The Legacy of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein will undoubtedly go down in western history as one of the most immoral men to ever walk the planet. Saddam’s demise is now imminent, as the Iraqi government plans to execute the former dictator at the gallows early Saturday morning (Iraq time). Saddam was captured by coalition forces in the early morning hours on December 13, 2003 in an emergency bunker near his hometown of Tikrit.

This seemingly unromantic capture of a man who murdered thousands of his own citizens while in power best sums up the last few years of his life. “W” made it a priority to capture this man, who in retrospect never did anything specifically against the United States. Many have criticized “W’s” father, George H.W. Bush for not subduing the dictator while he had the chance in 1991 after Iraqi forces were defeated in the first Gulf War. Saddam received a simple slap on the wrist for his actions in invading Kuwait and was left in power. Basically, if the U.S. and their UN allies would have deposed Saddam in 1991, we would not be going through this second tirade in the Persian Gulf.

The irony behind Saddam’s rise to power is that he received help from our very own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1964. He was even trained by the CIA in an attempt to help overthrow Abdul Karim Quassim, the leader of Iraq at the time. Quassim evidently began to make stronger ties towards Communist big wigs in the USSR, which in turn led the U.S. to support the Ba’athist party, which Saddam was apart of until his demise in late 2003. By 1967, Saddam was the strongman of the Ba’athist party, as he was known to have a wicked temper and would not hesitate to slay any opponents of the party. He stayed loyal to the party and assumed his role of the number two man in the country. On July 16, 1979 Saddam succeeded al-Bakr as president of Iraq after he forced the ailing Bakr to cede him the presidency.

From there Saddam would begin his reign of terror that would last for more than two decades. Soon after taking power, Saddam began a war with Iran that lasted until 1988. During that time he ordered the use of nerve agents and a variety of illegal chemical weapons to be used on the Iranians and even his own citizens. This use of chemical weapons led to his conviction of crimes against humanity on November 5, 2006. He was charged with the killings of 148 individuals with illegal chemical weapons that occurred in 1982. This case falls within the top twenty of the alleged 500+ times Saddam committed crimes against humanity.

There is no doubt that Saddam was an evil man and this is one of the first times since the Nuremburg trials after WWII that a leader(s) of a belligerent regime will be executed with the help of the west. Saddam’s legacy as one of the worst people of the twentieth century will not doubt travel on through the ages of history. Personally I believe that executing him is the best solution to the problem, as even if he were left alive, the high level of violence would still continue in Iraq. He must pay for his crimes, as many former totalitarian leaders never did in the 20th century. It is well known that I disagree with the legitimacy of the war in Iraq, but people like Saddam Hussein have no place or right to kill thousands upon thousands of their own people just because they disagree with the current state of affairs in a country. May the Lord have some sort of mercy on Saddam’s soul; he’ll need it.

The Passing of a President

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., the 38th president of the United States passed away today at the age of 93; the longest living president in history. As is typical with the passing of former presidents, the media will be in a perpetual frenzy over the coming days. I feel that it is proper to pay tribute to our fallen leaders, but in a low key manner. The book has long been closed on Ford's presidency, but his legacy still remains firmly engrained into the American psyche. But Americans tend to thrash about when a leader is not paid proper tribute (probably going back to the days of monarchies and such). Never the less, Ford will go down in history as the most “unlikely” man to ever call 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue his address.

It is a truly remarkable feat to become president in the modern age, as it takes over a year of campaigning, massive amounts of capital, and the undivided loyalty of a sanctioning political party. Yet Ford was never elected to the presidency, the only president in our nation’s history to have never run a national campaign to seek the office (the first time around). Ford began his political career in 1948 out of Michigan when he was elected to the House of Representatives. He would be appointed to the Warren Commission, the group that investigated and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole shooter in the assasination of John F. Kennedy. He managed to work his way up through the ranks of the Republican Party to become minority leader of the house (even though his dream was to become speaker). In October 1973, then Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Richard Nixon saw it fit to appoint the congressionally popular Ford to the post of the vice presidency to distort the clout of corruption that had been shadowing his administration since the infamous Watergate Scandal.

