THINNING THE FRONT RANKS:

Weep for victims, not the dictator (Cardinal George Pell, January 14, 2007, Sunday Telegraph)

I do not believe he was the worst tyrant of the second half of the 20th century, with competitors like Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot, but he is in the front rank of evil-doers.

One million people died in his war with Iran; he invaded Kuwait; systematically oppressed and killed the Kurds; murdered many of his own Iraqis and even enticed his sons-in-law home with false promises and had them executed within three days. He was an unpleasant piece of work.

Some worried about the legality of his trial - conducted publicly during the violence of de facto civil war - but he had legal representation, was able to defend himself and even appealed against the verdict.

In an imperfect world there is little ground for complaint here, although his public execution to the taunts of opponents was symptomatic of the chaos in his country.

It was not entirely right and proper, but our sympathy should be directed first to his many victims.

Unlike most of them, he has a marked grave in his home city, even if his coffin arrived on the back of a utility.