November 05, 2006

A SADDAM VERDICT:

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and two other defendants were sentenced to death in Baghdad Sunday for crimes against humanity. . . .

Despite a curfew, Iraqis celebrated in the streets of Baghdad while protests were held in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

I hope they don't take as long with the execution as they took with the trial.

Here's a reaction from Mohammed and Omar of Iraq the Model. And here's a big Saddam sentencing roundup from Pajamas Media.

UPDATE: Hmm. Turned on the TV. Fox was covering Saddam, but CNN was running an election-themed piece on stem cell research, and MSNBC was reporting on the hot prospects for the Harold Ford campaign. You'd think this would deserve more attention than that . . . .

Oh, wait, they just teased a coming story with "Will Saddam Hussein's sentencing spark more violence in Iraq?" I should've figured on that spin, shouldn't I?

And here's another big roundup from Gateway Pundit.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More thoughts from Austin Bay:

I know, the NY Times and John Kerry have told us Iraq is a disaster. No. The US has already gotten about 90 percent of what it needed on September 12, 2001. There’s a democratically elected government in the potentially most powerful (predominantly) Arab Muslim nation, a government trying to learn to crawl under the most trying conditions. It’s a government that is learning by doing — and learning often by failure. However, as long as the US and coalition remain around to coach, train, and respond to crisis, Iraqi failures will be controlled failures.

Yup. Fostering the development of choice in the Middle East — a choice other than tyranny or terror– is a tough process.

But will we get that story? I doubt it.

Still, congratulations to the people of Iraq.

Read the whole thing.