When I saw the bannner headline announcing Saddam Hussein's execution stretched across the top of nytimes.com last night, I was horrified. More horrified even than seeing the video still on the page this morning - the one showing masked executioners placing the noose around Hussein's neck on Iraqi television. By this morning it was old news, so the shock had worn off.

The shock was the brutal reminder of how barbaric we are. No purpose can be served by killing Saddam Hussein. (Some might say the only thing to be accomplished by this execution is the creation of a new martyr, but I think it would be tough to turn Saddam Hussein into a martyr. Of course, if anyone is up to the task it's George W. Bush. But I digress...)

The man has ceased to be a threat. In fact, the minute he had to be checked for head lice by an army doctor after being pulled from his spider hole, he became nothing more than a pathetic figure. So now we have all the power and he has nothing, not even his freedom, and killing him just proves that we are bullies. (I recognize that it was the Iraqis who did the deed, but we are certainly complicit, if only because we also practice capital punishment.)

I happen to think killing him lets him off easy. I think real punishment would have been forcing him to live confined, stripped of wealth and influence, his toys and palaces, his power and command, at the mercy of others. But the suffering of Saddam Hussein is not what concerns me; I'm more concerned about raising my kids in a society that says it's okay to kill people as a punishment for killing people.

The Boy's favorite game of late is running around with his buddies shouting "Kill! Kill! Kill!" When we tell him to stop, he says, "I'm just killing the bad guys." We tell him killing is bad. We tell him good guys don't kill people; they put the bad guys in jail. Thank god he's still too young to read the papers.