FEBRUARY 2007

ting
am’s
ise
as he was in life following his recent execu-
December 3 0 in I raq following his O ctober
particular for the killings of 1 4 8 men and boys
leaked video captured on a cell phone showed
fore the execution. Members of Metro Detroit’s
if any, will come out of Saddam’s demise.
It was unduly rushed without appropriate
planning. It should not have
taken place on the day of an Islamic
holy day, Eid, which is against the
Iraqi constitution and against Islamic
laws. This only creates more negative
reaction and makes Saddam
look like a victim in some areas
instead of a tyrant.
Those present at the hanging
should have had special clearance
and been searched for cameras or
cell phones. It is a black mark
against the new Iraqi leaders to have
botched the trial and execution.
Let us hope and pray that
democracy will take hold eventually
in Iraq, whether it takes a form such
as ours in the United States as a
bicameral House/Senate model or
like the British parliamentary model,
just so long as it can represent all
the different groups within Iraq
equally and fairly. That is our prayer
for the land of our ancestry.
— Josephine Sarafa, executive director,
Chaldean Cultural Center
I would have liked the scenario to be
totally different from the way it transpired.
Iraq has had a history of recycling
violence at the helm — every
key figure in Iraq’s history from biblical
times to today has ended up executed
or killed. We are entering the 21st
century and we cannot continue this
cycle of violence.
Saddam deserved to be executed
multiple times for his multiple crimes
against the nation, but we lost the
opportunity for the country to analyze
its past, understand its present and
work towards healing its future. This
was really a case of settling scores
and vengeance, what I call sledgehammer
politics. Saddam was a symbol of
30 years and beyond of historical mistakes;
that could have been analyzed
so it never happens again. The best
witness for the prosecution was lost.
We had the opportunity to say to
the rest of the world, “we are not
going to do this any more, we have
learned from it, we will show the
civility and correctness of trying not
the man but the philosophy, the
momentous damage that he caused.”
— Dr. Adhid Miri, past president,
Chaldean I raq i American
Association of Michigan
The taking of a life is against our
Christian beliefs. His execution is an
occasion upon which the world must
remember that we can never tolerate
another tyrant like him. We pray for
God’s mercy upon those who need
it the most. Normally, Christians do
not rejoice in the killing of others.
— Joseph K assab, executive director,
Chaldean Federation of America
FEBRUARY 2007 CHALDEAN NEWS 23