2 Years in Prison + Hanging = Sufficient Suffering?

According to an Op Ed piece from a Kurdish writer, the recent execution of Saddam Hussein deprived Kurds of an opportunity to put Hussein on trial for crimes against Kurdish citizens of Iraq. The article provides an interesting perspective on the trial, and the plight of Kurds in Iraq. More importantly, the writer makes a great case for the argument that Hussein was tried for the wrong crime.

In Hussein's most notorious and brutal mass murder, thousands of Kurds were killed in a 1988 chemical weapons attack. Innocent women and children suffered agonizing deaths at the hands of Saddam Hussein and "Chemical" Ali. For whatever reason, Hussein was never tried for these crimes, but rather for another mass murder in which nearly 200 Arabs were killed in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt.

There's no doubt that Saddam Hussein should have been tried for the chemical weapons attack on Kurdish civilians. But to the average Kurd seeking justice, do the actual criminal charges really matter?

His army was defeated in a matter of days, he hid like a coward in a spider hole for months, he was convicted by a judge in the new Iraqi government, and was put to death by a band of Shiites. Seriously, how much more could you humiliate and punish a Sunni dictator? Perhaps the Kurds would have preferred Hussein was also beaten with the dirty shoes of a Jewish woman as he entered the execution chamber?

Here is the story - be advised that some disturbing photos are included.

http://www.watchingamerica.com/kurdishmedia000005.shtml