By August 1974 it was becoming obvious to Nixon that he would not survive the remainder of his 2 years left in office due to the ominous impeachment hearings that were to begin in Congress. Richard Nixon is the only president to resign from the office, which in turn left Ford as the default president. In his first month as president, Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his actions during the Watergate scandal, which would cost Ford the presidency in the election of 1976 (saving Nixon the trouble of going to prison). Ford would lose one of the closest presidential elections in history to former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. Even before the general election Ford barley received the nomination of his party, but managed to win a closely fought battle with a man by the name of Ronald Reagan. His legacy will forever be associated with the pardoning of Nixon.

In hindsight his pardoning of Richard Nixon seemed to help heal the massive wound that pervaded the country. The Watergate scandal made many Americans question the authenticity and honesty of the entire political stratum. Ford’s candor while in office helped to heal the gaping wound in the political world of Washington D.C. Nixon was a president whose time and attention was closely guarded by his handlers and even himself. Ford was known for his “open door policy” and un-bureaucratic office structure. Essentially, he was open to everyone, even two women, whom would try to assassinate Ford on two separate occasions. His time in the oval office was not without his handling of major crises that pervaded the country at the time, including inflation, an economic recession, massive unemployment numbers, and of course, the energy crisis. Yet, the country survived those days with the leadership of President Ford. You ever hear of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld? Well, they got their start with President Ford, as chief of staff and defense secretary, respectively.

After losing to Carter in 1976, Ford would lead a quiet life out of the public eye. He spent most of his time in either Colorado or California, as do most former presidents. Surprisingly, he has been a closet opponent to "W's" Iraq war. A 2004 interview he did with Bob Woodward of the Washington Post was released this week, but no one ever knew about it, as Ford insructed Woodward to release it only upon his death. In the interview he criticizes the Bush Administration's imperial notions about even going to war in the first place. Needless to say, he has gone down as the most implausible president in our nation’s history. But the man himself truly managed to silence his doubters while in office, as it takes a special sort of man to take on the responsibility of president of the United States. You do not have to respect the man, but you should respect the office.

The Essence of Christmas Relived

First, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a truly prosperous new year. As I sit here tonight watching “A Christmas Story,” I cannot help but think of the true meaning of Christmas. One word best sums up Christmas in 2006: consumerism. Americans have turned this truly religious holiday into a rampant binge of consuming billions and billions of dollars of pure crap. Obviously Christmas has not always consisted of standing in line at your local Wal-Mart fighting vying for a limited number of Playstations or going to bed at 7PM in the hopes that Santa Clause did not pass up your house. So what in the hell happened to celebrating the birth of Christ?

The first evidence of Christmas turning into “Consumeras” occurred in 1822 when a poem entitled “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” was penned by Clement Clarke Moore. In his poem, Moore emphases exchanging gifts to help the spirit of Christmas prosper. I am sure that his intentions were noble, but no one could have predicted what Christmas would turn into. Now such super retail giants like Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penny’s, Macy’s, and countless other chains rely on holiday season to increase their profits ten fold. Even stores like Pet Smart publicize massive ad campaigns cater to owners of dogs and cats to buy more crap for their beloved pets.

Instead of spending time with our families and those we love, going to church, or even taking it easy, we now froth at the mouth when shopping season begins. I would not be surprised to learn that more people have heart attacks at this time of the year than any other. I would have a heart attack if I had to buy “my woman”(praise the lord I am single and loving it) a $10K dollar diamond ring from Kay Jewelers, as they tend to run a rather sappy ad campaign in the attempt to con people into buying their merchandize. As we get older the spirit of Christmas tends to diminish, as another fact of getting older includes becoming cheaper and conceded (welcome to my world).

I am sure that most of us can recall those days of when we were youngsters and we could not wait to get up at 7AM and see what “Jolly Old Saint Nick” brought us. Now all I want for Christmas is to sleep until noon (the joys of not having kids or young kids around!). I am simply baffled as to why people want to spend hours upon hours in a godforsaken shopping mall to spend money? What is it worth? Trying to buy your loved ones love? The concept sickens me. Now I can see why Scroucge despised Christmas. Granted, I am not exactly a church going man, but at least I make an appearance and understand the original objective of Christmas.