“I was ten years old. But they changed my age to 18 for execution.”

Independent writer Michael Totten reports from the Genocide Museum in Iraqi Kurdistan. Saddam executed even very young children. Sickening stuff.

The Talmud tells us that when Abraham sent Ishmael (progenitor of the Arabs) away the angels asked G-d why, knowing what evils would ensue, did not G-d invoke the death penalty immediately. G-d's reply was that each individual is judged in his own time and not by his descendants.

That's why Jews don't call for "vengeance" upon the progeny of their oppressors, not if they refrain from committing the crimes of their ancestors. Such children are always given the benefit of the doubt.

Didn't you ever wonder why Israel tolerates hostile Arab communities within and upon its borders?

Update, 2/18/08: Michael Totten visits a new Iraqi jail for a comparison: "The Dungeon of Fallujah".