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Analysis: Saddam's Lingering Impact

Council on Foreign Relations

January 3, 2007
Prepared by: Lionel Beehner

It was perhaps inevitable that Saddam Hussein would be mourned as a martyr by Iraq's Sunni Arabs. But the lurid circumstances (NYT) surrounding his execution— rushed to the gallows the morning of a Muslim holiday, secretly videoed, and taunted by masked guards—reverberated throughout the wider Middle East. This has stoked fears that Iraq may be lost to an Iran-influenced and vengeful brand of Shiism. Indeed, the death of the Iraqi dictator may only reinforce the sectarian divide (CNN) that threatens to unravel the region's balance of power, argues CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Vali R. Nasr. Understanding this rising tide of Shiism (TIME.com), he adds, is paramount to forging a successful U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Saddam's execution and the trial that preceded it drew condemnation (Economist.com) from many Arabs. The U.S.-backed judicial process, they argued, was legally flawed from the start and the haphazard manner in which Saddam was hanged only backed up their beliefs. Moreover, it drew ire from Iraqi Kurdish officials who wanted Saddam kept alive to stand trial for gassing thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.

His hanging was supposed to symbolize an important milestone and, U.S. officials hoped, send a message to his supporters that the Shiite-led government in Baghdad was firmly in charge. Instead it prompted outrage, at home and abroad, as well as an embarrassing government investigation into the abusive behavior of Saddam's executioners. "Instead of a study in modern justice, the tyrant's end looked more like the result of a sectarian show trial," writes Newsweek's Christopher Dickey.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.