SINCE the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, apologists for the allied invasion on the spurious grounds that he possessed weapons of mass destruction have said that lasting peace will not be realised until proof can be given to ordinary Iraqis that the dictator will never return.

By Graham Dines

SINCE the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, apologists for the allied invasion on the spurious grounds that he possessed weapons of mass destruction have said that lasting peace will not be realised until proof can be given to ordinary Iraqis that the dictator will never return.

Presumably even the White House won't condone showing Saddam's state execution live on television, but no doubt photos of it will soon find their way on to the Internet. If George Bush and Tony Blair think images of a man left hanging for 15 minutes with his tongue hanging out and in trousers covered in his own soil will achieve peace in the Arab world, they'll pay the price with an increased body count of US and UK troops and yet more terrorist outrages aimed at American and British citizens.

The proper punishment for Saddam is to let him rot in jail for the rest of his natural life. No doubt he will attempt suicide, but until his death, he should be left to contemplate the butchery carried out in his name.

However, Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish regions are rejoicing at the prospect of his execution. Shiites nationwide declared the verdict sweet revenge for Saddam's 23 years of brutal rule. An eye for an eye. But Sunday's sentence stirred outrage in Sunni neighbourhoods where support for the former regime was strongest - policemen wept in the streets and townspeople vowed revenge.

There have been hope was that Saddam's trial would bring healing to a sundered country, with justice for Shiites as one of its chief aims. No chance. There are real fears that the country will explode again in sectarian killings and push Iraq toward all-out civil war once the open-ended curfew was lifted.

Anyone with even just a rudimentary knowledge of history could have told Bush and Blair that invading Iraq would cause far more problems than it solved. Yes, Saddam's brutal, murdering, torturing regime is at an end. His henchmen are either dead or have fled. For that, we should be thankful.

But no end game was planned by the allies. Iraq is an artificial country, cobbled together from left over pieces of territory that no-one else wanted. Splitting it into three countries is the only logical outcome, but logic has passed by the inhabitants of the White House and Downing Street.

To make Kurdistan a viable nation, it needs to incorporate the Kurdish area of Turkey. But Bush and Blair don't want to upset Turkey, because of its strategic importance to the NATO alliance. That's why the Kurds will never achieve their dream nationhood - they will be sacrificed for what is perceived to be the greater good for the western allies, Turkey's full membership of the European Union.

SANDRA Howard, wife of former Conservative leader Michael, will be at Landers Bookshop in Long Melford on Friday December 1 at 2.30pm, signing copies of her critically acclaimed first novel Glass Houses. Earlier, she will be lunching with the Landers Book Group and talking about her writing experiences.