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Invasion of Iraq: America Bags The 'Jackal Of Samarra'
Posted on Friday, December 19 @ 20:59:37 UTC
Topic: Saddam
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 By Ben Roberts
December 17, 2003
We have been saturated, satiated, numbed, and waterlogged with screaming
newspaper headlines and late breaking TV exclusives of the capture of Saddam
Hussein. There was such a surge in news transmission of this man's being
apprehended that we have to assume that aliens billions of light years away
knew about it promptly. Whilst back on earth, I had to hear of it via an early
morning jangling phone waking me from deep sleep. A call from a dear friend as
she breathlessly told me to quickly turn on my TV to witness events of the
capture.
I like to refer to Saddam Hussein as the Jackal Of Samarra. To
understand why run don't walk to your favorite bookstore, or let your keyboard
transport you to any of the well known Internet book portals, and find a fiction
novel with just that name, 'Jackals Of Samarra.' You will certainly find it quite
revealing, in light of the war in Iraq, the recent headlines of the alleged huge
firefight in the town of Samarra in Iraq, and now even more so with the capture of
Saddam. On hearing of the capture my first response was 'Yikes! What now?'
It was incredulous not hearing that Saddam Hussein was captured, but rather
that he was captured alive. My reasoning has always been that were Saddam to
be found he would be promptly killed by American forces because he would be
such an embarrassment to our government. It might very well be that George
Bush's decision as Commander In Chief to keep Saddam alive turns out to be a
bonanza. But a bonanza for who? Clearly Bush has to be thinking that he will be
lauded and exonerated by American citizens for attacking Iraq by presenting
them with the gift of Saddam Hussein. They in turn will give him what he
desperately wants. A four year extended tenant lease at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. See Bush never does something for nothing. What could be better for
Bush re-election prospects than Saddam Hussein on display in a trial just as he
is asking for us to re-elect him? Just about every pundit and analyst, including
David Corn of The Nation newspaper, has arrived at such a conclusion, as he
did this week while on the radio show To The Point with host Warren Olney.
My take is completely different. The display of Saddam Hussein in mock (and I
do mean mock as in mockery) trial will be an embarrassment for Bush, that will
send his election prospects down the drain. It is nothing short of laughable and
ironic that it will be the despised dictator Saddam Hussein who will have to come
to the rescue and save Americans from Bush II. Let's face it, Saddam probably
came out of hiding just to be a part of the gala. Get this. Bush deposed Saddam
by military means without the consent of his American constituency or the world
community. Now Saddam has a chance to be on the world stage using his mouth
to depose Bush. Saddam thrives on the world stage. Bush, in keeping Saddam
alive, has misstepped badly, and his re-election chances do not look good. Bush
realizes this, and is furiously backpedaling, trying to recover from this huge
miscalculation. One look at Bush and his entourage clearly demonstrates this.
For the Bush Team, confusion reigns. Within hours of Saddam's capture there
was a huge explosion in Iraq as a US military official and the media were
analyzing the event to death. Their theme was that attacks in Iraq would cease
because of Saddam's capture. Remember Bush has been telling us all along
that such attacks were due to Saddam loyalists, thugs, dead-enders. Then the
attack happened. The TV newsman then changed to a new tune. He said, 'Well
you can't be too sure. Things are not safe and there are still violent people out
there.' The man looked so embarrassed with egg on his face. With Saddam in
custody the attacks should cease if he and his minions are responsible. The fact
that there was an attack even as the soothsayer was telling us that they were
over proves two things. First, it proves that regular Iraqi citizens, incensed that
America has invaded their country, are fighting to defend it. Many such fighters
have said this but have been dismissed. Secondly, it proves that foreign fighters
are very much involved in these attacks. This means that the Muslim world views
America as being engaged in the 'crusade' that George Bush foolishly described
in his war on terror speech on the night of September 11, and they are fighting
back with a global jihad. Vietnam quagmire? Much worse. This is a battlefield
nightmare for American forces. The Bush Administration has gone to great pains
to keep us ignorant of these two developments on the ground in Iraq.
In a Sunday interview with Leslie Stall of CBS, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld was asked about the category under which Saddam was being held.
