Saddam: Red Card Issued

I am actually quite surprised at the quick haste at which Saddam is to be dispatched.

In coming back to my blog after a two-year hiatus and reading my paper on the Iraq invasion, should I be surprised? The country has descended into an all out civil war. It also surprises me that an acquaintance actually said to me today as well that he "hopes that Saddam's execution doesn't have the terrorists go crazy!"

Much to my surprise, not much as really changed in two years.

People are still calling these factions within Iraq "terrorists." Just who are these terrorists? Apparently, slap the label al-Queda on someone and they qualify. If anything, how can you have a terror faction within a civil war? The power that I want is to continue to car bomb people? If anything, the way to rule through terror is to act like Saddam. To cause revolt is to car bomb. Since Saddam wasn't a "terrorist" and was in reality a dictator, and these terror acts are really part of a power struggle, these are soldiers in a civil war.

So I posited that these aren't really "terrorists" by the traditional stretch of the imagination, but rather that these are power factions looking to cause separation, or at least overthrow the government. This is really what is going on there, at least in my eyes.

So much for US occupation.

Regarding Saddam's lovely red card, you can read about it here. I thought it poignant that he should be issued death through one of his own inventions. I'm sure that wasn't relished in some circles, or at least those who believe in good taste.

Meanwhile, the death watch marches on. In about 15 minutes I'll be watching CNN.

Hopefully you'll be reading more from me in the near future.