Saddam Distraction

It should be the biggest sideshow in Baghdad, but gets seriously lost in the day to day drama of the strife torn city.

The trial of Saddam Hussein is entering its closing stages. There are reports that he still faces further charges, but as show trials go, it is a fizzer.

Not that there hasn’t been plenty of excitement, with his defence lawyers regularly assassinated throughout the hearing, but that pales among the cities other atrocities.

What is left of the defence team also criticised as "striking interference in judicial affairs" comments made last week by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in which he jokingly said he hoped Saddam would be executed soon.

But Maliki better not hold his breath, as a death sentence may be delayed by appeals and other trials Saddam is likely to face.

It is hard to see, now, what benefit there is in the whole show. Given the brutality which Saddam himself went a long way to forging into the cultural ethos of Iraq, the outcome is hardly in doubt.

I abhor capital punishment, but this is going to be the butchers plight, so why not just do it? There is obviously nothing left to be gained, for anyone, by dragging that bit of agony on. It is not a situation where convictions are going to produce any sense of closure among the victim’s relatives.

Saddam’s behavior seems no worse than that of the competing elements throughout the country, whether insurgents of those with dubious authority.

The best outcome would be to send the butcher to a third country prison to live out his life with the knowledge of his actions. That isn’t going to happen, so why not just end the whole charade now?