Even if the execution did not extricate the root causes for tyranny in Iraq or instability in the Middle East, the execution of Saddam Hussein was in fact a major turning point in the war and paved the way for democracy. The execution, which was decried by many nations that do not support capital punishment, meant that the primary emblem of the Iraqi dictatorship was destroyed. One of the most potent symbols of tyranny in the modern world, Saddam Hussein, was no more. It was as if the Wicked Witch of the East was melting and Dorothy could finally return home. Moreover, Saddam Hussein's execution served a solid symbolic function.
Images of joyful Iraqis celebrating in the streets enhanced the notion that the death of Saddam meant the birth of freedom in Iraq. On a propaganda level alone the execution marked a turning point. Therefore, the execution served a central purpose in promoting propaganda: in generating and maintaining support for the war. Like killing the bad guy in an action flick, executing Saddam Hussein was depicted as the fulfillment of a central goal of the war. Most of the mainstream media from Great Britain and the United States, the two nations most heavily vested in establishing pro-Western democratic governments in Iraq, presented the event as a major victory. Gruesome images and videos of the public hanging stirred the Iraqi public and shocked viewers and readers around the world. Michael Scharf and Mike Newton, Iraqi High Tribunal judge Ra’id Juhi,Īnd Karadzic’s lead counsel, Peter Robinson.The execution of Saddam Hussein has been widely heralded as a turning point in the war in Iraq, if not the central point at which democracy might be established. Relevance to the upcoming trials of Radovan Karadzic in The HagueĪnd the Khmer Rouge leaders in Cambodia, featuring co-authors The program airs on Cleveland's NPR station and past broadcasts are available for viewing/listening at: /TalkingForeignPolicyĬ-SPAN broadcast a panel discussion of “Enemy of the State” and its TALKING FOREIGN POLICY Michael Scharf is host of "Talking Foreign Policy," a quarterly radio program, featuring Mike Newton and other expert commentators, that discusses hot issues in international affairs.
For a year, two American law professors had led an elite team of experts who prepared the judges and prosecutors for “the mother of all trials.” Michael Scharf, a former State Department official who helped create the Yugoslavia Tribunal in 1993, and Michael Newton, then a professor at West Point, would confront such issues as whether the death penalty should apply, how to run a fair trial when political and military passions run so high, and which of Saddam’s many crimes should be prosecuted. A page-turner brimming with illuminating anecdotes, this remarkable account will leave you stunned.Īt 12:21 p.m., on October 19, 2005, Saddam Hussein was escorted into the Courtroom of the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad for one of the most important and chaotic trials in history. ScharfĪ work of non-fiction written like a novel.
The Trial and Execution of Saddam Husseinīy Michael A. Jean Sasson, New York Times bestselling author of The Rape of Kuwait and international bestseller, Mayada, Daughter of Iraq A page-turner with fast-paced action that reads like a novel, this book is sure to satisfy the casual reader and history enthusiasts alike.” Authors Newton and Scharf have so vividly described the courtroom dramatics that readers will feel themselves a witness to Saddam Hussein’s swagger. “ Enemy of the State gives us an incomparably immediate view of one of the liveliest episodes in recent Middle Eastern history: the capture, the trial, and the execution of Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein.