It will only make him more a hero

I’ve been watching politics for 40 years, but I’ve never seen anything as cynical as sending a man to the gallows just to get a bump in the polls.

Bush really takes the cake – or perhaps it was Rove; it doesn’t really matter.

I expect that many people feel the same sense of disgust and emptiness that I do. The joy of executing Saddam is limited to a small cadre of men who revel in the suffering and subjugation of others.

It is beyond my limited comprehension, that’s for sure.

It’s funny – nothing Saddam did in his life will make him seem larger in the eyes of his people than his death. Did Bush really want to transform the gnarly dictator into a folk hero?

It seems rather pointless to me. In fact, I suspect it will only embolden the resistance and make things more difficult for our troops.

This is a dark day for Americans and Iraqis alike. The whole charade has been an embarrassment for our country; nothing was gained.

Saddam’s death will have the same effect as the appalling photos of the hooded prisoners at Abu Ghraib, which offended the sensibilities of decent people everywhere. It will just generate more hatred and violence.

This isn’t justice. It’s another example of a nation’s dark shame.

Michael Whitney

Snohomish