Amid Celebratory Reactions to Hussein's Capture, One Islam Expert Sounds Warning
by Jenni Parker and Allie Martin
December 16, 2003
(AgapePress) - For the most part, reactions to the capture of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein have ranged from excited and congratulatory to cautiously optimistic. But one terrorism expert and author is not sharing the glee or the hope that many are expressing. According to the author, the extraordinary capture of the deposed dictator over the weekend means virtually nothing in the war against terrorism.Shortly after news of the capture broke, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum issued a statement commending the men and women of America's armed forces for taking Hussein into custody without any loss of life.
Santorum noted that there is yet much more work to be done in Iraq, but also said that the Iraqi people "should understand that a horrible chapter in their lives has been closed, and that the new chapter yet to be written will lead to a story with a much better ending."
Meanwhile, Congressman Roger Wicker commented that he is "delighted that Saddam Hussein has been taken alive" and that this news represents "a major shift in our fortunes." The Mississippi congressman praised the American troops and expressed the hope that Hussein's trial would allow the world community to see the overwhelming evidence of the dictator's atrocities.
Wicker also held out the hope that Hussein's capture would reassure the Iraqi people that "the brutality and terror they endured for three decades is over."
But Craig Winn, author of Tea With Terrorists and the soon to be released Muhammad: Prophet of Doom, wonders whether that hope is well founded. The businessman and jihad expert feels it may be unwise to celebrate Hussein's capture, since he doubts it will have much effect on the present or future of Iraq. According to Winn, Saddam loyalists are not the problem -- Muhammad loyalists are.
Winn says Hussein was "a Hitlerite" who "worshipped Hitler and Stalin," and who has never commanded the loyalty of the fundamentalist camp. The author says terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has always hated Saddam Hussein with a passion because the deposed Iraqi dictator has never been a fundamentalist Muslim.
Winn questions whether the United States will ever be able to establish a democracy in Iraq. He fears, once U.S. troops leave, that the country will be taken over by an Islamic cleric or extreme fundamentalist group, as happened in neighboring Iran.
The author predicts that as soon as the U.S. ends its occupation of Iraq, a similar series of events will befall that Muslim country as befell post-war Vietnam after the U.S. left. "Within a matter of months, the 60-percent majority will elect a Shiite leader that will create a Shiite theocracy," Winn says, "and we're going to have the identical government that you see in Tehran today."
The Islam expert contends that such a government would be far more lethal and far more devastating to America's security than any fascist socialistic government, such as Iraq had under Saddam Hussein.
