By: Tashbih Sayyed
Saddam Hussein's capture was important. It was needed to deprive the radical Islamists of a rallying symbol. The failure of coalition forces to capture the fugitive despot was being used by the insurgents to bolster his image as a holy warrior, who could make the U.S. sweat. Many believed that it was contributing to the ongoing attacks on coalition forces. Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told a recent press conference that one reason more Iraqis had not come forward to offer information on guerrilla leaders was the fear they would be punished by Saddam and his followers.
Saddam Hussein's removal from power was not enough for the Iraqis to feel totally free. They were unable to make a fresh start. As long as Saddam has not been killed or arrested, there will remain a shadow for many Iraqis as to whether they can move on with their lives, whether they can start rebuilding their country and re-map their own lives, Intifahd Qanbar, spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress told Inter Press Service in Baghdad in October.
But the meekness with which he emerged from his hole and the disheveled, haggard and impotent face that he wore, deprived the Islamists of their hero. It robbed them of something without which no Arab can face their world - it blackened the face of resistance. Arab life revolves around a sociology of honor. And Saddam's contemptible and pitiful demeanor took away any illusion of bravery, chivalry and dignity that was hitherto associated with him. Islamists had always presented him as the present day "Salahuddin Ayyubi." Years of careful planning and imaginative marketing to cultivate this image was demolished in an instant by the television. They could not prevent the world from seeing the what their "Amir-ul-Momeneen (commander of the faithful) looked like when faced with reality - it was the ultimate face of cowardice.
Only a Muslim living in an Islamist controlled society can understand the impact and meaning of such a humiliation. A culture that thrives on fairy tales, myths and legends of bravery and honor, where it is a holy and noble profession to twist history to transform a coward into a larger than life hero, the disheveled face of their leader was beyond any explanation. Ghassan Tweini, founder and editor-in-chief of Lebanon's most prestigious daily an-Nahar, wrote that the shameful capture of the "despotic tyrant," Saddam Hussein, will leave the Arab world, its leaders, regimes and thinkers, confused regarding what lesson to learn from the event. Saddam looked like a "wild monster" in the pictures of his capture, he said.
Saddam Hussein was supposed to be their "dragon slayer," the one who was supposed to destroy the Jewish state of Israel, liberate Palestine and humiliate the U.S. But what the world saw was meeker than a worm. Their Salahuddin was begging for a deal to save his own life. Television images did not leave any room for any face saving. It was a total debacle.
The shamefulness in Saddam's capture was also reflected in the Shiite-owned Lebanese daily al-Safir. The capture of Saddam Hussein must be a lesson for the Iraqis and the Arabs, who should do their best to prevent the appearance of a "new Saddam," wrote al-Safir. The moment of his capture marked the vanishing of a heavy moral burden that long tarnished the Arab conscience, for they are all responsible, to a certain extent, for allowing the emergence of a tyrant like Saddam, published al-Safir.
How will the Islamist insurgents react to this ultimate bust is a million dollar question? Since Islamism is a product of Wahhabi ideology, it is only logical to conclude that the Islamists will follow the Arab code of honor - continuing with their terrorism. "The Arab either "whitens" the face (saves face), or "blackens" the face (loses face). "Face is the outward appearance of honor, the 'front' of honor which a man will strive to preserve even if, in actuality, he has committed a dishonorable act" (ibid., p. 101). In the Arab world "honor" and "face" are so closely related that the words are almost interchangeable. This "face," or "honor," is such an integral part of the Arab mind that a person is considered perfectly justified in resorting to deceit and falseness in order to "whiten," or save, their own, someone else's or the entire Arab world's face.
The Arab mind is in perpetual motion—working against "blackening" the face (losing face), and thus sculptures its words accordingly. When it comes to "whitening" or saving somebody else's face or the face of the Arab world, lying is even considered to be "a duty" (ibid., p. 105)." History tells us that the Arabs have never been able to reconcile with the idea of losing honor. They live to win honor by dishonoring others. That's why, some fear that the anti-U.S. elements will exploit Arab street's sense of honor to recruit more terrorists. They foresee an upsurge in anti-coalition violence. If my understanding of the Arab mind is correct then anything is possible. In order to dishonor their enemy, radical Islamists can go to any length. They can lie, resort to deceit and falsehood and indulge in a very focused and motivated campaign of terror. We should be prepared for all eventualities.
Peace in post Saddam Iraq will largely depend on Kurds and Shiites. If these two groups can somehow succeed in preventing the radical Islamists from exploiting the situation, Iraq will soon be on its way to a peaceful and democratic future. Saddam's pusillanimous character is a testimony to the fact that the Muslim world is being ruled by cowards who rule by deceit and force. Saddam, in order to perpetuate his despotic rule, fed his people a constant doze of anti-Semitism and hatred of the West. He allowed the Wahhabi fascism to convince the Arab street that Islam's glory can be regained by destroying the Jewish state of Israel and resisting the forces of modernity. This was nothing but an era of obscurantism. Islam's glory does not lie in anti-Semitism and in resisting the forces of progress. Only a society that believes in a rule of law, tolerance and respects the rights of human beings can hope to gain any glory.
