Common Sense

Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death.

And the surprise would be… ? This wasn’t the OJ verdict, the end was never in doubt. It was just kind of funny to watch him try to defend himself. Then he went on a hunger strike. Then some lawyers got blowed up. You know, funny.

The only person who seems somehow amazed at what has happened is George W. Bush. He was out today on the stump trying to make it seem like somehow, Saddam getting the death penalty means that we were right to invade and occupy Iraq. Sorry, very different things those apples and oranges. The fact that most Americans now believe removing Saddam Hussein was not worth the war in Iraq kind of backs that up.

The other thing that backs this up is the fact that the violence is not about to stop. If anything, civil war is now closer than ever. Shiites and Sunnis are divided by the verdict and a huge portion of the fighting in Iraq these days is sectarian. Very little has to do with “terrorists.”

More than 2,800 American soldiers have died in Iraq, an uncounted number of American private contractors and at least half a million Iraqi civilians have died to just remove one man from power and control over the last few drops of a dying energy source. When you’re voting Tuesday, think about that.