Dear Editor,

ONE of the serious problems we are encountering in this world is the political leaders who often talk left and then act right. 

What I have in mind is the cruel death of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader who was ousted by the USA and its allied forces.  Some leaders are arguing simply that his killing was electronically viewed worldwide and he was not treated well upon his hanging.  These concerns remind me of the time when the Windhoek Observer has been publishing some of the gruesome pictures of murdered people in the country.

One of the best example is the beheaded body of the late Juanita Mabula in Windhoek, 2005.  Some of the members of the executive and legislature branches of our government have been joining the fray of condemning the newspaper for doing its job: telling a story as it is. The blaming and condemning was not placed on the killer(s) but on the exposure whose aim is to tell/show the public what is happening around or to them so that something can be done as a matter of urgency.  The newspaper was then forced to either do away with uncensored reporting or go to hell with its information.  But because of its courage, it adds a warning on the newspaper's cover, that: "This edition is restricted to mature minds.  Could contain materials offensive to extempore interpretation". 

That is an indication that, people don't like to "reap the fruits" of their actions. 

The "immature minds" have become involved in abusing and violating others' rights these days.  The "mature minds" have failed to bring up their young ones in a becoming, disciplined and reasonable manner.

Saddam Hussein was then executed by hanging.  The various voices could be heard, echoing or differing each other,  from the corridors of this world.

Gordon Brown, the British Minister of Finance and Prime Minister-in-waiting sounded like he has got no problem with Capital Punishment (this is also the case with his boss, Tony Blair).  Brown seemingly got only disgusted by the way the defendant was treated during his last moment in this world.  Is it when he was reportedly   told to "go to hell"?

The Bush's embedded fellows might have forgotten that the day Saddam was smoked out from underground, it was announced by the US commanders in Iraq that:

"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him"!  Taking Saddam to the gallows on the TV screens in 2006 could also be a way of demoralizing Saddam's mass support and the insurgents in Baghdad.

Ban Ki-moon, the new UN's Secretary General, appeared to be skeptical or not knowing what comment to make in the first instance when he uttered that, "Capital Punishment is for the individual countries to decide".  Ki-moon might have not realized that his private life has come to an end the moment he took an oath for the UN's highest position.  Lately, the UN chief came back to brief the world and appeal to Iraqis to spare other two convicted offenders from further hanging.  Are the Iraqis not being tempted to violate their countries' laws?  The verdict was crystal clear that all three convicts (Saddam Hussein, Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar) have to die.

Human Rights Watch was also reported to be worried about "Saddam's speedy execution" as Iraq's current regime is violating human rights.

Then the initiator and handler of Iraq's war against "Weapon-of-Mass-Destruction" that turned out to be "War-of-Mass-Dictatorship and Insurgency," George W Bush, President of USA, has not wavered from his mission and programmes in Iraq.

Bush was quoted as saying that Saddam's death was " a victory for the Iraqis".  Why  not the Americans?  So those who are concerned about the correctness or the speed in which Saddam was hanged must know that it was just a tactical, Guantanamo approach being applied.  It is all about a mission to be accomplished.

Steven Mvula

Namibia