If Iraq was a disaster then, if it is a disaster now, God forbid that it is anybody's fault but Bush's — and America's

Among the reactions to Saddam's execution, according to Howard W. French's letter from China (Shock in China and Japan over Saddam's hanging), angry online postings in Asia reflect bitterness at America, a typical one sputtering:

The United States sanctioned Iraq for 10 years, making a country as rich as Western Europe even poorer than African nations, with millions of children starving to death.

It's about time this myth be put to rest once and for all, although you can rest assured that the (self-serving) anti-Americanism prevalent throughout the world will prevent it from being done away with.

Critics, in America as well as abroad, who are constantly berating American conservatives for doing something as moronic as believing the administration of George W. Bush, treat as Holy Writ facts and figures that were provided by the "information" ministry of Saddam Hussein. While "millions" of poor Iraqi babies were supposed to be starving to death, furthermore, Saddam built 80 palaces, his sons collected hundreds of luxury cars, and the family hoarded millions of dollars of cash in said palaces. This, thanks to those paragons of wisdom, fairness, and the search for a better world — Russia, France, Germany, and, yes, China — who, along with the United Nations, were at the forefront of countries nourishing Saddam's (personal) coffers through the oil-for-food scandal. (They were also the nations joining in the calls for Bush to refrain from invading Iraq and, more recently, have been hounding him to admit his untold number of errors, sins, and failings in Iraq.)

While the building of Saddam's personal palaces was proceeding, the Baghdad despot, who was supposedly concerned with the welfare of his country's babies (as well as its other citizens), had his thugs scouring Kurdistan to conduct mass killings, including that of pregnant women. But if Iraq was a disaster then, if it is a disaster now, God forbid that it is anybody's fault but Bush's — and America's.

It would be nice if people, nations, and media outlets who are always obsessing with digging up America's alleged sins and mistakes would look around at the surrounding cast once in a while — not least those (self-servingly) pointing their fingers at America with the loudest expressions of outrage.