The year 2006 ended with the expected – but ultimately very quick – death of Saddam Hussein. Naturally, I agree that the SOB should never have been heading a state in the first place, but I can’t say I agree with the death sentence against him. The entire trial was marked by problems; the neutrality of the court is questionable at best; and it seems odd to hold the dictator responsible for his crimes while nobody in the US chain of command is being investigated over the [war crimes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse) conducted during and after the invasion of Iraq.

It should also not be forgotten that Saddam Hussein got away with *his* crimes for so many years because he was a great friend and ally of the United States and other western Nation as a bulwark against the dreaded Islamic republic of Iran. Double standards, anybody?

Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging on December 30th, 2006. After the Iraqi authorities tried to portray the execution as a civilized, dignified affair, a [video taken with a mobile phone](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6220829.stm) was leaked. It seems to show that the execution was, in fact, the complete opposite; Hussein defiant to the last moment, and the witnesses at the execution mocking Mr. Hussein.

The entire thing could have – and should have – been handled differently. As it stands now, the trial will keep the smell of a political trial, and that means that true closure can not set in, as the fairness of the sentence will remain questionable. It will also fuel the civil war in Iraq, rather than help ease it.

Maybe some good will come out of the Iraq war eventually. It seems that every generation needs its Vietnam, a stern reminder of the high cost and the ultimate futility of war.