There is a saying, "Show me who your friends are, and then I will judge you." For the majority of the time, who you associate with dictates what kind of a person you are. If you have optimistic friends that have goals in life to be successful, for the most part, you in turn will also want to have goals for your life, because you are motivated, so you too can be successful. On the other hand, if you have friends that are into drug dealing, then one day you may find yourself dealing drugs with them. Although these are examples I created, it is true that who you have dealings with and you decide to surround yourself with will have an affect on the person you are. This is the case a lot of the time with rulers and their representatives. Recently, Saddam Hussein was given the death penalty and put to death, on account of many wrong doings. It is no surprise that many of his partners and allies are also finding them selves in cornered positions. Tariq Aziz is one of those unfortunate people to also go down the same path as Hussein. Aziz was a former top aide to Hussein and his urbane public relations representative to the world. Mr. Aziz often represented Iraq at the United Nations and other global settings, serving as a public defender of Mr. Hussein.
In the New York Times, an article entitled, "Top Aide to Saddam Hussein is Sentenced to Death," the death sentencing of Mr. Aziz occurred on October 26, 2010. Aziz was found guilty by an Iraqi court, and was convicted of murder against members of rival Shiite political parties. For years, Aziz has put his efforts into justifying Iraq's use of chemical weapons, invasion of oil-rich Kuwait, and killings of Shiites and Kurds. Using chemical weapons is against the United Nations, and as a member of the United Nations, Iraq can't overstep its boundaries on producing nuclear weapons. Mr. Aziz is one of Iraq's most hunted officials and is "one of the best-known emblems of the Hussein era." (New York Times) When U.S. troops captured Aziz, this was a great victory because the United states want to put an end to the Hussein era, and this involves preventing Hussein's key components by any means necessary. One of Mr. Aziz's lawyers claimed, "that he was responsible only for Iraq’s diplomatic and political relations, and that he had no ties to the executions and purges carried out by Mr. Hussein’s government." (New York Times) The Iraqi court found no support of this claim, and immediately, Aziz was sentenced to be executed, just like his "friend" Saddam Hussein. "Death sentences were also handed down on Tuesday against other former officials in Mr. Hussein’s government including Abed Hammoud, a former secretary to Mr. Hussein, and former Interior Minister Sadoun Shakir."(New York Times) This goes to prove that any affiliates of Saddam Hussein are going to share the same fate as he did.
It is interesting to note that a public relations representative could potentially share the same fate as who they work with or for. This is important to take into consideration for any public relations practitioner, to make sure that not only what you do is ethical, but also make sure others that you are working for or with are conducting themselves in an ethical and moral manner. I support the Iraqi courts decision on this matter, because Aziz was responsible for the killings of many people (Shiites and Kurds) and also attempted to advance Iraq's stance in the world by trying to invade Kuwait and advancing nuclear weapon technology. I think it is essential for public relations representatives as well as other people to really know and understand who their friends are in order to prevent their bad conduct from rubbing off on you.
This article and topic relates to our class reading in Babbie because the Chapter discussed Content Analysis, which is "the study of recorded human communications." (Babbie 356) It would be interesting to do a content analysis based on the laws of Iraq or look into the local newspapers in Iraq to see how people view the sentencing of Mr. Aziz, as well as if there is anyone else in the country that still supports Saddam Hussein.
Lesson of the story: Be careful who your friends are.
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