And it comes down to this…

So Saddam has met his fate; execution at the hands of the people he has tormented for so many years. The whole filthy affair in Iraq can be summed in this one little episode; a climax of retribution for Iraqis, the Neo-cons and George (he tried to kill my Daddy) Bush. They get the act of savagery they have been salivating over like some many starving mongrels let loose in butcher shop, ultimately yielding nothing but another body on the pile.

Let me be very clear about this. I could not give a fuck if they just threw the bastard into the middle of Sadr City and let the locals rip him limb from limb, Coucesceau style. Saddam was an awful person and deserved a fate much worse than he received. What I fear, however, is that his execution will be remembered as the high-water mark of our invasion; that the death of Hussein will represent the best thing we did for the Iraqi people. We have ignited a civil war, wrecked the economy and infrastructure, and essentially created hell on Earth for a generation of pissed off, disaffected or otherwise malcontent Iraqis.

Furthermore, we have achieved neither of the ignoble but nonetheless important goals for which this misguided affair was launched; oil and security. There will be no massive US bases from which we can launch “pacification” missions in an unstable Middle East. In fact, our ability to project power has been severely diminished. None of the other nations in the region will be chomping at the bit to host a US force as they were during the first Iraq War. And most certainly, we will not have access to the enormous and largely untapped Iraqi petroleum reserves. Whoever comes out on top in the civil war cannot afford to be seen as the vassal to US or British oil companies; that kind of behavior will land one in the gallows just like Saddam.

Our one shining achievement, for all of the lost blood and treasure, is the death of a madman. It hardly seems worth the sacrifice.