December 14, 2003 by lonbud

One Down, But How Many More?

They finally bagged the Butcher of Baghdad. Let’s hear, once again, three cheers for the Red, White and Blue. Seriously, this is a historic event for which the brave men and women of the United States’ Armed Forces deserve the commendation of all freedom-loving people in this world, not to mention the eternal gratitude of the long-suffering citizens of Iraq.

But, much as the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner and President Bush’s infamous “major combat operations are over” statements aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln proved empty symbols of our collective desire, we would all do well to not read the capture of Saddam Hussein for the end of harm and danger to U.S. troops in Iraq, or the guarantee of a peaceful, free, and fair society for the Iraqi people.

Gazing upon Saddam’s haggard, discheveled countenance this morning I was put in mind of nothing so much as a fox at the end of a hunt, just before the dogs rip its broken, worn out body to shreds. And surely his will be a similar fate. He’ll stand trial for his crimes against humanity, though at this early date it remains unclear whether his tribunal will be comprised of Iraqi justices, American justices, or those of the International Criminal Court.

His nose will be rubbed in the prurient details of his heinous behavior and news outlets worldwide will breathlessly recount the depths of his depravity for audiences all-too-willing to revel in catharsis over his presence in the dock than they are game for making all-too-hard and complicated choices about what to do with all the other foxes remaining in the desert.

And then he will hang, or be shot, or gassed, or electrocuted, or poisoned -but surely he will die.

And then, what, ladies and gentlemen of the jury? Will lions lie down with lambs? Swords be beaten into ploughshares? Will Israelies find common cause with Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians, Saudis, Egyptians, Lebanese? With any one of those peoples?

Will Islamic fundamentalists cease preaching hate and death for America? Will suicide bombers roam the earth no more? Perhaps hell will freeze over and the desert will bloom with a billion flowers, or at least one for every victim of Saddam’s brutality.

Fascism did not die in the bunker with Adolf Hitler, nor with the trial and execution of Nuremburg’s defendants. Rascism did not die with the admission of James Lee Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962 or with the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The fact of fascism’s continued existence and rascism’s stubborn presence in the world does not diminish the importance of those historic events, just as the virulence of terrorism and the seeming impasse between Arabic and Western worldviews do not render the capture of Saddam Hussein a trivial matter.

But, in the immortal words of Karen and Richard Carpenter, “we’ve only just begun.”