The Sacrificial Lion

Dear Najib Kazmi,

I was not expecting so many factual errors from you, and I am forced to list them:

I choose my words very carefully :) and you forgot that. I know when I am using Muslim and when I am using Arab. Let's see:

1. You say that I used "Arab Hero" and an "Arab Lion" - I did not. I used 'Lion of Baghdad' and not once did I use 'hero' I know what I am writing, and you are misquoting. He was hanged in Baghdad, and while dying, he showed the courage of a lion - hence the title - sacrificial lion - dying like a lion on the day of sacrifice.

2. You say 'compare him to a famous Kurdish general, Salahuddin Ayubi'. I did not. I said he was born in the same land. Salahuddin could be African for all I care.

3. You said, Akber is advised to browse the net and view video clips and tons of other information available showing the "work" of these "devils of Iraq", before attempting to glorify them.

I called him a 'brutal dictatory'. Is that glorifying? Be honest please. And I lamented that I was looking forward to hearing the evidence against him in a court of law. Why were your new Iraqi angels so scared to present such brutal evidence? Regarding the Internet, I can show you video clips of UFOs, aliens, anything you want brother.

4. only Akbar Chaudhry knows what is so great in being an Arab - an Arab woman, another friend said he died like an Arab! What's wrong with that? He died bravely - 6 billion people say so. Najib Kazmi can say he died like a coward. You are entitled to your opinion.

5. you are for imprisonment - read my first paragraph - i said that imprisonment or exile would have humiliated him personally.

6. trivialize and legitimize horrendous crimes - I challenge you to show which crime I have legitimized. Come on be a man now - not a Muqtada follower.

7. You complain about the Abraham Lincoln argument. And have nothing to say - just my 'mentality' and Guantanamo detainees. What is common between the two I expected more from you sir, not illogical trash.

8. You use the word 'bitch' - sir this word is not part of civilized English. No Shia clergy conspired against Saddam? True or not?

9. We wish and hope to see Iraq as a vibrant society with high literacy level, commitment to science & technology, development of its people and democracy. Muqtada and Bush will indeed make Iraq this. They have killed 600,000 so far, about 30 times the people that were executed under Saddam. Universities are barren, research is stopped, people are poor, and there is no electricity. Let us see how Iranian-funded mullahs are going to make a secular society - just like Iran I guess. :) 128 Shia were found tortured and gagged in a room, left to die, in Basra - all done by Al-Badr and Mahdi Army. This was on the same day as the execution of Saddam. And not a day goes by that extrajudicial killings are happening in Iraq - done by the Shia militias. Dujail was not extrajudicial, it was judicial, no matter how flawed. 40 people opened fire on the president of Iraq, about 130 (including conspirators and providers of support - it was impossible for people not to provide cover to so many gunmen in a small village) were executed, their warrants signed by judges. So you think Muqtada and Hakim will bring justice to Iraq? The proof is exactly the opposite.

10. You call him butcher and coward. Proof? Some videos on the Net. Wow !!!

I have tremendous respect for the Shia persuasion, and that includes some relatives and friends in that list, including one of my best friend, of many years. Her mother is like an aunt to me and her father is the leader of the Shia Centre of Edinburgh.

It was irrational Shia hate that made a martyr of a monster. The Independent UK had the headline today, 'FROM MONSTER TO MARTYR?' If it was not that hatred at that time and everything was done factually and with justice, he would not have vindicated himself in his death. In death, he showed the true face of his opponents.

After reading your 'tabarra', I am almost certain that had you been in the execution chamber that day, you would have been frothing at the mouth like Muqtada's followers.

Any amount of hate without proof blinds us. Dear Sir, I am not worthy of your hate. If I was, I would be putting myself in the same line of fire, God forbid, as Abu Bakar, Omar, or Uthman, and the thousands of Sahaba who were with them. Hate blinds us, and lets us make factual errors, and we see is not there, for our bias is intervening.

More than 6,000 people have read my piece on Chowk - one of the most enlightened forums around. None responded more eloquently than you. I really respect that.

I would humbly request you to be rational, and respond with arguments, not illogical sputterings. I will await your answers to the arguments. Saddam was a brutal dictator, yet he kept Iraq together, well-fed and literate, and he died bravely and did not flee, like Khomeini fled to France or Benazir fled to England. That was the eulogy. Please present your logical counter-arguments.