At least the hanging of Saddam Hussein closes a particularly villainous chapter in the history of Iraq and the world. A tyrant whose depraved ego knew no bounds, a murderous dictator whose use of chemical weapons killed tens of thousands of his own people, is dead.
This is, clearly, a positive development. Unfortunately, it is not the course-changing event some in the United States had long hoped it would be.
Nearly four years after the memorable sight of Hussein’s 40-foot statue being pulled down in Baghdad, symbolizing his ouster by U.S.-led forces, the sectarian violence many had long feared has plunged central Iraq into civil war. The blood feud is killing growing numbers of Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops. (December was the most lethal month of the year for U.S. forces in Iraq.) Iraqi refugees are fleeing to Jordan and Syria by the thousands. The internal political cooperation everyone agrees is essential to Iraq’s stability seems more distant than ever.
As recently as the fall congressional campaign, some who still supported the Bush administration’s actions in Iraq clung to the hope that Hussein’s execution would quell Sunni insurgent attacks. They figured Sunnis who still feared Hussein’s return to power would be freed to join with majority Shiites and build a stable democracy.
Such wishful thinking has since given way to the hardening cycle of sectarian attacks and reprisals. If Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders in the Iraqi government do not quickly agree to cooperate and take meaningful control of their own security, either the nation will plunge into complete chaos or U.S. forces will be stuck there as targets for years to come. Or both.
As President Bush contemplates a new strategy in Iraq, good options appear all but gone. If the choices are between a “temporary” surge in troop levels to try and stem the violence or the beginning of a redeployment that forces Iraqis to begin sinking or swimming on their own, the latter seems to have the greater potential for success. Or, more bluntly, the lesser potential for futile sacrifice.
The execution of Saddam Hussein, welcome as it is, does little to change that.
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