the end

Rarely is there justice right before us, that sense that the evil-doer is paid back for all that he or she has done to hurt others. Call it the Hitler standard. Did he and his cohorts get justice for their evil? There is, of course, a theological argument about judging and judgment that pretty much removes from us the need to worry about righting wrongs completely and dramatically. God is a much better accountant that we are. But there is also something quite human to believe that one's sins will find them out, to use the KJV language.

Sadaam's capture doesn't begin to pay back all the folk in Iraq who have suffered under his reign of terror, or who died in his wars, or who lost family and loved one to his secret police.

The worst description of Sadaam's torture was brought to the public's attention by an English Labour MP who campaigned on behalf of imprisoned Iraqis. It was the dropping of folk into a plastic shredder. If one of Sadaam son's who supervised this horror felt kindly to the tortured soul, they were dropped in head first. If not, it was feet first.

Sadaam's capture this weekend does not begin to clear accounts, but at least it signifies the last of his brutal reign. Folk who trembled at the mention of his name will no longer have to do so.

Iraq has a ton of misery upon its soil. Lots and lots of problems. But the response to his arrest is, I think, not a call to reflect on off-setting evils by the US or other countries, or to worry about the effects of his arrest on the next presidential election.

It is, I think, simply a moment to be thankful that this guy is out of commission for good.