Offered in the spirit of simplification for people who need that. It really is this simple.
The problem then
Saddam violated his parole agreement (from the 1991 Gulf War resulting from his invasion of Kuwait, and threatened invasion of Saudi Arabia). He kept taking potshots at the sheriff‘s deputies, all the while claiming he was unarmed, yet still making threats, and hanging out with the criminal element. He was known to be engaged in several criminal conspiracies. He was for sure planning to steal a couple of ranches if he could get away with it.
While the politicians dithered (nearly every one of them from every nation was sure Saddam was busting parole left and right, but half of them were on the take) and the district attorney couldn’t decide what the charges might be after the arrest without seeing more evidence, the USA formed a posse because we had probable cause on a weapons charge (besides current witnesses, he had lots of priors… rapsheet as long as your arm) and frisked Saddam and sent him to jail. He turned out not to be so tough, and in fact didn’t have all the ammo he’d advertised.
It was still a righteous bust, because the perp had clearly violated parole any number of times, and had even bigger plans. In the meantime, more witnesses came forward to testify to Saddam’s previous crimes and he was lawfully tried and punished. Some of Saddam’s gang were still around making trouble, and they allied with a gang from out of town to fight a rival gang. (It was pretty much like fighting the Crips and the Bloods and MS13 all at once… think horsethieves, cattle rustlers and cold-blooded killers.) Though it took awhile, the posse finally figured out how to deal with the various gangs, with some help from the local authorities. Some of the gang members were offered immunity to testify against even worse gang-bangers. There are reports that some of the locals took the law into their own hands in rough and ready frontier justice… regrettable, but probably inevitable. Horse thieves have often been hanged without benefit of judge and jury, when caught riding the horse with the original saddle.
Things have settled down some now. The locals are doing better and better at dealing with the gangs, both local and out of town. They’ve requested that the posse stick around long enough to be sure the situation is stabilized.
The problem now
Unfortunately, some sneaky city-slickers have been trying to convince everyone that the posse should come home, even though the locals want the posse to stick around a while, and everyone knows they aren’t quite ready to handle the gangs on their own yet, though that day is definitely coming. These same city-slicker con artists are claiming that the original posse was sent by a lying Sheriff, who didn’t really have probable cause or a search warrant, when everybody thought that Saddam had even more dangerous weapons and even bigger plans for more... which he definitely did. And it’s pretty sure that some of what he had will never be found, due to fast action when he knew the Sheriff was coming.
Dang city-slicker con artists… most of ’em are, no kidding, lawyers and pantywaist scribblers and script readers, who actually think they know something. The only thing they know is how to pull the wool over the eyes of decent folk by lying to them constantly… and offering them bribes of all kinds to keep ’em quiet. Sadly, some otherwise good people take the bribes and look the other way.
Clear eyed, level headed folk aren’t fooled by these guys. There are some decent people who think maybe the arrest was premature (I’m not one of them), but nobody with any sense wants to turn the gangs loose again. I suppose it’s easier for these patent medicine quacks and carpet-baggers to ignore the resulting crime spree and murder rampage because it’ll be somebody else’s kids getting killed in shootouts and ambushes… at first, anyway. What goes around comes around.
And these bunko-frauds claim the moral high-ground (all the while trying to get the public sold on pyramid schemes of all kinds that our kids will be paying for when we’re dead and gone). I’ve seen fake faith-healers in tent revivals with better morals than these guys.
I’m pinning my hopes on more of those guys who were in the posse, coming home on rotation, and setting these swindlers straight… And in the spirit of praying for those who spitefully use us, I’m praying for a little Damascus Road Experience for these snake oil salesmen…. complete with searchlights from heaven and loud voices telling ’em what for.
Don’t be fooled by fancy talk. Vote for the good guys. They’re the ones not lyin’ to ya about what’s goin’ on now, or what’ll happen if they get their way.
UPDATE: Just to avoid confusion, one of the candidates was kidnapped by another gang some years back. He knows what’s like to deal with tough times, and crooked hombres, as opposed to just having some for your friends. Vote for that guy.
Tags: Iraq, politics, Saddam