Intolerance and hatred are the sociology of the cowards. They dread open societies and dissension. They can only survive by maintaining a tension filled environment in their communities. Democracy, on the other hand, is a way of life of the braves. Brave peoples believe in competition based on merit and openness. They do not want to perpetuate their power and authority at the cost of others. Islam is the faith of the courageous. Islam's glory lies in the defeat of fundamentalist forces. That's why Wahhabis want to undo it. The Saudi cult has been successful so far because nobody from within the house of Islam has found the courage to challenge it. What happened in Iraq will empower those who want to challenge this retrogressive ideology. Muslims will have to recognize that they can only regain their honor and dignity by adopting civilized ways of pluralism, tolerance and open societies. And to establish democracy obscurantist ideology of Wahhabism will have to be vanquished.
According to an Iraqi official who met Saddam Hussein after his arrest, Saddam Hussein was a broken man, seeking mercy of his captors. "I found a very broken man. He was, I think, psychologically ruined and very demoralized. His body language showed that he was very miserable," said Muwaffaq al-Rubaiye, who met Saddam on Sunday (December 14, 2003) with Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer and Lieutenant- General Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. soldier in Iraq. "When we were asking him difficult questions and throwing accusations, reminding him of his crimes, he was looking at Ambassador Bremer and General Sanchez, as if he was asking the Americans to protect him," Rubaiye told Reuters.
There is a lesson in Saddam's capture. People who pretend to be brave and heroic by muzzling the voice of dissent are those who basically lack honor. They are like that ass who wanted to pretend to be a tiger - honorable. He got himself painted as a tiger to impress upon others that he was honorable. But the very first showers washed his pretension away. As the paint dripped down his sides, there emerged no tiger but an ass.
Peace in this earth and love among peoples needs real leaders who believe in democracy. Pretenders cannot defend a faith that preaches against hatred. Remember what Islam's holy book says, "O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most of you. And has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). Quraa'n 49:13.
What the world saw on Sunday, December 14, 2001 was the real Saddam Hussein - a pretender. Knowing that the Wahhabi indoctrinated Muslim world is driven by anti-Semitism, he had worked very hard to build himself as present day Nebucahdnezzar who had plundered Jerusalem in 597 and destroyed it in 587. To address the anti-Christian Wahhabi sentiments, he promoted himself as Salahuddin Ayyubi who defeated the Crusaders in the 12th century. His images on the currency notes, postage stamps and in the forms of statues placed strategically all around the country were aimed at creating this perception of a brave holy warrior, determined to re-instate the Muslims as the ruling race, re-gain the long lost glory of Islam and establish the universal Islamic Khilafah (the Islamic state) by defeating Judeo-Christian powers.
Hussein recognized that the sense of Arab humiliation is one of the fundamental causes of the problems in the Middle East. He exploited it. If the U.S. succeeds in establishing herself as the builder and defender of the honor and self-esteem of the Iraqi people, radical Islamism will be defeated in the region. But it is not an easy task. Honor comes from within. Self-esteem comes from accomplishment. Because of centuries old dogmatism, the Muslim world lacks both. It will be the responsibility of the new and progressive leadership in Iraq to create an environment that can remove this sense of Arab humiliation.
Saddam Hussein's trial can be one opportunity to reinstate Arab sense of honor. A transparent trial conducted by Iraqis themselves is the only sure way to give the Iraqi people a sense of accomplishment. A just outcome of the trial will also reinstate the sense of honor. And it will also provide a final proof of the fact that the defeat of the pretender is complete and irreversible.
It is important to note that those who were against the war and who were in favor of maintaining the status quo in the Middle East are once again trying to subvert the gains achieved by coalition forces. They do not want Iraqis to feel honorable. They want to deprive the Arab street from having this feeling of accomplishment. They want an international trial. Laurence E. Rothenberg, commented on the situation, "Although he has been captured, Saddam Hussein is still causing problems for the United States as his fate becomes another major dispute over the Iraq war.
The U.S. and the Iraqi government want to give Saddam a fair trial and then, most likely, execute him. The international community is calling for an international trial, like those covering the war crimes and genocide in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, with no possibility of the death penalty, which European countries and international human-rights groups oppose. The U.S. and the Iraqi interim government should stand firm and insist that Iraqis determine what happens to Saddam."
U.S. will have to make it certain that this defeat of the Fascists must be so complete that even the most radical of the radicals must acknowledge it. Otherwise, they will grasp at some straw, raise it in the air, and declare "we won!". Total defeat will clear the ground and force Islamists to come to terms with their own behavior, cultures and societies. And by helping the Iraqis to rebuild Iraq into a peaceful, democratic society, we will give the Arabs a model for their future.
(The writer is editor-in-chief of Pakistan Today, a California-based weekly newspaper, president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance and adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute.)
