Reflecting on the death of Saddam

There have been and are so many tyrants alive today who have caused as much misery and as many deaths. Some are even in exile in other countries. Why was Sadam executed and not them?

Because he was the one we caught, and he deserved it. You can't round them up all at once or I'm sure we would. You take what you can get, when you can get it and then you start on the next one. Do you honestly think Bin Laden won't be executed IF he's caught. Kat, quit letting your humanity get in the way of what you know should have happened. He was a sick, twisted, tyrant, who in the worst way had a total disregard for humanity. He was a true peice of s**t....

Wasn't Hussein supposedly dead a few months back? Did anybody actually see him hanging in mid-air and know for sure that he is dead? I am one of these don't believe it til I see it type of people.

Actually Robin we didn't, the Iraqi justice system did. If he would have been tried in an American court he would have lived at least another 20 yrs, and then everyone would have been bitchin about....How come you haven't killed him yet...C'mon let's face it no matter what side your on, somebody's gonna come up with some shit that says your WRONG.....I just glad the taxpayers of this country didn't have to pay to house and feed him while the ACLU battled his case for the next 20 yrs.....

Tammy, that was his brother, and he's dead, they got the pics on that one...

And also, I understand your "Show Me" attitude, but c'mon.....Don't even start with the conspiracy theory crap....This is WORLD WIDE NEWS...Everyone on the planet believes he's dead and Iraq isn't about to play that card and try to screw with the world. They wanted him dead too.

Saddam was given a chance to go into exile prior to the war. Not sure if that would have lasted though, but likely, Saddam would still be alive if he had been wise enough to take that offer.

Todd l It take a peice of s to know an other

If you watched the news today coming out of Iraq... they are loving the fact that Saddam can NEVER come back. He's dead. He didn't even get what he deseverd, but we'll take his hanging as good enough, may he burn in hell.

Thank you Don,
Here comes the cavalry.... Nice to know someone agrees....

Alain Serge V.....You are just another no article, no profile, shit stirring MFer....You go around sporting your comments and talking shit.....EXPLAIN WHAT YOU SAID TO ME....RIGHT HERE...
OR SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!

Candace,
You really are so sweet, I am not being sarcastic....You have such a wonderful outlook on how the world should be...I wish it could be the way you see it....it would be so much more enjoyable...Maybe someday someone like you will be in charge and be able to make a change....

My reaction to Saddam's death is not joyous but definitely not sad. Justice was done. The people in Iraq never, ever have to worry about Hussein coming back. That chapter of their country's life is closed and now they can go on to a new one.

And Alain Serge V - words like that get you about as much credibility as whale dung.

Saddam Pinata's are on sale at eBay... noose included.

Hey Candy,
Never will I slight you for feeling, living, or wanting the "Dream". When it all comes down to it, I think we all agree, our world needs to be a much happier place....

Well the most difficult thing is deciding what we are going to leave them. We as parents know, the problem being is that unfortunately the parents that rule the world don't understand, simply because their children's future's are secure no matter what...Therein, lies the problem...

Todd, I was just asking to be sure. You see I didn't watch the news nor have I yet to see the news, but I was just getting my facts straight. I am not throwing the conspiracy crap around. Hadn't really thought about it to be honest.. really a while back I thought that he was already dead, that is why I was asking...Don't blow me out of the water now...PLEASE. I am glad he has been taken care of...

I find irony in the idea that he is killed because he killed other people. What makes one life worth more than another? Does innocence determine the value of one's life? Just some things that have been going through my head lately in the wake of the death and killings in Iraq.

By the time he was hung Saddam had become irrelevant in all but one sense. America could not politically afford to leave Iraq without knowing for a certainty that Saddam would never know freedom. So we had a choice we could let the Iraqi have him, so long as we were certain the only thing they were going to do with him was kill him, or we could take him with us when we left. The latter option was not really an option. It would have saved us a lot of handwringing editorial bashing had the soldier who found him in the hole followed their standard procedure and tossed a grenade in first and asked questions later -- problem is he most likely did not understand the problem which Saddam captured alive presented. The American government had no real interest in having the multitude of trials that stretched before Saddam being conducted -- it would have eventually become too clear that America was responsible for giving him the nasty weapons which he used on his own people. So it made, in a Machiavelli sort of way, to let the Iraqis execute him as quickly as possible. As for the photo opt, not sure why they cut the film off just before the drop -- that didn't make sense to me.

