Sunday, March 12, 2006
Slobodan Milosevic
The death of the Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is a shock to many, it was for me anyway! Whether he committed suicide, was poisoned or died of natural causes is not really what I really want to point towards. Rather, I believe that we should look at this case and compare it with Saddam Hussein, learning from our mistakes.I was speaking to someone in the party during the conference that said the worst thing Britain and America did during the Iraq war was not to kill Saddam when they found him. I see where he is coming from. As Jack Straw said about Milosevic: “What is important is that the region, the people of Serbia, now draw a line across Milosevic's past and his life, which was a malign influence on the people of Serbia and the whole region” Comparing this with Saddam, when a dictator is still alive people are still fearful and this causes great tension in society.
However I personally happen to disagree with my colleague. I think that people of Iraq and the Serbians will only break this fear when their dictator is found guilty and put behind bars for the rest of their life.
I’m also very pessimistic about international law and the ICC. The situation of the two dictators is so complex that there are too many loop holes over legitimacy, sovereignty and the rule of law. From 2001 till yesterday proved this by failing to bring justice. There was simply too much money spent on Milosevic and I think only the same thing will happen with Saddam.
We need to learn from this if we really are to succeed in Iraq.
# posted by Rich @ 12:22 am 
