Retributions  

The Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein has finally paid the price for the untold atrocities he committed against his own people. A brutal and vicious dictator, he had no qualms about using chemical weapons against Shias and Kurds or in ordering summary executions of his opponents. He led Iraq into a disastrous war with Iran which killed at least a million people and saddled his country with debts of over $75 billion. By all standards, he was a monstrous mass-murderer.

Those who had protested against him being awarded the death sentence now claim that he is a martyr against American ‘imperialism’. Some have attempted to introduce an element of moral equivalence arguing that George W. Bush is equally culpable of war crimes and have termed the sentence as ‘ victor’s justice‘. Well, justice is always dispensed by the victorious. If Hitler had won the second world war then the Nuremberg trials would have never happened nor would have Mussolini been hanged. Yes, Saddam’s fate was sealed the moment he lost the war. But he cannot escape blame for it. Whether it was his expansionist ambitions which led to the annexation of Kuwait or his refusal to come clean on the weapons of mass destruction, he constantly played with fire. Even if we dismiss his trial as a charade, it was far fairer than any he granted.

The one quality which marks Indians is adopting a stance of moral outrage. What right the Americans had to hang Saddam when they had collaborated with him against the Iranians? Perhaps, it would be useful for such folks to revisit India’s not so glorious past. In 1971, Indira Gandhi made peace with Pakistan whose forces were responsible for literally thousands of murders and rapes against the East Pakistanis. Despite all our claims of being a non-aligned nation, we never protested when Soviet tanks crushed student protesters in Belgrade or when Soviets despite all their anti-imperialism rhetoric rolled in to Kabul in 1979. And of course, India maintained extremely cordial relationship with the Saddam regime, remember the famous Gujral-Saddam jhappi? Where was our sense of moral outrage then? I am not arguing against adopting double standards in the name of national interest, all I am saying is that we should be consistent in being hypocritical.

I agree with Nitin that the real message is that unless you are powerful enough, don’t mess with America. But beyond the real politic, we should not forget that a mass-murderer has been brought to justice. Just because many like him still walk free is no excuse for sparing him. By yardstick, no murderer should be punished since we will never be able to punish all of them.