The BBC article on the execution, Iraq investigates Saddam footage, show that the al Maliki government seems more interested in finding the individual who made the video that showed their mistakes, than the people responsible for the errors in judgment. Of course, they know who approved this mess, but they obviously don’t intend to deal with the core problem.

Both PZ Myers of Pharyngula in his post, How can they screw up this badly?, and Mary of Pacific Views in her post, The Washing of Hands, see a parallel with another, rather well-known, execution.

One of the major problems with the Shrubbery’s administration is that the “attack dog” propaganda that they have used to win elections doesn’t work on the international stage. Instead of selling their program, they have always won by trashing the program of the opposition. That’s why Republicans keep calling for the Democrats to produce plans – they need something to oppose, to attack because they don’t actually have any plans of their own. This is government by slogan and bullet points because the “leader” can’t deal with anything as complex as a paragraph.

Thirteen months ago the White House produced an outline, National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, that was supposed to be “the plan.” They never wrote the paper explaining what it meant.

Now they are going to announce the McCain “surge” plan, which is actually an escalation, but they won’t tell us what the extra troops are going to be doing beyond vague references to “security” or “training.” This will be more improvisation from a troop of “players” lacking in wit and talent.

A public execution is a staged, theatrical event. It is a morality play put on by a government to teach a lesson. The participants are in costume and the gallows is a stage. The purpose is to demonstrate that “crime doesn’t pay” and “justice will be served.” If the forms aren’t properly observed it can turn the villain into a martyr.

What John refers to as the Ox-Bow Incident in Baghdad took what should have been a ritualized set piece, and made it a badly performed improvisation.

Having seen the unedited video, Riverbend calls it a lynching in which Saddam is the only one showing any dignity.

Glenn Greenwald notes that Iraqi law was not followed and links to a Steve Soto post that reveals that the “cast” was replaced by members of Moqtada al Sadr’s Madhi Army.

Now the media is reporting the U.S. tried to delay the execution, an exercise in crisis management now that it is obvious that that the Shrubbery’s one seeming success in Iraq is as flawed as every other action he has taken.

The “script” is centuries old and there are detailed “stage directions” covering the “props.” Everyone knows that in Westerns, when the mob takes a suspect out of jail to lynch him, the surprise evidence appears to prove the suspect was innocent. In the old days it occurred before the suspect’s death, but later, if the screenwriter was looking for an extra dose of morality and wanted to really punish the mob, the innocent was allowed to die.