victory, and it will not be the last, but for a moment, everyone can pause and reflect on another step taken on the road toward success.
Iraqis, Americans, Britons, and all the people of the world should see Saddam’s death for what it is: a tyrant has been punished for his crimes and a nation has been liberated from the fear of its past. Now free of this fear, Iraq, the United States, Britain, and all of the free people of the world can work together that much more closely to establish the rule of liberty and law in Iraq and wherever freedom continues to languish.
DLH
