Green Party states that Saddam's Execution Brings No Hope or Justice for Iraq

WASHINGTON - January 2 - Green Party leaders responded to news of the execution of Saddam Hussein with a warning that his hanging brings neither hope for the Iraqi people nor justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"The Green Party opposed the execution of Saddam Hussein, because we categorically oppose the death penalty and reject it as an instrument of justice," said Jill Bussiere, 2006 Green candidate for the Wisconsin State Senate (District 1) . "Greens look forward to the fall of all governments that abuse their power, but we support international laws that forbid the invasion of one country by another and the U.S. Constitution, which mandates that our armed forces exist solely for defense of U.S. borders."

"The Bush Administration initially justified the invasion of Iraq by claims about WMDs, collusion with Al-Qaeda, and the need for preemption;' and later by propaganda about liberating the Iraqi people and bestowing democracy. All of these have been proven fraudulent. The reason that President Bush acted to remove Saddam Hussein was to assert U.S. political domination over the Middle East and control over oil resources," Ms. Bussiere added.

Greens noted that the current situation in Iraq suggests that the next government will -- like the Saddam Hussein regime -- be an autocracy that disregards law and the rights of its citizens and is sustained with U.S. support. The outcome of the Iraqi civil war that followed the U.S. invasion is likely to be a new autocratic regime (or regimes, if Iraq divides into two or three nations), possibly a repressive, misogynistic theocracy similar to Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saddam Hussein's quick and extra-legal execution, said Greens, also makes it unlikely that the world will see the investigation and prosecution of U.S. leaders who supported his regime in the 1980s, when most of his atrocities took place, and U.S. corporations that provided the means, including biological and chemical weapons, for Saddam to commit crimes against humanity.

Saddam was noticeably not tried for crimes in which he used American made weapons, said Greens, in order to protect U.S. leaders (especially Reagan Administration officials and former Bush Administration Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld) and firms that were complicit in his crimes by providing aide, intelligence, and chemical and biological arms. (See "How the West armed Saddam, fed him intelligence on his 'enemies', equipped him for atrocities - and then made sure he wouldn't squeal" by Robert Fisk, The Independent, December 31, 2006 .)

"The invasion of Iraq was an international crime for which the current White House must be held accountable through impeachment and criminal prosecution" said Starlene Rankin, Lavender Caucus delegate to the Green Party's national committee. "Saddam Hussein's execution brings neither peaceful resolution, justice, or democracy for the people of Iraq. Saddam Hussein was convicted, but George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld are still at large."