Was it as a war criminal, a terrorist, or a brutal dictator? Rumsfeld, usually
combative and on point, seemed to be fumbling and at a loss as he rambled on
about the Geneva Convention. He seemed to be making up stuff as he went
along. So unlike Rumsfeld. Are you a betting man? The media is now feeding us
headlines of mass arrests in light of Saddam's capture, implying that he is
feeding valuable information on collaborators. Of course this is a ploy designed
to make the Iraqi resistance feel that they have been fingered by Saddam, their
leader, and that they should throw in the towel. Wanna bet that right now
Saddam is not fingering those in long-standing opposition to his regime, as he
feeds their names to US interrogators. Saddam must have a sly grin on his face
about now because he, the Jackal Of Samarra, is back in business.
The desperation in Bush, at a living and breathing Saddam Hussein, is almost
palpable. First Bush said that Saddam should be tried by the people of Iraq, and
he would keep his thoughts to himself as to the man's fate. Then the reality sank
in. Iraq has no death penalty. The American hand-picked Iraqi Council were
trying to implement democratic and judicial changes but such undertaking were
ground under the heels of the boots of US Overlord Paul Bremmer and the Bush
Administration. So now they have outsmarted themselves. The Council does not
truly represent Iraq. America saw to that. So it would be difficult to try Saddam in
a narrowly focused strictly Iraqi trial which Bush would want because it would not
allow Saddam an international forum where he could discuss how America
facilitated his excesses against his people with arms, intelligence, and business
transactions. Personally Bush would cringe at this. The names of Bush Sr.,
Donald Rumsfeld, and many others, would come up. Moreover, the prospect of
Saddam being put to death does not look good in such a trial. Not a good
outcome for Bush. An alternative is for Saddam to be tried in an international
forum. Problem there. The world communities of the European Union and the
United Nations oppose the death penalty. They would have to be an integral part
of any such trial. So once again Saddam does not get the death penalty. A real
bummer for Bush, who needs Saddam dead to appeal to American voters. What
a wacky world. And guess what. Bush & Co. dismissed the newly formed
International Court as a non entity. No help there. See how a senseless foreign
policy can come back to haunt you? Totally up the creek without a paddle. A
desperate and befuddled Bush came out yesterday with a new tune. Now he
asserts that 'Saddam is a monster and should be put to death for his crimes.'
Notwithstanding Saddam Hussein's brutality toward his fellow citizens, how
disconcerting that the leader of the free world, and allegedly the most civilized
nation in the world, is out in the forefront frantically calling for the death of
another human being. What will our children make of such monstrous behavior?
Opinions fly fast and furious as to Saddam Hussein. One scholar from Ohio
University Law School insisted on a radio show that Saddam had to be tried
before an international forum for attacking Kuwait, and 'upsetting the peace' by
attacking Iran. Does she know about Saddam's meeting with US Ambassador
April Glaspie on the eve of his mobilization into Kuwait, when her boss James
Baker was strangely unavailable because he had, believe it or not, gone fishing?
Does she know about the bogus testimony by the young Kuwaiti woman claiming
that Saddam's troops were throwing babies out of incubators? She was later
found out to be the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter. Does she know that the US
supplied Saddam with satellite intelligence in his war with Iran, because at the
time Ayatollah was the resident monster? She rattled on that Saddam should be
indicted for his global crimes. When her host commented 'But is he not innocent
until proven guilty,' she was embarrassed. Trying to recover she said, 'Oh I
misspoke. Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty.' How about that for American
justice. Then there was a Mr. Feldman who, if memory serves me correct, was in
some way connected to the UN. He said Saddam should be tried before his
people for brutalizing them. There was Mr. Feldman bright eyed, shiny faced and
well groomed on TV telling us what should happen to Saddam for being such a
brutal dictator. Maybe Mr. Feldman would like to explain why dictators who
chronically brutalized their people, such as Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines
and Baby Doc in Haiti, were allowed to pack up their valuables and pots of gold
and given free passage and had room and board seen to by the United States. I
await with bated breath the next scene in this comedy drama. Some will not be
pleased with how this presentation plays out, but of one thing I am sure. Saddam
Hussein, in his leading role as the Jackal Of Samarra, will be thrilled to death.
Ben Roberts is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author. His book, Jackals of Samarra, was published in January 2001.
Ben can be contacted by email at: grandt730@aol.com
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