The mother of all renditions.

The U.S. continues its post-911 practice of rendition - turning suspects over to foreign governments to be tortured or killed. The U.S. had custody of Saddam until just before his execution and handed him over to Iraq specifically so they could hang him, despite a last minute stay of execution filed in a U.S. Federal Court. True, there was a trial first, but many said that it fell far below international standards for those accused of war crimes and human rights violations. (See blog debate.) This rendition is another example of the U.S. relying on nations with lower human rights standard to do dirty work we don't want to do ourselves. The right thing to do would have been to turn Saddam over to the International Criminal Court. However, Bush hates the idea that any international body should set or enforce standards for the of conduct war - it might limit his ability to kill people or subject him to prosecution for things he has already done.

The only humor I see in all this is that if someone ever writes a musical about Saddam, Bush or Tony Blair, it would have to include a scene in which Saddam performs a rendition of the Bee Gees I've Just Got to Get a Message to You. Trying desperately to appeal for mercy to death penalty opponent Tony Blair, Saddam would sing: "Ive just got to get a message to you, hold on, hold on. One more hour and my life will be through...." Strange but true: At the time of Saddam's execution, Tony was vacationing with Bee Gee Robin Gibb in Miami.