Peter Krupa

It was bound to happen, and it’s just one more sign of the times we live in. Today, 48 hours after the execution of Saddam Hussein, you can watch a video of the excecution on Google Video. Someone in the little dark chamber where they hung him had a cell phone with a camera.

I guess it goes without saying that the video is pretty creepy. More so, perhaps, because it’s grainy and shaky and dark and there’s a whole bunch of people shouting things in Arabic. Since I’m feeling prosaic this morning, I’ll go ahead and say that this video embodies the horror and conflict Iraq has seen and is about to see. Shiite killing Sunni and visa-versa. Out-of-control masculinity. Black-hooded executioners.

I’m on the record as supporting the execution of Saddam. It’s a historical fact that rabble-rousing political leaders, when imprisoned, have a nasty habit of popping up again - from Nelson Mandela to Adolf Hitler to Hugo Chavez to Napoleon himself. Kill that leader, however, and he can’t lead anymore. He will either fade into history or become a martyr, and in that latter case, martyrdom is less a product of the leader’s inspirational abilities and more an indication that there was a giant populist movement casting around for a symbol.

The way the execution of Saddam was carried out, however, was deeply un-smart. When a state executes someone, it should do it from a position of strength, as the monopolizer of violence. This is why executions used to be public (along with the fact that, as the 800,000+ views on the Saddam execution video can attest, people love to watch). Saddam’s execution had none of this.

Saddam’s execution looks like a bunch of vindictive Shiites in black ski masks committing a murder.