Distraction

I read the major headlines at BBC News most days. I find that they have a perspective on world events that's not American. Mostly, I think, because they're not American. Today, I read this article. It contains the following quote:

US-led investigators have located nine trenches in Hatra containing hundreds of bodies believed to be Kurds killed during the repression of the 1980s.

The skeletons of unborn babies and toddlers clutching toys are being unearthed, the investigators said.

They are seeking evidence to try Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity.

I'm unhappy about this. We're seeking evidence? We don't have enough now? What about all those stories we were told about people being imprisoned for years with no reason, of people disappearing and never coming back? We don't have enough testimony about those? What about accounting records? Isn't there some kind of paperwork showing that Saddam took money that should have gone for the good of the people and bought himself stupid testosterone-fueled art and cheap hookers instead?

Bah. I'm not really upset that we're investigating this; the man is, in my opinion, a monstrous tyrant, and deserves to be punished. What I'm upset about is how certain people seem to be saying that it was because of Saddam and his crimes against humanity that we had to invade Iraq. Aside from the fact that this is *not* the reasons we were given when the case for invading Iraq was made, there's another issue. That is, as another article found in BBC news today so rightly points out, regime change. And guess what? Regime change isn't legal under international law. If you're trying to behave like a member of the global community and not an all-powerful empire-building 800-pound-gorilla, you're not supposed to do that. And no amount of after-the-fact discoveries are going to make me feel better about the fact that we did.