Tyranical End For Tyrant's Lackies

In the early hours of this morning, more of Saddam Hussein's lackies met their ends at the hands of Iraqi authorities, ungraciously strung up like commoners (and how else should they die? It would appear that, like the West, the Saracens have sadly also chosen to be ruled by plebs in business suits rather than by individuals of noble descent.) Criticism of these events is more muted than it was in the case of the big man himself, but nonetheless it is still present.

Quite how anyone could support or show remorse for the passing Saddam and his cronies is beyond both myself and presumably anyone else who is versed in the proper relationships between ruler and ruled. Saddam Hussein chose to follow a tyrannical path, ruling through savage fits of violence. In the end, he was unable to chart a course through the perilous storms which had gathered against him and in his weakness those he had wronged in turn wronged him. Had he set out on a more merciful route to begin with, he may have escaped with both his authority and his life intact.

Indeed, while his supporters may be tempted to blame the USA for their troubles, in reality blame for Iraq's present state must surely be placed on a neglectful leader. Had Saddam acted as a wise and realistic leader, appearing bare-foot in the snow before those who opposed him, like Emperor Henry IV before Pope Gregory VII, the flames of war would have been prematurely snuffed out. Instead, like a bad captain, he steered his ship into rocky waters, and now the people of Iraq lay shipwrecked amid a sea of parasitic foreign interests.

Saddam Hussein was a leader who brutalised those whom it was his duty to rule and who let his arrogance lead him to place his land on a path of destruction. By anyone's standards, he was a bad ruler who met a fitting end. He deserves no tears. While the critera of 'Good intent' is up in the air, it is clear from the work of Anselm of Lucca and the ruling of Pope Zachary (on the importance of de facto power) that the coalition quite clearly possessed a just cause the appropriate authority to carry out their campaign.