A top Vatican official said Tuesday he felt pity and compassion for Saddam Hussein and criticized the U.S. military for showing video footage of him being treated "like a cow."
| I found it rather inspiring, actually... |
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace department and a former papal envoy to the United Nations, told a news conference it would be "illusory" to think the arrest of the former Iraqi president would heal all the damage caused by a war which the Holy See opposed.
| Nope. But it sure goes a long way in that direction... |
"I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures," he said.
| I felt pity when I saw the skulls from the mass graves, with the rotting blindfolds still over their eyes. Because of the recent drought in Zimbabwe, we have a pity shortage this year, so I don't have enough left over for Sammy. I've already used up 300,000 units. |
"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," he said in answer to questions about Saddam's arrest.
| I guess that's what they pay cardinals and archbishops to do. The rest of us have to make due with feeling compassion for the people who were tortured and killed... |
Martino was referring to the videotape released by the U.S. military which showed a grubby, bearded and disheveled Saddam receiving a medical examination by a military doctor after his capture in an underground hole Saturday. Martino was one of the Vatican officials most strongly opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
| Gee, golly, gosh! Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? |
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