Now What?

"O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?" ~1 Corinthians 15:55~

The "butcher of Baghdad" is history. Yes folks, right around 10:00 PM EST on December 29,2006, the bearded one went to hook up with some virgins in paradise-or so he thinks- compliments of a very big rope and some Shiite hangmen. So now comes my question; was it worth 3,000 American lives, thousands and thousands of Iraqi lives, and billions of our hard earned dollars? That was a rhetorical question. Of course it wasn't. And giving an evil son of a bi**h his just deserts compliments of a hangman's fancy noose does not make my answer to that question any different.

It's worth repeating here; Saddam was a bad man, and I for one am not shedding any tears over his death. But what was he convicted and ultimately hung for? Well it seems he killed 148 Shiite men at a place called Dujail for plotting his death. So he did what any despot who wants to hold on to power by any means would do; he killed them. Mmmmm, if we use that moral standard, I would have to take a serious look at the frat boy as well. I mean, isn't one of his real motivations for going after Saddam that fact that the man tried to have his father assassinated? Talk about payback. -Vengeance is mine sayeth the frat boy. That will teach him to mess with the Bush family. Seriously folks, I would have wanted Saddam dead too, but not at the cost of 3,000 of my own people. I think the frat boy took this payback sh** a bit too far.

And here is hoping that the bad perm lady and the frat boy do not think that this little hanging will solve our problems over there. Because like every thing else, they botched this as well. First and foremost, the man should have been tried at the Hague for his crimes against humanity. Not in Iraq by a propped up Shiite court for revenge killings against a bunch of Shiites who tried to have him killed. To reasonable people all over the world ( I said reasonable people) this just looked like a glorified revenge killing by the Shiites, and will only help to further inflame the hatred the Sunnis have for the Shiites in that country. The Shiite hangmen were even caught on tape mocking Saddam while he tried to pray before getting his rope necklace permanently fitted for his throat. That's not good; even an animal like Saddam deserves to be allowed to pray to his God as a final act before his death. A more dignified International trial would have prevented this spectacle, and all involved (even the Sunnis) would have viewed Saddam's trial and ultimate execution as more legitimate.

So where do we go from here? Does the frat boy sleep a little better at night knowing that he has put his sworn enemy to death? Can we be now assured that there will be no more terrorist attacks on our shores? Are our children and grandchildren now going to be assured of a brighter and safer future because Saddam is gone? Let me answer that for you: No! All this will do is create more haters of the great "secular nation" to the West, and create more internal strife within Iraq. Now I might be wrong, but I doubt it. I haven't been wrong before about the prosecution of this war, and I am going to bet that I am not wrong now.

On December 29,2006, we created a martyr, and further inflamed hate an anger among two groups of people. As I sat watching the images of Saddam proudly walk to his ultimate faith, refusing the death mask in bold defiance, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him. Admiration not for his heartless and immoral acts against his people, but for his balls, and courage when the end for him was just seconds away.

I bet others will see what I see as well, and if they are Arab and Sunni, that is an image they will want to cherish, and ultimately emulate. This of course will only reassure us of one thing, and that is that the war on terror will be going on for a very long time to come.

Before I go, I want to wish everyone a happy new year. I have no new years resolutions; I find them pointless and a complete waste of time. Every day should be like a new year, and every morning that you wake up you should be resolved to do something positive with your life, or for your family and your people. What I remember about this year-besides all the obvious like the war etc.-was the incredible amount of talent us black folks lost to the "grim reaper". From Luther, Wilson, and Lou. To Eddie, James, and Gene. I swear that if there is a heaven, there is going to be some serious jamming up there when those dudes get together.

Oh, and one final thing: Speaking of James Brown, it never ceases to amaze me how some folks can make fun of our icons, and the people that black folks hold in high esteem. I always thought James Brown was an American icon and not just a black one. And yet, I see the folks over at the conservative web site Wizbang having some fun with his death. (Check out the posters that follow up the caption) . I have not always been a big fan of Rev. Al, but damn it, he is one of ours, and those "brown shirts" over at Wizbang are way out of line.

The field is out, but I am back in the fields, and my mind is racing.