Raison d'etre for dying

Political aspirations, I have naught. But when Saddam was executed on the eve of Hari Raya Haji (Eid-Ul-Adha), my heart went out for the old man. Despite his slew of crimes against humanity, why on earth they - the ones (or as termed by a fellow journalist - 'kangaroo court') who put him on trial - chose such a day steeped in religious significance to hang him? Why the sudden rush? It perturbed me.

I was more disturbed by the very fact that his execution was broadcasted for the whole world to see. It was inhumane and borderline perverse. How about the jeers and taunts audibly recorded as the noose came over his neck? It's no way to treat a man, no matter how tyrannical he was in this lifetime. My sentiment was echoed by Malaysian's former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad whose outspoken views I greatly respect and cherish. He acrimoniously declared that Saddam's death by the gallows was barbaric and sadistic. Mahathir even implicated the US for expediting Saddam's hanging during the height of the sacred Haj period: "The broadcast served as a warning that people must either bow to the dictates of US President George W. Bush’s administration or face the consequences of a public lynching"

Such a bold statement indeed. However cantankerous and off base he can be at times, Mahathir's comment is, in my opinion, spot-on. Apparently from my reading off the internet, the US had allegedly wrested control over which crime Saddam was to be tried first in court. The reason for choosing the 1988's gassing of rebel Kurds in Dujail is owing to America's non-involvement in this particular episode, an exception to the rule for other long series of attacks assisted by America and/or its allies. The Dujail crime upon which Saddam's hanging was based is a mere ripple in a sea of extensive list of 'accomplishments' dating back to the 1960s. Gwynne Dyer contended this point in an Arab News article stating that:

It’s as if they had taken Adolf Hitler alive in 1945, but ignored his responsibility for starting World War II and his murder
of six million Jews and just put him on trial for executing people suspected of involvement in the July 1944 bomb plot.
With all of Saddam’s other crimes to choose from, why on earth would you hang him for executing the people suspected
of involvement in the Dujail plot?

As reported by Robert Fisk, the (in)famous Middle-East correspondent for UK-based newspaper The Independent, many of Saddam's secret liaisons with America are now silenced forever with the hasty execution of this aging, ruthless dictator. The unravelling of truths behind Saddam's fatidic ending comes at no surprise, more so when it has the US' marks all over them. I wonder how many more of these covert operations (US-led or otherwise) are taking place all over the world. Which nation(s) have a hand in the rise or fall - either surreptitiously or openly - of another nation? What kind of dirty, underhanded tactics were used? As the Iraq case clearly illustrates, the use of chemical weapons reach a nadir in the Iraq-Iran war during which thousands perish after coming into contact with these biological agents. Conveniently, any possible information of a US-funded assistance are repressed from public knowledge as evidenced by the clever diversion of the media attention to 'Saddam, The (so-called) Butcher of Baghdad.'

The sorry state of world politics today crushes any hope I once sought in politicians to uphold justice, save the weak, needy and poor, and restore peace in turbulent times. For me, those promises and pledges sworn by devious politicians sound like a broken record - in dire need of a thorough repair or worse, to be discarded completely.

Yet, my skepticism finds a glimmer of hope in the plebeians' ability to make a difference - by ferreting out and educating themselves with the unadulterated version of news, facts and most importantly, historical backgrounds. It is through history that we will find the answers, or at least give meanings, to some of life's events, crises, turmoils and reprisals. In turn, the ever-changing aspects of a historical event will fuel the passion to re-write history and fill the gaps waiting eagerly for closure. As a result, our knowledge of history will greatly serve as our checks and balances in formulating a view on world affairs. In his New York Times article, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr implored to his countrymen:

We are the world’s dominant military power, and I believe a consciousness of history is a moral necessity for a nation
possessed of overweening power. History verifies John F. Kennedy’s proposition, stated in the first year of his thousand
days: “We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient — that we are only 6 percent of
the world’s population; that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind; that we cannot right every
wrong or reverse each adversity; and therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”

I can't agree with him more. Until the US backs down from imposing its might on the turf of another country, or meddling in a country's affairs where it deems financially-beneficial, we must empower ourselves with historical facts and figures to clear up our domestic spats and block foreign encroachments respectively. Only then can we prevent a repeat of the tragic, regrettable episode by the gallows.