Saddam has elevated himself far above the rest of us, achieving undeniable greatness allowed only for a few. He has done all evil, while professing it in the name of good. If we measure life by gain and loss, then Saddam has gained all: wealth, power and family and yet in the same breath he has lost it all. But what is more remarkable, is that the man himself is still preserved, as if the hurricane that hit his kingdom had missed him.
In the trial of his life, he is the Judge, the defendant and the prosecutor all in one. He lives by only one legacy and that is the one he made for himself in the summer of ‘79 as the “great leader of Iraqâ€Â. He has fixed this infinite legacy, and nothing, not even the fall of his kingdom could convince him otherwise. If the will is to power, then we can say Saddam has willed his own power to abuse and dominate.
In Baghdad, where his war crimes trial is unfolding, he is the untouchable. He has twice offered his head to the rest of us cowards who swear by notions of justice and fairness. Imprisonment is not new for him either; he has been both the torturer and the tortured himself. In his own mind, he oozes of greatness, and it is the rest of us who have suffered and lost. Saddam vows that we cannot reach his magnitude nor can we sever his undue claim to greatness. But, if it will make the world sleep better, he recommends, "if you want my neck, you can have itâ€Â. Now, how do we proceed to take revenge on such a man?
He has always been a man of a double-edged sword. For example, he once built a beautiful a mosque in a small town, but the before the prayer was complete something had upset him and he massacred half the people there. According to Saddam, God only watches over the weak, so he built mosques around Iraq to protect them from his own wrath. At the end of the day, he says he has no fear, for execution is as cheap as an Iraqi shoe! (What does that mean? )
So what do we learn from Saddam, other than that Evil will always have its place?
For me, Saddam has taught me that Life is only what you perceive it to be. All material things, people, countries will come and go, but it is the stubborn self-determination and lack of appreciation for the physical and real world around us that will save us from selfpity and feelings of worthlessness. The powers that be may take away all that is around you, but you are the final Keeper of your legacy and will. As for Saddam, No court on earth or in hell can undue his ruthless legacy as the leader, and the Leviathan of Iraq.
after all those court episodes and the Chief Justice resigning, i couldn't help but praise the bastard.
