Ah, December 30, 2006—a day that dawned like no other, except for the bit where it involved a gallows and a dictator. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, on that fateful day, Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq and, let’s be honest, a man with a taste for power that made even Bond villains say, “Steady on,” met his end. Hanged, he was, in what must surely rank as the most awkward holiday event since your uncle tried to explain NFTs over Christmas pudding.
Now, Saddam was no mere footnote in the annals of history. Oh no. His rule over Iraq, which stretched from 1979 to 2003, was the sort of leadership you’d get if you mixed Macbeth with a touch of Stalin and just a sprinkle of “Dr. Evil.” It was grim. Chemical weapons against the Kurds, mass executions of dissenters, and an ego so vast it could probably be seen from space.
But then came 2003, and with it, the United States-led invasion. Saddam was overthrown, and his statue—do you remember that iconic footage?—was toppled faster than you can say, “Weapons of mass destruction… or were they?” After months of playing hide-and-seek with coalition forces, Saddam was found crouching in a hole near Tikrit. Not exactly the glamorous escape of a Bond villain, but needs must.
Now, onto the trial, which—how to put this delicately—was about as smooth as a three-legged camel navigating a desert storm. He was charged with crimes against humanity, specifically the 1982 massacre in Dujail, where 148 Shiite men and boys were killed after an assassination attempt against him. Not his finest moment. The trial, however, became a spectacle of its own. Judges swapped out like lightbulbs, defense lawyers assassinated—it was less “Law and Order” and more “Game of Thrones,” minus the dragons.
And then, the sentence: death by hanging. You’d think, “Ah, justice,” but oh no. The timing of the execution couldn’t have been more divisive if they’d tried. They decided to do it on Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday—a bit like deciding to host a court-mandated party on Christmas morning. As if that weren’t enough, leaked cellphone footage of the execution showed guards chanting sectarian slogans at Saddam. Talk about adding insult to, well, death.
But here’s the kicker—while Saddam swung from the gallows, the sectarian tensions he exploited were alive and kicking. Iraq descended into chaos. Insurgencies rose, ISIS emerged, and the country became a hotspot for anyone with a grudge, a gun, or an apocalyptic worldview. It was as if removing Saddam unleashed every bottled-up grudge in the Middle East, and let’s just say the genie wasn’t keen on going back in the bottle.
So here we are, reflecting on this historical milestone. Saddam’s death was justice for some, a travesty for others, and a cautionary tale for everyone. What it really showed is that the end of a dictator is just the beginning of a whole new mess. It’s a bit like fixing the plumbing—great to unclog the pipes, but now there’s water everywhere, and you’ve just noticed mold in the ceiling.
And isn’t that the story of history itself? We remove one villain, only to discover that the cleanup is where the real work begins. So, as we remember this day, let’s remind ourselves that justice isn’t about a single act of vengeance—it’s about what you do afterwards. And preferably without the sectarian chanting.
