Last night, I got to hang out with some regular Barbershop readers at a local restaurant/bar here in Philadelphia. I just want to say that I had a great time and look forward to catching up with more of you in the future!!!!!!

Now explain!

Now that his appeals have been exhausted, an Iraqi court has determined that Saddam Hussein must be hanged within the next 30 days. While this is problematic, given the absurdity of the death penalaty and the sham of a trial that he received, the barbarism and injustice doesn’t stop there. Now, some Iraqi officials are debating whether or not to televise his execution.

The first problem with a public execution is that it contradicts its own intended purpose. While Iraqi (and American) politicians have suggested that a televised execution will allow the world to “turn the page” on Saddam’s reign, that goal was already accompished when they dragged him out of a hole and dangled him in front of news cameras for months. Instead, a public execution will only anger loyal Sunnis and incite local violence. Additionally, by taunting his followers, Iraqi officials would only invite international terrorist networks to express their disdain for the process.

In addition to its pragmatic shortcomings, a Saddam execution only worsens the current political climate where diplomacy and peacekeeping is viewed as an inferior alternative to pre-emptive and retributive violence. If we are to believe the xenophobic logic that suggests that we are morally superior to the Islamic world, why not prove it by giving Saddam a lifetime of imprisionment and hard labor? After all, no one is disputing that he was a brutal killer. Some of us just choose not to follow his lead.

Lastly, a televised execution only contributes to a culture of violence within the Western world. From professional wrestling to popular movies, music, and video games, there is a growing normalization of violence within the public sphere. By televising Saddam’s hanging, we are making a treacherous shift from (mostly) simulated violence to real-time killing. Such a shift peels layers away from our collective humanity and undermines the expansion of peace and democracy.

While it is debatable how much safer the world is without him, it is nonetheless difficult to muster much sympathy for Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, we must put aside our emotions and personal investments and fight for grander, more noble principles. Indeed, this is the true moral challenge of the moment.

Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song spoke of the madness of the Vietnam War. His timely lyrics should prompt us to work to end today’s senseless war in Iraq.
“What’s Going On?” A Vietnam-Era Song Rings True Today
By Marjorie Cohn 

In 1971, singer Marvin Gaye raised hackles when he tried to make sense of the madness of the Vietnam War by asking, “What’s Going On?” He sang:

Mother, mother/ There’s too many of you crying/ Brother, brother, brother/ There’s far too many of you dying/ You know we’ve got to find a way/ To bring some lovin’ here today — Ya/ Father, father/ We don’t need to escalate/ You see, war is not the answer/ For only love can conquer hate/ You know we’ve got to find a way/ To bring some loving’ here today.

The song, told from the perspective of a returning Vietnam veteran, was inspired by Gaye’s brother who had recently returned from that disastrous war.

Gaye would be asking the same question if he were alive today. Nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. A brutal civil war continues to escalate, aggravated by intense opposition to the U.S. occupation. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, General John Abazaid — commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East who just resigned — and the vast majority of the American people oppose sending more U.S. troops to Iraq. Yet George W. Bush is planning to do just that.

Even staunch Republicans like MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough, who supported the war and voted twice for Bush, is asking what’s going on. On his December 20 show, Scarborough was appalled by Bush’s statement, “I encourage you all to go shopping more.” MSNBC analyst Mike Barnacle noted that “this President is isolated, delusional, and stubborn.” Bush’s “delusion,” according to Barnacle, is going to result in the deaths and carnage of our troops and people throughout the Middle East. “I don’t think [Bush] knows what he’s saying . . . He is totally isolated from reality,” Barnacle added. “The deaths of American soldiers now verges on the criminal.”

So what is going on? Former Nixon counsel John Dean recently told a San Diego audience he doesn’t think Bush is in charge — Cheney is running the government. “One of Dick Cheney’s geniuses is that he lets Dubya wake up every morning and think he’s President,” Dean noted. Cheney has set up his own National Security Council in the Vice President’s office, according to Dean. Decisions about budgets, personnel, etc., never get to the Oval Office. Cheney decides the important matters before they ever reach Bush’s desk, Dean said.

The report of the Iraq Study Group was not prepared by a bunch of radicals. It even recommended privatizing Iraq’s oil. But the group of 10 saw that more troops and shunning Iran and Syria is not the answer. What did Bush do? He dismissed the ISG report out of hand in favor of Cheney’s agenda.

For the rest of the story, click here. 

How does this happen?