Victor Davis Hanson sheds some sanity on the Saddam execution

Yes, the Iraqis do have to work on their execution protocol--but building a democracy and an accompanying judiciary is a slow process.

In an article probably written before the botched execution of Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Victor Davis Hanson puts things in perspective.

From Real Clear Politics:

Sadly, the end of Saddam was indeed gross and undignified. Some creepy Shiite guards heckled him at the gallows and filmed his harrowing last moments. But Saddam's culpability for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents was never in doubt. And his execution was no Tombstone necktie party.

The court that convicted and executed him was authorized by an elected government. Its two-year-long proceedings were transparent and televised. Saddam himself often harangued and shouted down the judges.

But most importantly, by any measure of fairness, Saddam's fate was singular in the annals of recent murderous dictators. The world seems to forget that usually such killers are either given statues, villas in exile, or, even when tried, rarely convicted and punished.

The mass-murdering Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao together killed off nearly 100 million people. Yet both died in their sleep. They are still heroes to many in Russia and China.

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