Desultory Thoughts

I had mixed feelings about the execution of Saddam Hussein last month, and I wanted to wait to post about it until the dust had settled and I could refine my view of this event.

I wanted Saddam dead, of course. I lamented his escape from that first April bomb. When he was captured I knew his trial would become a spectacle. Indeed, for 15 months Saddam used the trial to spew his fascist propoganda, which the media gleefully echoed around the globe. His execution, in my opinion, couldn’t come soon enough.

But then it came and, much to my surprise, I was bothered by it. Not bothered by his death. Not bothered by the fact that the rope nearly decapitated him with an audible “crack.” Not bothered by the cheering in the streets.

No, I was bothered by the way it went down (or fell through, if you will).

The key to “winning the peace” is to prove to Iraqis (specifically the Sunni minority), the war-weary American public and the world that the invasion of Iraq was justified, that the new Iraqi leadership is legitimate, and that it is dedicated to building a stable democracy.

Much of the sectarian violence stems from the perception that Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki’s government is either unable or unwilling to bring order to his country. An orderly, official-like execution of Saddam by uniformed government officers would have gone far to demonstrate this legitimacy.

Instead, the execution looked more like a mob hit. Street-clothes thugs taunted Saddam as they put the noose around his neck, then danced a jig around his hanging body. Security failed to confiscate cameras and cell phones, resulting in a video leak that crushes any notion of the government’s credibility.

But what bothered me most was the confirmation of a fear I’ve had for a long time- al-Maliki’s ties to Shi’ite radical Moqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr is one of the most influential Shi’ite clerics in the region. He commands the largest independant militia in Iraq and is adamantly anti-American. He and his henchmen are responsible for most of the sectarian violence in Iraq. In short, al-Sadr is a huge thorn in our backside.

Since al-Maliki took office, both he and the Bush Administration have desperately attempted to convince the world that he is not beholden to al-Sadr, and that he’s doing everything he can to stop the flow of blood through Baghdad’s streets. The edited video of Saddam’s execution, provided to news outlets by Maliki’s government, is silent and cuts off just before the money shot. Yeah, it looked a little bit 7th century, but it had an aire of legitimacy.

But then the cell phone video popped up on the Internet. It was the whole deal, audio and all. Soon after came translations of the dialogue- specifically the exchanges between Saddam and his executioners:

The room was quiet as everyone began to pray, including Mr. Hussein. “Prayers be upon Mohammed and his holy family.”

Two guards added, “Supporting his son Moktada, Moktada, Moktada.”

Mr. Hussein seemed a bit stunned, swinging his head in their direction.

They were talking about Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric whose militia is now committing some of the worst violence in the sectarian fighting; he is the son of a revered Shiite cleric, Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, who many believe Mr. Hussein had murdered.

“Moktada?” he spat out, a mix between sarcasm and disbelief.

Yes, Saddam, Moqtada.

Al-Maliki’s government had to realize the importance of a credible trial and execution for Hussein. They have to realize the importance of pacifying the Sunni minority. Yet somehow the most critical event in this government’s young history was carried out by al-Sadr foot soldiers. And that should bother all of us.

Saddam Hussein was not executed by the democratically elected Iraqi government. He was murdered by the Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. And that, dear reader, does not bode well for Iraq or the U.S.

What do the United States, Israel, and Google have in common? They’re all on Iran’s ‘Must Be Destroyed’ list. Yes, Google, the China-owned, commie led virtual world superpower has done pissed off Iran.

From The Guardian (UK)

Google has provoked the wrath of Iran’s notoriously suspicious authorities by appearing to question the country’s sovereignty over the province of Azerbaijan in an entry on its Google Video website.In a move tailor-made to wound Iranian patriotic pride and arouse a blizzard of protest, the Azeri provincial capital, Tabriz, is located “in southern Azerbaijan, currently in the territory of Iran”. To add insult to injury, the ancient city is listed as being in Azerbaijan, rather than Iran. Tabriz and southern Azerbaijan have belonged to Iran for more than 4,000 years.

The text of a tourist film on the site has drawn accusations that the US-owned search engine is deliberately trying to undermine Iran’s territorial integrity by fomenting separatist sentiment in the mainly Turkish-speaking province.

Jihad time, baby- cyber style!

The information technology ministry has branded the entry an attempt to intervene in Iran’s internal affairs and has urged Iranians to flood Google with emails.”This act is a typical example of interference in the affairs of another country,” said Samad Mohmen Bela, the IT ministry’s representative in parliament. “The simplest, most effective response is for all Iranian users to reflect their objection to Google’s management.”

Wow. Color me amazed. What a novel idea- expressing objection through peaceful means. It’s doubtful, however, that even repeated emails from all 18 of Iran’s Internet users will be that effective. But before you abandon Yahoo or Gigablast to return to Google, anybody care to bet how long it takes Google to remove the offending video in order to placate our peace-minded Iranian brothers?

Most people aren’t morning people- especially when they know they have to go to jobs they don’t like.  Angelo Amaranto was not one of those people.  He woke enthusiastically every morning at three o’clock to catch the subway from Borough Park to his job at 2 World Trade Center.

Angelo’s janitor job was hard work, but he loved it. He was employed by Ebasco and worked on the 87th, 89th and 91st floors of the tower. He had worked at 2 World Trade Center since the towers opened in 1973, and he knew that building well.  His wife, Maria, says he would regularly go into work one or two hours early every day.  Sometimes he would even work the weekends.

