Saddam in Cage

The most broken man-in once piece-Saddam Hussein is eventually in cage. The lock-in of an obstinate by a super power-which, literally rules the world today-was till the recent times of yore-identified as a giant who could smash any fetters-has now, no way to exit n’ egress.

Saddam’s 24-year reign ended with a startling dawn when the jubilant US-guided marines-crafted as a thorny bunch of zestful men n’ women, attired in archetypal desert outfits n’ costumes-stepped onto the soils of Iraq in April last-with a ‘pledge to help’ the people from what Washington phrases as ‘get the Iraqis free from a tyrannical rule’.

The hedonism of the then ‘Iron Man’-Saddam now stands indexed in the history, which might espouse the realities-if such an epoch takes place, yet by now, the scenario foretells nothing except scaffold for the ex-President who has lost every asset of life-with his two arms-the sons n’ the rest of the kin-in exile prima facie for an endless point.

Pragmatically, Saddam was naïve vis-à-vis the episodes, palpably recited by the historians-which he blatantly discounted for raison d’être-best known to him. Not only that he neglected the jerks n’ jolts-given to him by Bush Sr. he continued with his vanity n’ egotism.

With this outlook, Saddam did not spare even those, with whom he have had bonds of Faith-the integral limbs of Ummah. No matter the ex-ruler of a sanctified soil-Iraq-survives or faces a perilous course, history would never exonerate him from his zest of expansionism n’ colossal loss of life to the guiltless people-and above all the desolation, caused to sacrosanct crypts n’ mausoleums of the Holy spirits-laid to rest on this realm.

While in cage-he is required to knock his cognizant-to evaluate as to why did resort to an eight-year [1980-88] long war with his own brethren in Iran-with final devastation on both sides? And-subsequently-what was his motive to overrun yet another sovereign Muslim state-Kuwait?

With such a mindset-didn’t he set perils for the Muslim world? And ultimately unlocked vistas for an alien power, the United States-placed far away n’ beyond oceanic (s) to ‘behave in any manner-it aspires’. With all this-Saddam has lost his country, his nation, his kin, his aficionados and-by n’ large the empathy of most of the Islamic countries.

One wishes, he would not have resorted to such acts-which have landed Ummah in a critical embarrassment-with enormous embargos-plugging affluence for Muslims-all-over. The US-led set-up in Iraq has set off a net in the silhouette of a Special Tribunal to try Saddam. The tribunal was given a shape on Wednesday but is unlikely to begin its task before a new government takes power-“expectantly in July next.

Now-when the vital dream of the United States-has turned into a reality, every realistic nation expects that Saddam will be tried in a judicious way-and optimistically not as a target of reprisal. The electronic media in the West has also exposed elation by certain elements in Iraq on Saddam’s capture but that barely reflects the emotions of the Iraqi people as a whole, given the swelling confrontation against US occupation across the uneasy backdrop.

Yet one has to fully endorse President Bush’s surveillance in his address to the American people that the catch of Saddam Hussein doesn’t mean an end to the violence in Iraq. That’s the truth that Washington has to face. It ought to ponder over its causes and redress them at-once for restitution of peace, freedom and amity in the war ravaged country.

The fact is that resistance is scattering all around the country and the myth of Shia-Sunni divide has since exploded as all segments of society have joined hands to defy n’ deny the US occupation of their motherland, since they have seen through Washington’s repugnant plans to perpetually occupy Iraq’s oil-“equipped wherewithal. Nonetheless, the singular aromatic refresher is the restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty, hand-over of power to the bona fide representatives of the Iraqi people and withdrawal of American troops from Baghdad-“and elsewhere.

As is elucidated, it is correct that Saddam was a conflict-ridden figure in the Middle East and was also a tyrant and ruthless ruler, yet that doesn’t bestow authority on any-one else including the United States to invade Iraq, seize its’ jugular vein by occupying its oil resources and resort to mayhem and brutalizing the guiltless Iraqi populace with the ruse n’ pretext that a dictator was ruling the country.

Ethics demand that the world jurists, intellectuals, lawyers and think-tanks should catalogue an assemblage after this fleeting exhilaration is over and ponder over the despicable trends in certain countries to establish that might is right-“even in 21st century epoch. Side-by-side Saddam’s excesses, the fact is that the United States and Britain did violate all norms of morality and universal law while launching belligerence against Iraq despite outright opposition of the world community.

Every realistic mind firmly believes that it is the UN, which should act in a situation like that of Iraq, rather than a superpower to make use of its military might to impose its own will on a smaller or feeble domain. With this perception, US accusations of terrorism against Iraqi people are actually a strange logic, since they are struggling to salvage their autonomy from the antagonists and occupiers of their country. They are fighting for the liberation of their own country, which was so vociferously advocated for them by Bush and Blair before coming-over to Iraq.

The concept of pre-emptive attacks and regime change has inherent dangerous potentials to the detriment of the weaker and elfin nations as well as for the world peace, since any powerful country can opt to inflict leadership of its own choice in other countries by sheer dint of its bellicose potency. This style needs to be checked firmly as it will unleash-“nothing except a law of jungle-“by bring anarchy and chaos in the world. Washington is ought to ensure that Saddam Hussein visages a fair trial-“and in no case by any one, who is prejudiced or biased, one-way or the other.

As is propagated via an all-out crusade that the people of Iraq had suffered most from Saddam’s rule, so the apposite way is that the ex-ruler should face Iraqi justice. It is just that his fate should rest with Iraqis. One hopes that President Bush-would himself-oppose death penalty to end Saddam. As the solo master of the global Atlas-he has multiple options to deal with-‘the most wanted man’.

By all norms of justice n’ fair-play-Saddam, irrespective of his maneuvers-needs a hearing in Iraq which would have to be-both fair and be seen to be fair. A flaxen, open and transparent trial-would-ultimately take the image of a muscular country, the US-which is termed as civilized-to the loftiest zeniths n’ grandiose reflections-“around the world. Even in Baghdad, Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari has emphasized that Saddam should be tried by the special tribunal, set up by the Governing Council to deal with members of his regime.

In the interests of justice, the Council may seek international expertise to see that this trial would be fair and just. Such an approach shall evaporate all apprehensions n’ speculations, being aired by some who feel that ‘Saddam will not get a fair hearing in his home country and should appear before the newly-formed International Criminal Court’. Of them, some-“with Iran atop-“are preparing dossier of crimes allegedly committed against them by the ex-Iraqi ruler.

With a few circles, there is also diversity of views over when would Saddam go on trial. One member of Iraq’s Governing Council-has nonetheless beamed-that ‘it could happen within weeks’, although another said ‘it could take four to six months’. Apparently, wherever and whenever Saddam is tried, the list of charges will-of-course-be hefty and will include genocide, murder and torture.

Yet-“the fate of Saddam-“by realism rests with the United States alone. Now, when he has none else before him-“except the indestructible iron bars, by virtue of the laws of the Nature, Saddam needs to be ‘gifted’ with a rational covenant n’ cure-“in place of a punch, before he meets his eventual fate in an astute style. That-is-why all eyes are focused on the empire, which has the Statue of Liberty-“as its’ fabulous n’ glittering convivial tarmac-“prima facie-“with fairness n’ equilibrium as its’ fêted podium.