Although the news cycle might be over, I thought I might weigh in on the heinous murder of Saddam’s two sons by U.S. forces. I believe that assassinating two political leaders instead of capturing them and charging them with crimes was a mistake, not to mention that the death of Saddam’s innocent grandson seems to have been accepted as a reasonable casualty. The refusal of the U.S. to participate in any sort of multilateral process of adjudication to me is a grave failure of the global community. It seems to me the just path for a myriad of reasons – legal, ethical, and otherwise.

Resorting to political assassination of the type followed with gusto by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq not only shows an arrogant disregard for international law, but also wastefully throws away an opportunity to further bolster the machinery of international justice. (Not that anybody in the U.S. government seems interested in that vague idea these days) I myself relish the thought that Milosevic languishes in a European cell while his horrible acts as Serbia’s ruler are meticulously documented before he will receive a prison sentence of ridiculous length. However, by brazenly refusing to subject any Afghanis or Iraqis to similar treatment, the U.S. is only showing they are just as much a thug as some of the people they have murdered, or decide to detain indefinitely in Camp X-Ray. (A group of sickly and elderly old men, some in their 80s, were released a few months ago from that facility after the Bush administration was forced to conclude they were 100% innocent)