Iraq Defends Hussein Execution, but Detains Guard

As defences go, it's one of the most bizarre I have ever heard.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who was present at the execution of Saddam Hussein has stated that, “The execution operation has been mischaracterized for political purposes. What has happened is not an insult or degradation,” he said.

The biggest problem for this defence is the little matter of the second video which has been seen around the world thanks to the success of sites such as YouTube.

It is not for al-Rikabi to tell us that what we saw with our own eyes was neither insulting nor degrading.

What I witnessed looked more like mob rule than the actions of a state and managed, unbelievably, to make Saddam look dignified in front of a rabid horde. This looked like a revenge killing and has been condemned worldwide.

But, surprisingly for cynics like myself, Maliki's government have gone on to admit that the White House did indeed attempt to postpone the execution, although the Maliki government are far from expressing regret for anything that they have done.

“The Americans wanted to postpone it,” said Maryam al-Rayas, a legal adviser to the prime minister. The decision to go ahead, Ms. Rayas said, was “a victory for the Iraqi government.”

The prime minister had decided that beginning the new year with Mr. Hussein dead trumped all other considerations, including the advice of the embassy, said Ms. Rayas, who also characterized the time frame as reasonable.

“There was no rush,” she said.

The US continue to attempt to distance themselves from the actions that took place in Saddam's execution chamber, which can only mean there is a further widening rift between themselves and Maliki's government. However, the US were coy when it came to specifics.

“You know, if you’re asking me, ‘Would we have done things differently,’ yes, we would have,” said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV, an American military spokesman in Baghdad, at a news briefing on Wednesday.

“But that’s not our decision,” he added. “That’s an Iraqi government decision.”

Asked repeatedly to describe how the American military would have carried out the execution differently, General Caldwell declined to elaborate, saying that the question was hypothetical, since the Iraqis were in control once they received custody of Mr. Hussein.

“It was not our decision as to what occurred at that point, but we would have done it differently,” General Caldwell said.

The Iraqis have now arrested a man for filming the execution, although I am unsure of what actual crime he has committed, especially as the Iraqi government are holding the execution up as "a victory for the Iraqi government".

It's hard not to think this "victory" is one for the Shia's over the man who oppressed them for so long.

Understandable in human terms, but lethal for a nation trying to form a unity government.

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tag: Saddam Hussein, execution, hanging, death penalty, Maliki