Saddam deserves to be punished

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Some of the biggest news since 9/11 took place this weekend. U.S. troops captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein without firing a shot. That seems ironic, doesn’t it?

For a leader that exhausted so many weapons to kill so many people was captured without even a shot is a perfect example of irony.

We watched the statue fall in Baghdad and on Sunday the United States witnessed the capture of the esteemed tyrant. What even gives this incident more credibility and pleasure in the same sense was that he was captured in his own state. This showed that the troops put an effort that could not be forced back and proved that one can hide, but for only a matter of time.

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Now that Saddam Hussein is in custody of the United States, what happens next? The options consist of the United States prosecuting Hussein or an international court that could take the life of Hussein in their hands.

Which is the better solution for the United States? According to UA Law School Dean Ken Randall, an expert in international law jurisdiction, at this point there is a 50-50 chance whether an international court will try Saddam or the United States on its own will prosecute him.

Even though most folks who are reading this editorial will not have a direct impact on the decision of where the trial will be, we should be ever minded of what the best solution and why. Something to think about is if the United States tried Hussein; the consensus is one that admits Hussein could and would probably receive the steepest and most serious repercussion for his crimes. According to us, we felt there needed to be a change and the troops made it happen. Now the United States should see the process completed to the very end.

On the other hand, what will the world think of us if we take the opportunity to prosecute Hussein our way &045; the American way. Many countries would point fingers at us stating that we have taken war into our hands both from the beginning and the ending.

What kind of impression would that leave the U.N. if we were to say we didn’t need the U.N.’s approval nor did we feel an international court would give Hussein’s trial justice.

This editorial in no way offers a certain direction that The Times-Journal is leaning in bringing Hussein to justice. Our thought is this, he deserves to be punished for his crimes and how that is done is immaterial. We only wish that the punishment is comparable to the many crimes he has done to his country and the people of Iraq.