An Ignoble End

I used to say that the way Saddam is being tried by an unconstitutional court under American control would turn him into a martyr when he really deserves to die in ignominy with his true crimes paraded before the people.

But instead Saddam is turning himself into a laughing stock. First we were subjected to the scene of his half brother protesting in his underwear and now this:

Saddam ends hunger strike

Saddam Hussein has ended a hunger strike he began earlier this month to protest against the conduct of his trial, his chief lawyer said on Monday ...

"The president maintained his hunger strike for 11 days but was forced to end it for health reasons," Khalil Dulaimi, who met Saddam for seven hours in Baghdad on Sunday, told Reuters.

For health reasons??? Now I may be missing something here but isn't the whole point of a hunger strike to make yourself sick? You are supposed to continue it until you die or your opponent gives in. Now I am not advocating that he should die like this but if you make a principled stand you stick to it. Especially if you want the world to see you as a legitimate leader and not a coward and fool. If there was ever any respect for this man it is now gone. He has become a national embarrassment.