MY LOCAL PAPER INTERVIEWS AN IRAQI-AMERICAN:

“You say no, you die. That simple,” Kadhim said. “They say, ‘OK, you free to go.’ They take you outside and shoot you. Or just shoot you right there.”

Kadhim said whenever a rebel against the regime entered the prison system they were very unlikely to ever emerge from it. Or if they did emerge, they were likely to become victims of a delayed but cruel surprise.

“If you get out of prison without a shot (from a needle), you lucky,” Kadhim said. “They give you a shot, and you go home. You die one month, two months later from the shot they give. Just like that. You die.”

Kadhim’s story is not unlike that of thousands of refugees who have fled Iraq to escape the ruthlessness of Saddam.

Funny, where are all those Europeans who criticize the United States for the death penalty? I guess they think that Iraqi lives are less valuable. At least, less valuable when they’re killed by Saddam. (See below). There’s also this:

Maybe now the Iraqi people will have a new idea,” he said. “They just want it to be over with Saddam. I think America will give my country freedom. If I were there, I would tell them that the Iraqi people are not their enemy. Some Arab countries are your enemy, but the Iraqi people aren’t. I can’t tell you which Arab countries. I would have big trouble.”

Kadhim’s friend, Qasim (who asked that his last name not be used because of the possibility of retribution against his relatives in Baghdad), said the truth about Saddam, is a thousand times worse than anyone can imagine.

And, sadly, this:

Qasim said he is glad American soldiers have returned to Iraq, he does not think they will be as welcome as they would have been in 1991 had they gone on to Baghdad.

“We had a revolution then,” he says. “Saddam would not have lasted two hours if the American troops had come.”

The old adage “If you strike at a king you must kill him” is being proven again. We should have gone all the way in 1991. Bush Sr. wimped out because of the fear of ugly pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers on TV.

Of course, Saddam’s behavior makes that sort of thing less likely this time around. But the last ten years, in which Saddam’s tyranny grew far worse despite alleged international supervision, make these worries of Nick Denton’s cogent:

Saddam as Ceausescu

The appearance of armed irregulars, still loyal to Saddam, parallels the resistance of Ceausescu’s secret police, the Securitate, even after most of the army had turned on the Romanian dictator. But, as this account of the 1989 revolution explains, it’s not as simple as regular army good, secret police bad. Lessons from the Romanian example: the deposition of a tyrant with multiple security forces is a mess, because there is no one military leader who can undercut the dictator; resistance can appear more organized than it is; they usually hide out in party headquarters and police buildings, rather than houses; watch out for snipers; and beware of over-reaction. Oh yes: you may have to kill the dictator on camera, and put a stake through his heart, before his loyalists finally give up, and ordinary citizens can finally feel free. One final guess: the worse the dictatorship, the less joyful the revolution. The inhabitants of Bucharest were so crushed by decades of harsh dictatorship, that they emerged suspicious of eachother, credulous of rumor, disorientated by the truth, seething with recrimination, and bitter, bitter, bitter. There will be nothing velvet about the Iraqi revolution.

I hope Nick’s wrong about this. But if he isn’t, it’s yet another reason to avoid half-measures in the future.