Blunders Turn Saddam From Villain to Martyr

CAIRO, Egypt, Jan. 4, 2007 — -- In a statement issued after the execution of SaddamHussein, President Bush said that bringing Saddam to justice "is animportant milestone" of Iraq's evolution into a democracy andally in the war on terror.

However, as hostile reactions by Sunni Muslimsspread throughout the region and the U.S. military death toll surpassed 3,000, one must wonder if Saddam's execution is extremely dangerousand more of a setback to national unity than anything else.

Instead of making a clean break with Iraq's bloody past, current Iraqileaders are blinded by sectarian loyalties and a primal desire toeliminate their former tormentors. They have not learned the lessons oftheir country's tragic past -- where executing rulers after deeply flawedtrials fed a spirit of vendetta and birthed new violence.

Since the army overthrew the royal regime in 1958, Iraq has set a world record in thekilling of its strongmen. Saddam and his henchmen perfected this murderouspractice.

Iraq's blood-soaked modern history has tormented the land and its people,and caused a rift within and among its ethnic and religious communities.Political stability was only bought at exorbitant human and social costs.

One had hoped that the new Iraq would be built on a more humane anddemocratic foundation than the old, but as we have seen in other keydecisions, the Iraqi leadership and the Bush administration are obliviousto the broader legal, moral and political ramifications inherent inSaddam's execution.

By all standards, Saddam's sentence is widely seen as illegitimate, as histrial was neither fair nor impartial. After his capture by U.S. troops inan underground hideout in 2003, Iraqi leaders said they wanted him dead --sooner rather than later. They clamored with one another for his blood,even though human rights organizations questioned the credibility of thecourt's proceedings. Bush aides lavishly praised the trial and finaldenouement.

Ironically, Saddam was already politically dead and his bitter legacydisgraced. But now, his hanging, coupled with his defiance, has turned himinto a "martyr" among Sunni Muslims worldwide, with leading religiousauthorities saying that Saddam was a freedom fighter defending his countryagainst the American occupation.

Saddam must be laughing in his grave -- transformed into a war hero andsymbol of resistance after death, thanks to the blunders of the Bushadministration and Shiite-led government.

The hanging of Saddam, which occurred on the day of Eid al-Adha (one ofthe two most important Islamic holidays), embittered Sunni opinion againstAmerica. Forbidden in Islam, the execution is widely seen as an "insult"and "humiliation" carried out on one of their holiest days.

Although Bush officials kept a low profile, saying that the execution wasan Iraqi operation, few in the Sunni heartland accept this. There is apopular belief that the Bush administration engineered Saddam's death."Who captured Saddam? Who legitimized his deeply flawed trial? Who handedSaddam to his Iraqi executioners?" and, "America will rue the day when ithanded Saddam over to his Shiite executioners," can both be heard on Arabstreets.

In the end, tribal vengeance triumphed over the rule of law, humanity andtoleration.

New video of Saddam's execution, broadcast by Al-Jazeera satellitetelevision throughout Arab countries, has a soundtrack of hisguards apparently taunting him while he appears to smile at them from thegallows. Some witnesses, including the executioner, could not resistcelebrating and dancing around Saddam's body after the hanging.

"This is a natural reaction," said Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffakal-Rubaie, justifying the vindictive conduct of officials and witnessesbecause they had suffered under Saddam's rule.

The new Iraq resembles the one under Saddam. Calls for revenge in partsof Iraq as well as the greater Sunni-dominated Arab world are addingpressure to a wider Sunni-Shiite civil war.

Rebuilding a broken society requires wisdom, forgiveness and inclusiveness-- qualities in short supply in Baghdad's Green Zone and the Bush WhiteHouse. A litany of strategic blunders -- dissolving the Iraqi army,cleansing the government of Baathists, allowing armed Shiite militias toinfiltrate the security forces, and now the hanging of Saddam -- hasfractured Iraq along communal and ethnic lines.

Iraqis must reflect deeply on the future of their country. Will theyovercome their dictators' bitter legacies? Will they put nationalinterests over narrow sectarian concerns? Will they unite and bid farewellto foreign occupiers and meddlers?

Iraqi leaders need to take urgent steps -- particularly they need to purge their security services of armed militias and make them more inclusive, to begin the process of healing and reconciliation before it is too late. If they continue on theirdestructive path, the new Iraq might look worse than the one under Saddam.

Fawaz A. Gerges, an ABC News consultant, is a Carnegie Scholar and visiting professor at the American University in Cairo, and the author of "Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy." He also holds the Christian Johnson chair in Middle East and International affairs at Sarah Lawrence College.