<p>I agree with most of what's in this thread. The execution didn't shock me, but I don't condone the death penalty. Ditto to everything JIMMY@KILLARNEY said.</p>
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Besides, Saddam Hussein is simply the scapegoat of the middle east conflicts.
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<p>I'm sorry, scapegoat? Since when can a vicious dictator, torturer, and murderer be a "scapegoat" for anything? Everyone - including our government officials - should be completely aware that Hussein was not the only problem in the Middle East, but he was one of them, certainly. I agree with what you're saying, except for this last part - I don't see how you can equate those leaders in this way.</p>
<p>For those it applies to: You can't watch the video because the execution is private. However, public screencaps (images) of the execution will be shown.</p>
<p>Of course, any sensible person could easily equate the brutality of Saddam Hussein's past with what Bush and Blair (the "BB Brothers") have done in the past few years. What President George W. Bush and PM Tony Blair did was only another form of torture and brutality, all accomplished under the wishful banner of freedom, liberty, and democracy (which never materialized into their true forms under the present situation). </p>
<p>Have you read the latest UN report that over 600,000 Iraqi civilians have perished due to internal violence and warfare since the U.S. invasion of 2003? Man, that certainly is a big number. Poor Iraqis, who have to continue endurE such hardship and violence and death just for the sake of a failed government policy and a non-existent democracy...</p>
<p>I got the creepy feeling when I heard too. </p>
<p>It's just so...eerie.</p>
<p>And I have a feeling that there will be consequences for our actions....and I'm not looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I feel so sorry for Saddam . Though he was a terrorist, isn't it inhumane to hang someboey, especially in this century when we are talking about human rights?</p>
<p>Don't ever let the trick of time fool you. It's inadvertently a bit more emotional for all of us since his crimes are so long ago, but as time passes by, "people tend to cool down." Screw that. I agree that the death penalty may show us as somewhat degrading to our own kind, but when the sheer magnitude of crimes and unbearable torture/agony a thing causes, we label it as an inhuman entity, one that is -clearly- not of our kind, which is why we must eliminate it from our race.<br>
Think of it this way: Satan is always on Earth. We get to eliminate him every time (Stalin, Hitler, Saddam). Are these people human? No my friends, it is the Devil on Earth. Do you want to let Satan continue roaming on our --human only-- world?
Some things, my friends, are not in fact human. It can be the Devil in disguise.
Can you imagine ordering the kinds of things Saddam did? If you can't, then you are, I repeat --ARE-- human. I bet 100% of the people on this board can't imagine doing the things he did. In that case, he becomes inhuman. And inhumanity is a threat to humanity, and that is when we show inhumanity who is boss, and not vice versa. In other words, his existence would have continued to humiliate "us
as humans.</p>
<p>An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. </p>
<p>I don't believe in the death penalty in any case...in fact, they should've put all the Eichmann's in a cage in the center of Tel Aviv untill they die...not hang 'em....</p>
<p>It's a holy day? I didn't even realize that. That's repulsive. Are they trying to prove some sort of point? Trying to alienate every last muslim on the planet?
I'm furious now.</p>
<p>Let's not get into this "satan in disguise" b.s. Saddam was a human. He was sick and twisted, but he was nevertheless a human, and trying to write him off as some demon-possessed inhuman is not going to clarify anything.</p>
<p>The particular holiday started Saturday for Sunnis and starts Sunday for Shiites (ala CNN). Saddam was a Sunni, so it seems to me like a way of spitting in his face.</p>
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It's a holy day? I didn't even realize that. That's repulsive. Are they trying to prove some sort of point? Trying to alienate every last muslim on the planet?
I'm furious now.
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<p>I don't like it any more than you do, but the date and time of the execution wasn't (directly, at least) set up by the USA. The Americans turned Saddam over to Iraqi authorities a couple of days back, in accordance with the appeals court ruling that Saddam must be executed within the next thirty days. It appears to me that the timing of the execution was a function of the Iraqis being overzealous to kill Saddam.</p>
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I don't like it any more than you do, but the date and time of the execution wasn't (directly, at least) set up by the USA. The Americans turned Saddam over to Iraqi authorities a couple of days back, in accordance with the appeals court ruling that Saddam must be executed within the next thirty days. It appears to me that the timing of the execution was a function of the Iraqis being overzealous to kill Saddam.
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<p>Amen to all of that. Americans weren't even present at the execution.</p>
<p>I love the fact that he was handed a "red card" prior to his death, which is what his victims during his reign were handed before they were going to be executed.</p>
<p>I can't believe what I am reading on this board. You feel sorry for saddam? You talk like he was just this simple, nice guy that was strolling down the street and the U.S. forces decided that he should be hanged...for no reason. This is ****ing unbelievable! Saddam was a dictator and a murderer, responsible for a lot of terror in the middle east and throughout the world. And HELLO...the US had NOTHING to do with this execution. The trial was held in Iraq, tried by Iraqis, and the sentence was handed down by Iraqis. They wanted him gone, why are you so upset by this?</p>
<p>With your logic, we should have never joined WWII, and gotten rid of Hitler, or even Stalin for Christ's sake. They should have stayed free evil dictators too, allowing their countrymen to live their lives in constant fear. Aren't you happy they were stopped?</p>
<p>This is so freaking infuriating.</p>
<p>Thank you, bazn! I understand that some people might think the death penalty is cruel, but think about what this person did.</p>
<p>My dad saw a video of the execution on the web (at least part of it). Something like Euronews.</p>
<p>I don't think anyone is condoning Sadaams actions, and I have little sympathy for him, but the death penalty is a barbaric ritual. Furthermore, I feel that this somehow validates what the United States has done in Iraq, which is something I completely disagree with. It is the principle of the death penalty, did he derserve it? possibly, but I disagree with it as an institution. How did the US have nothing to do with the execution? They invaded Iraq unjustly, they captured him, and you can be sure as hell George Bush wanted him dead to show the world how the US brought a criminal to justice at the expense of turning a country into a chaotic, terror ridden place where we are accomplishing nothing. THIS is why I diagree with the execution, not out of pity for Sadaam.</p>
<p>Anyone worried that Saddam Hussein will become a martyr figure shouldn't worry too much. Hussein was a bad Muslim, and the Jihadists feel this way about him more than anyone. Basically a secular man, he regularly got loaded on whiskey and broke numerous other Koranic laws left, right, and centre in a public way. In any case, in no way did he die for Islam -- he died because he was convicted of genocide.</p>
<p>if you guys are saying that they shouldn't have handed Saddam the death penalty, then what do you suggest they do w/ him?</p>
<p>totally concur with willmingtonwave</p>
<p>I think most of us can agree on the fact that "Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, and committed a whole lot of crimes against humanity." Yes, that no one can refute. </p>
<p>However, the fact that he was sentenced to death penalty (and by hanging, which appears to me as a positively medieval way of killing people) was certainly debatable. One has to take into account that every civilized nation in the world EXCEPT the United States issued formal condemnations on the use of death penalty within the past few days. Even the U.S.'s close war allies like Britain and Australian openly opposed to such a decision.</p>
<p>Saddam was evil, but I'd have preferred he rot in prison for his natural life rather than meet up with all those virgins he probably thinks were waiting for him. ... Seriously, I have a problem with the death penalty. It's creepy that most civilized countries have banned it. But countries like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabi--and the U. S., still use it. Are we in good company, or what?</p>