Saddam Is Executed

Yes, we all know by now, Saddam Hussein was executed early Saturday morning in Baghdad. I was on the internet, chatting with some friends in a public chatroom, when the news hit. My friends were elated, exuberant, joyfully cackling that he was finally dead. Some noticed that I wasn't joining in on the giggling and celebration, and I was asked why I was being so quiet on the matter. So, I explained how I felt. It goes like this:

Saddam Hussein was a tyrant and an evil dictator, it has always seemed to me. He killed many, many people, including his own, in order to maintain his power and status. The blood of these lives covered his hands. And, it was all done in the name of his religion. He excused his actions by invoking the name of his God.

Horrific.

He was hunted down and captured, deservedly so. He was brought to a fair trial and judged guilty of his crimes against Humanity, again, deservedly so. And, yesterday, he was executed. Okay, I can deal with that.

However, I am not going to celebrate the killing of human life. This whole thing is a tragedy. Do I think it should have been handled another way? No. I am not going to second guess and judge what Iraq decided to do with him.

His execution does not bring those he ordered murdered back to life. His execution does not correct the cultural/political quagmire of the region. His execution does not mean that we get back our friends and family that are stationed over there now. What's to celebrate? An evil man is now a dead man?

I choose to think upon the loss of life, I mourn for the dead. I'm saddened that in this day and age, we still think killing each other is the answer - and putting Saddam to death was probably the right thing to do, right here, right now. Just don't ask me to laugh and party over it. I accept that he was executed and is now dead. I understand that he had it coming to him in spades. Karma is a bitch, for sure.

But, I pray for peace.

Life is sacred. All life is sacred. And that means, when we kill a killer, we should do so with a heavy heart. I saw a bumpersticker once that said "Why do we kill people to prove killing people is wrong?" or something like that.

I think I lost some friends on the internet yesterday.