Leftover Myths About Saddam

Leftover Myths About Saddam

By: Rachel Marsden

When Saddam Hussein finally went to the gallows this week, you'd think the Iraqis had just killed grandpa. (Have you seen the execution video on YouTube? It's Shiite.) Here are some statements I've heard from the political left over the past few days -- along with my response:

Iraq was so much better off under Saddam.

Yeah, and the buses and trains ran right on time under Hitler and Mussolini.

And as liberals keep reminding us, Cuba has a fabulous health care system under Fidel Castro.

Saddam Hussein was responsible for massive human rights violations, but that can't justify giving him the death penalty, which is a cruel and inhuman punishment.

This gem comes to us courtesy of the folks at Human Rights Watch. Look, when the accused kills, rapes and tortures hundreds of thousands of people and then brags about it, I say let's get the piece of trash squared away. Liberals seem to have trouble parting with garbage. The next time you're in the lunch room at work, watch how your liberal friends take great pains to carefully clean and sort every precious piece of rancid trash so it can be salvaged through "recycling".

Liberals would prefer to just rinse Saddam off and toss him in the blue box.

If Saddam is executed for killing people, then George W. Bush should be executed too, for killing people through war.

No joke, some folks really believe this. Here's a little reality check for these people.

When Saddam Hussein's countrymen opposed him, he killed them. Unless Bush has invited the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry to go "shooting" with Dick Cheney, then you can relax.

Saddam's regime tortured Iraq's national soccer team when they lost. When the U.S. got hammered in the last World Cup, I doubt that Bush (or anyone else in America) even noticed.

Saddam used the gallows at Abu Ghraib prison to play Hangman with political prisoners. According to the left, the worst case scenario under Bush's watch is that the prison hosted the odd game of naked Twister for terror suspects.

The U.S. rushed to hang Saddam.

Granted, I'd rush to hang the guy too, if I knew that under Iraqi law, no one over the age of 70 can be executed. This means that in a few more months, the Iraqi taxpayers would have been forever stuck with the bill for this creep's room and board.

But the trial -- presided over by Iraqis -- started in October 2005, and Saddam was finally executed in December 2006, for crimes he committed in the 1980s. I just hope whoever thinks a 20-year quest for justice is "rushing" isn't delivering my next pizza order.

And remember that Saddam could have prevented the Iraq war altogether by taking the safe passage into exile offered by President Bush immediately prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion. Instead, he whizzed by every possible off-ramp en route to his meeting with his maker last week.

Saddam used to be America's "friend" during the Iran-Iraq war. And now they're letting him hang!

So? O.J. Simpson used to be a star running back.

By the same logic, once you're married, you can never get a divorce. And if you let someone stay in your house and he trashes the joint, you have to keep letting him sleep on your couch and raid your fridge.

But then when has the left ever let logic get in the way of sympathizing with a murderous anti-American despot?

PUBLISHED: TORONTO SUN (January 7/07)