Persuasive Political Essay Against the Execution of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein wears black ironed pants, an ivory white shirt, a luxurious, black topcoat, and burnished black shoes, with his hair dyed black and silver beard trimmed. He wears plastic handcuffs and his legs are tied together. After being read his sentence and speaking to a Sunni cleric, Saddam is led into a large, cold room, with the stench of death and a large gallows. The guards in black help the ex-Iraqi dictator up the stairs of the gallows. “I am not afraid, I have chosen this path,” Saddam tells a top Iraqi official. He refuses to put on a black hood over his head. “He was holding tight. He was not scared,” says Munqith al-Faroun, the prosecutor against Saddam. As Saddam approaches the floor of the gallows, he repeats his prayers a second time, despite the direct insults and antagonizing from guards and officials. The hangman asks for silence, the floor drops, and snap! The “Butcher of Baghdad” is dead.

There are many who believe the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein to be righteous, deserving, necessary, and more than fair for such a ruthless and horrifying dictator. “An important milestone,” Bush calls Saddam’s execution, that “closed a terrible chapter” for Iraq’s new government. Saddam had killed so many people, enemies and innocents. Newsweek’s “CW” jokes, “Onetime strongman gets some bad noose. No tears for the Butcher of Baghdad.” But I believe that Saddam’s execution is another grave mistake that only deters us further from our mission. Our Christian and humane morals, the skewed and messy trial and execution, and extended anger and violence caused by his death all cause me to believe that the execution of Saddam Hussein is wrong.

My own Christian, humane, and democratic morals and values cause me to believe that the execution of Saddam Hussein is wrong. Our scriptures, laws, and human nature tell us not to harm, hurt, or kill others, no matter what the circumstances. I believe firmly in this. A humanitarian group asks, “How does killing people who kill people bring peace?” The simple answer is; it does not. Christian values and morals tell us to help, save, love, and forgive one another. “Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” Jesus tells us. “For this is the Golden Rule.” Each World Religion, such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, has one Golden Rule. This Golden Rule is universal through the entire world: “Love others as your self.” That means that this is not just a Christian value, but general humane value. Our God and Jesus Christ are both loving and compassionate beings that call us to bring justice and righteousness to those who hurt us, through love, teachings, and forgiveness. Referring to the old Jewish law, Jesus tells us that “You have heard, ‘love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.’ But I say to you love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” We are also told, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. For with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you.” This is another teaching of Jesus Christ, who many in America declare to be their Lord and follow; but how are we following in his footsteps and guides if we allow and encourage the same immoral behavior as those we are trying to stop? How does condemning and killing Saddam Hussein for his horrendous crimes of genocide and mass murder, really solve anything; especially when Saddam has been out of power and out of the picture for the last three years? George W. Bush himself, after saying how “important” his execution is, told the same reporter that he is sad and ashamed with how it was handled and how inhumane Saddam was treated before death. Also, America declares this war to spread democracy and wants to influence and guide Iraq to be a more forward, democratic state. One of the major parts of democracy, however, is the unalienable right to life. Yet, the U.S. allows such a brutal, inhumane, and socially ancient act of murder to occur. Furthermore, the execution proves to be a huge folly in itself. All involved are called in and rushed to the location at 3:30 in the morning. Saddam is ready and accepting of his punishment, but even right before death his enemies must inveigh, flaunt, and antagonize him. Not only do the reports of this incident prove my point, but to make things much worse and apparent, the execution was taped by camera phone. Now most of the world has the capability to see this horrible sham of justice with their own eyes, only further proving my point. This immoral, inhumane, and dictatorial event proves that the execution of Saddam Hussein is just that and should not have occurred.

The handling and interferences in the trial and execution are further proof that Saddam Hussein should not have been executed. The trials were very messy and handled very unskillfully; sessions often ended in yelling and fighting from both sides. Some involved, such as attorneys and a judge, were beaten and or killed; one killed right outside the court building. There were too many skewed views and voices interfering in things as well. The Kurds are a mostly peaceful people who are part of Iraq and control all of Northern Iraq. They eventually tried to overthrow and hurt the power of Saddam Hussein. Saddam held genocide on them during his rule, killing tens of thousands of them, mostly with chemical weapons supplied by the U.S. The Sunni sect of Islam and its followers believe that the prophet Muhammad is the last sent from God. The Sunnis are the majority of the Islamic world except for in a few countries; they are minorities in Iraq. The Shia, or Shiites, is the other main sect of Islam which believes that there were twelve other prophets after Muhammad. They are also minorities in the Islamic world, except for Iraq, where they are a very poor and very large majority. After the death of Muhammad, the schism fell into an all out war. For hundreds of years they were primarily peaceful until the first Iraq war when the U.S. interfered then as well. Saddam Hussein had been a Sunni believer. The Shiites, believers of Shia, were executed, suppressed, and persecuted by Saddam and his rule. Vengeful Shiites along with the Maliki regime, which is Shiite, wanted a rushed, quick trial and execution. They did not allow Saddam to go under any other trials for his other crimes. The Kurds are upset because they wanted to keep Saddam alive so they could give him and his crimes the correct justice and damnation that they deserve. The Kurds wanted to put him on trial for his genocide of tens of thousands of Kurds in Iraq, mostly by chemical warfare; they should have been given this gesture. Many were hurt and persecuted by Saddam, but the bias of the powerful did not allow things to take their course. In the end, Saddam was sentenced to death for the killings of about 130 male Shiites, but before death, he would have to listen to his enemies chant against him and then have them flaunted for all to see with the internet. All of these interferences and the handlings of these events hold much proof that Saddam Hussein should not have been executed.

The execution of Saddam Hussein has caused much more anger, offense, and violence as well. As said, the Kurds are infuriated and frustrated that they do not get the chance to take Saddam to trial and receive justice for his genocide against them. Much deeper a wound dealt and problem now is how Sunnis see and feel Saddam’s execution to be an insult to injury. Many Sunnis interpret it to be a direct attack to them. They are only fueled with more anger towards the Maliki regime, Shiites, and U.S. Furthermore, his execution completely negates the last three years of healing. The weeks after Saddam’s execution, a spike in Sunni killings and even higher anti-American feelings became apparent. All of that due to our fatal mistake of handing Saddam Hussein over to his enemies for them to carry out their vengeance. Also adding to the Sunnis anger and hate towards the U.S. and the Shiites is the video and exploitation of Saddam’s execution, with taunts and flaunting against him right before and after death. The further anger, hate, and violence caused by Saddam’s execution are additive proof of the transgression of his murder.

The execution of Saddam Hussein is proven to be wrong and that it should not have happened. All of these reasons more than depict and support this fact. The skewed and messy trial and execution, our own Christian, democratic, and humane values, and the heightened hatred and violence caused by Saddam’s death are all perfect evidence of the injustice and malice of his execution and that he should not have been killed.