The passing of President Ford and James Brown reveal a great deal about our country and how we relate to our history. These men, neither perfect, receive our highest honors at their deaths as we recognize their undeniable importance. And as we do that, we forgive the blemishes on their reputations and choose to see them in the best light possible. This is possible, at least in part, because we can place them in an unbroken evolution of our country: a president who served his term and a musician who helped music move forward. In both cases, America–its government and music–moved passed them during their lifetimes.
How different it must be to be in Iraq preparing for the passing of a tyrant.
Saddam Hussein had by far the biggest impact on Iraq of anyone in its modern history. His regime defined the nation: From its Pan Arabism to its brutality, the Saddam era was Iraq. Before we broke Iraq, we broke its history. We cleaved its evolution and replaced one reality with an abyss, expecting gratitude and progress. Instead we find ourselves tonight an occupying force handing Saddam over to the Iraqis for the first time so that they may execute him. Contrary to its purpose, however, I doubt that the execution of Saddam Hussein will help the Iraqis close the gap in their history and move forward.
When President Ford pardoned his predecessor he said it was to help the country heal. Why extract vengeance when the American experiment survived intact? Similarly, why dwell on Ford’s errors or even relive the debates of his time if the country continues in its design?
Clearly, it would be impossible for Iraq to transition from Saddam to any new regime, democratic or not, without great turmoil. However, I believe that that were that transition to have occurred organically, Iraq may have emerged under a new banner of national identity. Now, though, thanks to a botched contrived transfer of power, tonight’s execution feels incomplete. It will be difficult for Iraqi’s to leave the Saddam era behind them as so few of them shared in his removal. It will be doubly hard for them to find a new way forward in chaos.
I expect strong, solemn words to come from the White House on this occasion: Saddam’s execution marks the end of the threat addressed before the invasion. Unfortunately for everyone involved in Iraq and here at home, today’s threat is not about Saddam. Saddam’s execution will serve limited value. As we fold two heroes into our history, Iraq has a long way to go before the tumultuous past few years will make any sense. If we have any sense, we’ll recognize that we can’t write their history in our soldiers’ blood.
December 30th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Healing is a canard. Ford’s pardon of Nixon was profoundly anti-democratic and paved the way for Bush I to pardon Reagan officials responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal. We can expect Scooter Libby and any other Republican operatives (eg Rove, Cheney) to receive pardons from Bush if their day in court ever comes. That is damaging to democracy, it is contrary to rule of law and it enables malfeasance and wrongdoing at the highest levels of American government.
Our country survived, but we weren’t invaded. Survival is not a handy metric when judging the impact of Ford’s administration. In fact, it glosses over all the damage that the pardon did.
Iraq is in civil war. Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with that civil war; America’s presence in Iraq, on the other hand, does. Executing Saddam won’t save a single life and it won’t speed peace. At this point in the war, Saddam is merely a red herring, a stand-in for all the problems that country faces. What a stupid, pointless waste of life.