Could you imagine this news five years ago?
From the Breitbart story:
As was the referendum this past Saturday, this very day is one of the reasons the United States has spent so much blood and treasure in Iraq. This is about so much more than the US removing from power someone who had been a thorn in our side for years. This day is a live fire exercise in freedom. This day is about throwing a spear in the sand and saying there will be a moral reckoning. As American people, as Iraqi people, we will not cower forever, we will do the hard work of prying a nation out of the sharp talons of a murderous regime and freeing a people. This day is a banner rippling high above the entire Middle East proclaiming that freedom means self-determination.
What must the other thugocracys throughout the Middle East think today as they watch this former absolute ruler standing before a judge? I'm sure they're thinking "There but for the grace of Allah, and the strength of my goons, go I."
How many on the Left, and even on the Right, were resigned to simply dealing with Hussein, to living with his regime in Iraq, with no thought given to the possibility of change? Here is the vision of the leadership President Bush has shown since 9/11. Things aren't perfect, the aftermath in Iraq may not have been planned correctly, but on this big question, Bush was right.
The Iraqi people are learning what it means to be a free nation with ideals. Though many would like to, the Iraqis aren't simply throwing Hussein to be ripped apart by a pack of wild dogs. They are using the restrained procedures of a trial. This is what civilized people do. They allow their behavior to be constrained by abstract ideals, like justice and the rule of law.
Even if the Cindy Sheehans of the world have the luxury to forget this lesson, it's there for all to see, and you can believe there are millions across the Middle East, particularly in Iran, who are praying in darkened rooms in their homes that freedom will come their way, and that some day they can put their own dictators in the dock.
Saddam Hussein went on trial Wednesday for alleged crimes against fellow Iraqis, appearing in a tightly secured courtroom in the former headquarters of his Baath Party nearly two years after his capture and facing charges in a 1982 massacre of nearly 150 Shiites that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.
The 68-year-old ousted Iraqi leader and his seven co-defendants _ all top officials from his regime _ sat in two rows, with Saddam in the front, directly facing the panel of five judges that will both hear the the case and render a verdict in what could be the first of several trials of Saddam for atrocities carried out during his 23- year-rule.
As was the referendum this past Saturday, this very day is one of the reasons the United States has spent so much blood and treasure in Iraq. This is about so much more than the US removing from power someone who had been a thorn in our side for years. This day is a live fire exercise in freedom. This day is about throwing a spear in the sand and saying there will be a moral reckoning. As American people, as Iraqi people, we will not cower forever, we will do the hard work of prying a nation out of the sharp talons of a murderous regime and freeing a people. This day is a banner rippling high above the entire Middle East proclaiming that freedom means self-determination.
What must the other thugocracys throughout the Middle East think today as they watch this former absolute ruler standing before a judge? I'm sure they're thinking "There but for the grace of Allah, and the strength of my goons, go I."
How many on the Left, and even on the Right, were resigned to simply dealing with Hussein, to living with his regime in Iraq, with no thought given to the possibility of change? Here is the vision of the leadership President Bush has shown since 9/11. Things aren't perfect, the aftermath in Iraq may not have been planned correctly, but on this big question, Bush was right.
The Iraqi people are learning what it means to be a free nation with ideals. Though many would like to, the Iraqis aren't simply throwing Hussein to be ripped apart by a pack of wild dogs. They are using the restrained procedures of a trial. This is what civilized people do. They allow their behavior to be constrained by abstract ideals, like justice and the rule of law.
Even if the Cindy Sheehans of the world have the luxury to forget this lesson, it's there for all to see, and you can believe there are millions across the Middle East, particularly in Iran, who are praying in darkened rooms in their homes that freedom will come their way, and that some day they can put their own dictators in the dock.
2 Comments:
At Wed Oct 19, 10:39:00 PM, Leo Pusateri said…
Good post, Jeff...
I'm sure that there will come a day in the not-too-distant future, when Iraqis will be able to largely go it alone.
Even when that days come about, the MSM will come out with the same "women and minorities" most affected tripe.
They're counting on failure, and they'll make up the "failure" if they have to (they already have).
At Thu Oct 20, 07:55:00 AM, hammerswing75 said…
Talking heads might say that things are getting worse in Iraq. The events of the past week belie this with vigor. We don't have a magic wand, but we do have a President imbued with fortitude, a military that knows how to get the job done and new friends in Iraq that have tasted freedom and want more. I love your image of the "banner rippling high above the entire Middle East".
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