Originally from Salerno, Italy, A young Angelo Amaranto fell in love with New York when he arrived in Brooklyn with his young Bride.  He got a janitorial job at the Nasdaq, where he worked until he took the World Trade Center job.  “He told me the pay was better and if they took him, he would have to work nights for a little while,” his wife, Maria, told Newsay. “He said it was worth it because it was a better building. He switched to days after two years or so. He loved those buildings.”

Angelo took great pride in providing for his family.  He had worked hard and honest his entire life.  But it wasn’t about the money.  “He used to say to us, ‘You know, a lot of people have money,’” his daughter, Emily recalls. “‘I have something better than money. I have grandchildren.”

It is my honor to pay tribute to Angelo Amaranto today.

You can read messages left by family and friends here.

Officially, Tony Coladonato is not part of my 2996 Project assignment, but I would like to take this occasion to post my thoughts on him as well. 

For me, four or five days ran together as one. Life had stopped in time. Cable news stations ran constant without commercials. The ins and outs of every day American life were shrouded in a dark cloud of confusion and anger. Nobody knew how to feel. People still went to work, still shopped for groceries. But everybody was quiet.

What exactly had happened and who was to blame? A busy day at work had shielded me from most of the initial reporting of planes crashing and towers falling. I had no concept of the magnitude of what had happened. Too consumed with wrapping my brain around the physical events of that morning, I hadn’t thought about the human aspect of the whole thing. It wasn’t until I got home that night and began watching the coverage that my heart was broken.

I remember the moment. I was watching the Fox News Channel, which was interviewing people who had lost family members. They held up pictures that they showed the world, begging for some kind of help in finding their loved ones. At the time, the human toll of the attacks was still up in the air. As far as Sal Coladonato knew, his brother Tony was simply missing.

It was Sal and another brother, I think. The despair in their voices was overwhelming. As she interviewed the brothers, anchor Linda Vester struggled to keep her composure. As the men spoke of their brother, her eyes welled up with tears. Her emotional threshold was reached. So was mine.

Sal Coladonato held a picture of his brother Tony, which, along with his name, was burned eternally into my mind and heart. Tony became my emotional tie to 9/11 and the focal point of my experience. Suddenly the how’s and why’s didn’t matter so much anymore. It was the people. It was Tony. a regular guy, an employee for Cantor Fitzgerald. I prayed then. Right there in front of the TV. Maybe even out loud. I prayed for Tony, but I also prayed for his family. I couldn’t fathom how I would have felt in their shoes.

I wanted so badly to help. To somehow get to New York and help in the search. But I could do nothing. The only thing I could do was watch the coverage, and pray. Time went on. Cable news stations started taking commercial breaks again. Life continued, but I was different. We all were. My heart was touched by the victims and heroes of that day. Despair eventually evolved into love and hope. I tried several times to contact the family of Tony Coladonato with no success. I posted comments on a few tribute websites that I can no longer find, but which I hope his family has read.

Though they never knew it, Tony and his family taught me priceless things and have helped change my life for the better. The websites refer to him formally by his full name- Anthony Joseph Coladonato. I will always remember him as Tony.

As part of the 2996 Project, Kate has a full tribute to Tony.

Her liberal fan base lovingly refers to her as the “Peace Mom.”  I call Cindy Sheehan a raving lunatic.  Sheehan became the poster child for the Angry Left after her son, a U.S. Army Specialist, was killed in Iraq.  At first she was just another grieving mom.  Americans of all political ideologies treated her tenderly, as we would any grieving mother.  We felt for her and wished her the best. 

But as time went on, Sheehan morphed from all-American mother into a radical Left hate machine.  First came the anti-Bush rhetoric.  Then came the anti-America rhetoric.  Then came her budding career as a professional activist.  For her husband, this was the last straw.  He promptly filed for divorce.  Her family, utterly embarrassed by her antics, publicly denounced her.  Since then she’s buddied up with radical groups like Code Pink and gotten into bed with the likes of Hugo chavez.  She calls Bush a terrorist and praises her son’s killers as “freedom fighters.”  She calls John McCain a liar and Hillary Clinton a closet conservative (now she’s gone and offended me).  Even John “I Have the Hat” Kerry isn’t liberal enough for her.  Google her and you would be hard pressed to find anybody she doesn’t hate.  Unless you are 1) an insurgent terrorist, 2) a tyrannical dictator, or 3) a Communist front organization, chances are Cindy Sheehan hates you.

But skim through a few left wing blogs like daily kos (sorry, no direct link from me) or the New York Times and you’d think she was Mother Teresa.  Kos kids, MoveOn libs, and Big Media swoon over Sheehan like she was Christ incarnate- the very essence of peace and purity in human form.

Now the Kum-ba-yah queen has written a book, in which she admits fantasizing about travelling back in time to murder the infant George W. Bush.

Yet she is against the killing- even the detention of terrorists.  Wouldn’t want to violate any human rights.  “Peace Mom”…”Religion of Peace”…  Seems the word doesn’t mean what it used to.

Here’s an idea, Cindy- instead of going back in time to kill Bush as an infant, go back just a bit further and abort him!  Why face the potential guilt of murder when you can simply abort him and not give it a second thought?

Note to Democrats, liberal activists, and protesters:  Making Cindy Sheehan your icon has not helped you in your quest to convince the American public that you should be taken seriously.