"The Tyrant is dead. Long live the Republic"
"Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti; (April 28, 1937 – December 30, 2006), was the President of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003, when he was deposed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. As the leader of Iraq and head of the Baath Party, he promoted secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism at the same time that he practiced one-party rule, censorship, and violent repressions, especially against Iraq's Shia, Kurdish and Marsh Arab populations.
As vice president under his cousin, General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Hussein tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces by creating repressive security forces and cementing his own firm authority over the apparatus of government. As president, Hussein ran an authoritarian government and maintained power and stability in the country. During his rule the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and the Gulf War (1991) took place, and his rule was ended by the Iraq war. He repressed movements deemed threatening to the stability of Iraq, particularly those of ethnic or religious groups that sought independence or autonomy along tribal lines. He was and remains a popular hero among many Sunni Iraqis and Arabs for remaining defiant toward Iran, Israel, and the United States and supporting the Palestinian cause. However, he is hated by many Iraqis for the murder of their relatives and loved ones. His execution has been met with a combination of anger and joy.
Hussein's government collapsed as a result of the 2003 invasion of Iraq led by the United States, and he was captured by American forces on December 13, 2003. He was found hiding in a hole in the ground, beneath a small walled compound on a sheep farm near Tikrit, his ancestral town.
On November 5, 2006, Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal in a trial many considered fundamentally unfair and was sentenced to death by hanging.
On December 26, 2006, Hussein's appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. According to Iraqi television reports, he was hanged in the early morning Baghdad time (06:05 hours locally or 03:05 UTC) on December 30, 2006 in front of a group of official witnesses made up of lawyers, officials, and a doctor.
Ali Al Messedy, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's official photographer, filmed the dictator's execution. He told the press of the Sadaam's last moments. On the way to the gallows, according to Ali, "Hussein said, ‘Iraq without me is nothing'." He also reported Saddam's fear.
His final reported words were: "God is great. The true Iraqi nation will be victorious and Palestine is Arab"."
His death came as a shock to alot of people, who had just come back from the Eid prayer and sacrificing the sheep, to be stunned with pictures of the former leader with a noose over his neck. People, regretfully divided over his death, with some calling him the only person able and powerful enough to hold down the bloodthirsty Iraqi people. To those people I say, where was Iraq during the previous 1400 years ? The pinnacle of civilization during the Middle Ages, with people coming from all across the civilized world to the once great cities of Baghdad, al-Basra and al-Kufa for education, trade or just to gaze upon those majestic Islamic cities. Now, and for future generations, they will be remembered as cities where this or that suicide bombing happened, nothing more, nothing less. To others, who thought that he deserved it, well I ain't got no beef with you.
Yet no one is innocent in this great tangled web of ours. Saddam has killed many people, innocent and otherwise. We don't need a court of law to know that he is guilty, guilty and guilty of all that hes has done, and even more hideous and grotesque crimes that none of us know about. Is the unlawful war with Iran which HE started and the invasion of Kuwait not enough ?! He ruled through terror, and an entire generation grew up under him knowing only poverty, fear and death. Countless people have lost family and friends to his Republican Guard, guilty of only speaking out their minds. Don't talk to me about how he's the saviour of the Arab World, the one who was suppose to free Palestine and lead us to victory. He never was that. There is no one coming to save us. There never was anyone coming to save us. Gamal Abdel Nasser is dead, and with him the dream of a United Arab State. Saddam is a murderer, and he deserved what he got.
So this means I support the American invasion of Iraq ? NO. Bush LIED to the world about everything from the start, just to get revenge on the dude who tried to kill his pappy. WMDs, yellow cake uranium, connections to Al-Qaeda, all that jazz....lies. And when he gets there, he suddenly "remembers" that, no !! "I came to free the Iraqi people from the oppression of Saddam !! I will give them DEMOCRACY." Well Mr. Bush, seems that the Iraqi people don't care much for your "DEMOCRACY" But now since that your here, you might as well stay, cus I don't think our friends to the north are doing very well with you around, so imagine how it'll be once you leave ? Wasn't the walk in the park you imagined it to be now was it ? Yeah I think staying is the better option here, even though it won't really make a difference. Everyone has an agenda, and I doubt that everyone is ready to make a list of all his need and send it to Santa. So basically Mr. Bush, you have a full blown civil war on your hands here. Why ? Cus you wanted to be a big man and get the man who caused your pappy so much trouble in the past. This Mr. Bush, is called a quagmire. And you're right smack in the middle of it. Allah y3een el jamee3.
"The Tyrant is dead. Long live the Republic."
Happy Eid ya'll.
Happy Eid ya'll.
