Executing Saddam on Eid al-Adha is a Mistake

Executing Saddam on Eid al-Adha is a Mistake: "However, the timing of Saddam's execution has a deleterious effect that is more difficult to measure empirically. Eid al-Adha is one of Islam's two most important holidays, and today throughout the Muslim world the holiday is being overshadowed by Saddam's execution. A source in the Muslim community reports that in Saudi Arabia, some Muslims simultaneously watched the Eid salat on one television channel and Saddam's execution on another. One woman in Saudi Arabia commented that she found this 'unsettling,' and not because she has any warm feelings for Saddam. Rather, for many Middle Easterners, Saddam's execution seemingly intrudes on what should be a time of celebration for them: it is an intrusion because the Iraq war is extremely unpopular throughout the Middle East, and the televised execution is a stark reminder that the war is still raging. (Reuters also reports on Middle Eastern consternation about the timing of the execution.) The same Muslim source speculates that for other Middle Easterners, the execution may be a painful reminder that they have little recourse against the dictatorial regimes that rule them without the United States. The negative symbolism is heightened by linking the execution to Eid."

(Via The Counterterrorism Blog.)