I had thought this would have been an almost impossible task.

But somehow we, along with our friends in the American government, actually got people feeling a bit sorry for Saddam.

I have read many comments and posts on the internet in the past few days and there is actually a sense of sympathy for Saddam Hussein.

He is no longer being seen as a brutal dictator but someone who stood up for what he believed and died an honourable death at the hands of a group of thugs.

How on earth did we manage to do this? What stroke of genius was this that nearly four years into a war we got people rooting for the bad guy?

It has dawned on me that in some sick perverted way our politicians are slowly becoming the very thing they want to prevent. And there is nothing they can do about it.

What kind of person drew up a masterplan which now means the world thinks a lot less of what Saddam Hussein did as ruler in Iraq?

That he killed at will, that he tortured thousands, and that he butchered thousands of his own people, seems to be a distant memory now.

I must say when I saw the execution video for the first time it reminded me of the same snuff videos aired of those kidnapped by Iraqi militias and killed without mercy.

The only difference was one had to wait for a couple of years before being executed.

Quite simply we have forgotten the reason we went to war in the first place.

The very reasons we were fed have been twisted, and now some years later even some of the staunchest supporters of the war haven't got a clue as to what we are doing there.

The arguments have got so obscured by death and violence that even if Iraq remains occupied for four more years the bloodshed won't end.

What we must admit to ourselves is that regardless of how brave and noble our troops may be...foreign nations such as Iraq do not like their nation to be occupied.

As we go into another year when Mr Blair and Co will try to defend this disastrous war for the upteenth time I ask for one New Year's resolution.

Let us admit our mistakes and realise we were wrong. But I sense this will be one resolution this government will never keep.