My wife and I only really support the death penalty in the most serious of crimes. And then, we feel that they should have the same thing that happened to their victims happen to them. It only seems fair. THus, they should have nerve gassed him...or mustard gassed him.

At any rate, he is dead and it will only be a matter of time before someone takes his place. Such is the world we live in.

Candy you are not hearing me.....
You said,
The only important "thing" we can pass on to our children is the truth in "unconditional" love. The material "tangible" is only temporary. Love is forever.

And you are right without a doubt. What I'm saying is we are not the deciding factor, yes, we are part of the equation, but WE, you and me, are not the people that are going to make a difference, no matter how much you want to believe it, we aren't. The Bush's and the Rockefeller's and the Trump's of this world are going to dictate what happens in the world of reality....We can only control what we HOPE will happen in our own private/personal universe. Your solution is an admirable one and I agree, it's just not a realistic one.

Tammy,
I didn't mean to sound rude to you, It's just that so many people are going to come up with that theory before this over, I just wasn't into hearing it this early in the game...My apoligies.....

George,
I actually think that you more than anyone on this thread has hit the nail on the head, i couldn't agree with you more. I'm glad you commented...

"George,
I actually think that you more than anyone on this thread has hit the nail on the head, i couldn't agree with you more. I'm glad you commented... "

George, i copied Todd L's praise because I concur with it and because I wanted to enjoy at least one occassion on which I agreed entirely with Todd L. !

President Bush says that by having Saddam Hussain tried and punished by the Iraqi people lends more legitimacy, creditbility, etc to the new Iraqi government. Perhaps in the eyes of the international community but from everything I'm hearing it doesn't mean much to the Iraqis themselves.

How many Iraqis truly acknowledge and accept this government? Considering that the country is on the brink of a civil war, if not already, does anyone in that country consider that new government legitimate?

It gives me no joy knowing that he has been executed...However, I do get great joy knowing that the world is a tiny, tiny bit better tonight without him.

Since the US papers are making it sound like everything is roses over there, figured I would go and see what the other side is talking about.

I pasted this from the Al Jazeera article about the 3000th US soldiers death in Iraq.

Iraq violence

The execution of Saddam Hussein has done little to help stem the sectarian violence tearing the country apart.


Armed groups killed at least seven people, including three Iraqi soldiers, a day after his hanging.



On Sunday, a group of armed in vehicles attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in Hawijah, west of the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, killing three soldiers and wounding another two, local police said.



Four more people were killed in several attacks in Baghdad.



Two were killed and another two wounded when an armed group fired a Katyusha rocket in the capital's northwest Shia district of Kadhimiyah where Saddam was hanged.



Car-bomb attack



Another Iraqi was killed and six others wounded in a car bomb attack in the northern neighbourhood of Hurriyah, a day after 37 people died in a triple car bomb attack in the same area.



In yet another attack, one person was killed and five wounded in a car bomb explosion in the Shawaqha neighbourhood in Baghdad.

On Saturday, car bombs killed more than 70 people in Baghdad and near Najaf, in areas populated by Shia Muslims.

Wow, sure looks like people are partying in the streets in Iraq, and they brought their AKs and car bombs. Now instead of a former Iraq leader in custody we have a former Iraqi leader as a martyr. Great, now the violence will never end, just what we can expect from this administrations policies, endless war!

And before Todd comments with is fascist symbol American flag pic, he should know better than top even try to sound intelligent, his previous posts are screaming to the contrary.

Good Job Jeff, insult my intellegence and then post facts from a news source we all know sides against America....If you even took the time to really read what I have spoken on here you would see that I'm not a Bush patriot so to speak, I think him and his administration have done despicable things in the name of Democracy.

But don't try and chalk up all you cited as happening only because of the execution, that's crap and you know it....You could pick any day since the war started and cite violence just as horrific. And there is no reason to challenge my intellegence, maybe my opinion which...Hey I got no problem with that, we all disagree to some extent on this whole fiasco...No need for you to get personal....

