Strategery
So, Saddam gets death. That’s fine, that’s expected.
People who know anything, and I’m not talking about people with news running all day, know that this was a fait d’accompli.
Now there’s an accusation that the timing of this was rigged for the benefit of the elections. I’m not chucking this out: it could have happened. We really have no way to know.
But, I’m looking at the strategy here. Two major possibilities post-verdict:
- People in Iraq see this as the “slam dunk” (or possibly “show trial”) that it is, and have really already incorporated the verdict into their mental pictures weeks/months ago
- People riot, set stuff on fire, and generally make a show of it.
I don’t see an “extreme positive” out there for rushing this before elections. Maybe there would be dancing in the streets, but I seriously doubt it.
As for me, I would advise saving my conspiracy theories for strategies that promise a pretty dramatic upside. Otherwise, why bother?