On trial
No matter what words we use, no matter how emapathetic we try to be, we will never have any idea what it was like.
When I write "we," I'm talking about Americans, and westerners in general.
Saddam Hussein went on trial the other day. For some late night talk shows, it was a punchline of sorts -- both Conan O'Brien and David Letterman made jokes about it last night.
We don't know if Iraqis or those in the region will be able to laugh as quickly.
Everyone knows Saddam was a tyrant. We in the west have read about it, heard about it and seen some of it on television.
But we will never know and never have any idea what it was like.
Over at the amazing Iraq the Model site, there is a very interesting post about the trial, the importance of it, and what it means to a new Iraq.