And I'm sorry you see our flag as a facist symbol, that in itself tells a lot concerning your opinion

Todd, if you actually look at a news source other than Fox you will realize that Al Jazeera is more fair and balanced than they are. The news that I posted from there was not opinion, it was cold hard facts and figurers. Unless we are going to start disputing reality. Ok, know, Fox does like to take artistic license with reality, but still, stop and listen, perhaps even think before you go off.
I am not trying to say that this violence is a result of the execution of Saddam, I am trying to say that the execution of Saddam is not going to make any major difference. He has been out of the field for a long time in Iraq, by this time there are many more, and in some senses worse people running around who have taken his place. We should have known that it was going to turn out this way, Bush 41 knew. I even stood up to state that this was a mistake way back in late 2002 early 2003. I even went to Washington to make my opinion known. There is even an article out there which I am sure I could dig up that I published back then about the whole experience. And that was before the invasion.
And if you are wondering why I insult your intelligence look at the post you wrote responding to Alain Serge V., or whoever that was. That spoke volumes.

Wow, I checked out for a day or so and came back to this interesting dialog. I have to say that I really appreciate it when I can read how different people react to world or local events. If we are respectful of others, then we can learn and share. We don't have to agree with each other. What I think we all agree on is Saddam was a tyrant.

Over 60 years I've developed many 'nuanced' reactions to various ethic and religious training I received as a child and young person. However, my view of the death penalty has remained constant. John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae best expresses my view.

'It is clear that, for these purposes [for punishment] to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.....

Because of these improved conditions, criminals can be taken out of society and prevented from inflicting further harm without having to be made extinct themselves. This is a way which is more in keeping with the dignity of human life, even the life of criminals. When a criminal is executed, and he does not pose a danger to society, it sends the message that his life was worthless. While it is very tempting to view felons guilty of the most awful crimes as valueless, it is in fact not true.'

http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/III,5,2-28-1998/Hiester.htm

I found the news of Mr. Hussein's execution chilling!

I have always had mixed feelings about the Nuremberg trials and which are not completely analogous to the situation with Saddam -- if we had captured Hitler alive, there would have been a greater analogy. Much of the Nuremberg trials were devoted not just proving guilt or innocence -- but to avoid having the USSR executing all of defendants summarily. I have a little trouble with the concept of making up a law after the fact and then trying people for having violated the law. In addition, Nuremberg had some really strange rules -- for example some of the actual military officers (as opposed to the Nazi administrators) were tried for military orders and actions which were identical with what the Allies including America had also ordered and done, but the defendants were not allowed to bring that up at trial and that evidence was for the most part excluded. The other bizarre thing is that judges and prosecutors were from the USSR -- in other words, representatives of Stalin. It is pretty obvious at this point that the USSR under Stalin committed just as many sins and on a much grander scale than the Germans. When you weigh Hitler's and Stalin's souls you would have difficulty determining which of the two was more evil. The primary difference was that Stalin was more sloppy and less methodical than Hitler and the primary difference was that Stalin was on the winning side.

No tears shed for Saddam here. He lived by the sword and it's only appropriate that he died by the sword .. or at least the rope. He had a chance to go out in a blaze of glory when he was caught, but showed his true colors then and gave up without a fight.

From what I've heard from legal experts, his trial was run for the most part fairly. Of course, with our legal system where folks can appeal and re-appeal their death sentences and stay on death row for years, it may look weird that another country's legal system actually carries out the sentence in a timely manner.

Saddam was a two-bit punk dictator who had the ill-fortune of ticking off the United States, a former ally, then getting caught. There are certainly other just as deserving despots out there who just know how to "work the system" better. No need to soul search this one. And given that he was two-bit punk dictator who was no threat to the U.S., we never should have invaded. A collossal waste of lives, time, goodwill, resources, etc. But, water under the bridge ...

I think it would have been interesting to hear S. tell us about his relationship with the Bush family, the CIA, Donald Rumsfeld, and the U.S. role in the war between Iraq and Iran. It is a curious shame that so much information that could have answered so many questions is now locked at the top of a broken neck.

Richard, while it would have been interesting -- it might have put an impediment to our getting out of Iraq as soon as possible. I think it is patently obvious that we could not leave without his fate being permanently settled.

Dave, yes he was a two-bit punk dictator, although at one point he controlled the largest third-world army. Working the system better being translated to either have nuclear capabilities or being an important client state of a major power. With the demise of the USSR, there seems to be a growing number of the latter types of dictatorships.

Dave Boe, You said it.