Rush, what Rush? Saddam Hussein Transferred to Iraqi Custody … He’ll Be Executed by Saturday

Update: Saddam to Be Executed Tonight

Breaking News … Lawyers: Saddam Is No Longer in U.S. Custody; Judge: Execution to Happen By Saturday. Why wait for Sunday, when there is no time like the present? Some people earn their advancement to the head of the line. There will be no delays, no appeals and no nonsense. Saddam Hussein has been transferred from American to Iraqi custody. This represents one of the last steps in the execution of Saddam Hussein. According to the Iraqi Judge … Saddam Hussein will be executed by Saturday. Can anyone imagine just how long the delay process would take place in the US judicial system to execute Saddam?

An Iraqi judge told the Associated Press Saddam will be executed by Saturday at the latest. A U.S. source in Baghdad said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wanted to carry out the Butcher of Baghdad’s execution as early as Thursday night, but that it was delayed for logistical reasons, and because of confusion over the Iraqi constitution and the law that governs the tribunal that convicted him of murder. (Fox News)

Saddam handed over to Iraqi custody: lawyer

Yet some how the New York Times thinks that the execution of Saddam Hussein is a “Rush to Hang Saddam”. This coming from the same people who think that the War in Iraq has gone on too long and we should cut and run. A rush to judgment? Is 3 years not enough time for the NY Times? The NYT certainly has a skewed  ideal as to what justice is supposed to be. I think the Kurds may disagree with your definition of justice.

What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions.

The Captains Quarters says it best and points out the ridiculousness of what has become the pages of the New York Times.

So let’s get this straight. What is really important isn’t the hundreds of thousands of people that Saddam had killed on his whim. It isn’t lengthy public record of his “vile atrocities”. It isn’t the long string of living victims that had to bear witness under difficult circumstances to those who could not appear in court. What really matters, the Times insists, is that the process did not “nurture hope”. Well, the purpose of trials is not to nurture hope — it’s to determine the truth regarding guilt or innocence of the accused.