Saddam Hussein sentenced to death....

[DaveC]

Well he will still be alive. Media will still want to interview him which he could spread his message with or with out media to his followers. With the way things are in Iraq imagine they attacked the prison he is in to help him escape??

Uh...well they tend not to allow prisoners in maximum security facilities to do media interviews. And the prisons are called "maximum security" for a reason.



Your argument's not holding any weight so far. You want to kill a man so that he doesn't talk to reporters?

 

[Justin24]

HE is someone important so I think they would allow it. I think he should be executed for using Nerve gas againts innocent Kurds in the North the hundreds of thousands of people that were killed and dumped in mass graves.

 

[tlt29]

Hippies suck.

 

[DaveC]

HE is someone important so I think they would allow it. I think he should be executed for using Nerve gas againts innocent Kurds in the North the hundreds of thousands of people that were killed and dumped in mass graves.

You actually think they would allow Saddam to be visited by reporters? So what if he's someone important? They would put restrictions on him for that exact reason, you're defeating your own argument Justin.

You didn't answer my question - what would it solve in the long term by killing him as opposed to putting him in jail?

I'm going to ignore the childish "Hippies suck." comment, because he/she's probably too chickenshit to actually stick around and discuss it.

 

[Justin24]

The long term solution to executing him would bring a closer to many people in Iraq and the vast majority want him executed so what does that say. If we kept him in prision, people will feel like true justice was never served.

 

[DaveC]

Where are you getting this "vast majority" stat from? Or are you just assuming?

 

[Justin24]

Have you read stories coming out of iraq of people celebrating after hearing the verdict. The only ones who see this as crap are the people of Saddams home town and his Lawyer.

 

[deep]

HE is someone important so I think they would allow it. I think he should be executed for using Nerve gas againts innocent Kurds in the North the hundreds of thousands of people that were killed and dumped in mass graves.

were the innocent Kurds siding with Iran and the Ayatollah?

"hundreds of thousands of people that were killed and dumped in mass graves" are you sure about these numbers?

how many innocent "women and children" were killed in Faluhah, and other places by cluster bombs and "phosphorus" bombs during this current Iraq war?

Saddam was convicted of allowing how many people to be killed and under what circumstances?


This trial, verdict and execution will be a net loss for the U S.

But , the sentence was so obviously timed to get a few more of the GOP disaffected base to the polls on Tuesday

the verdict has been in for weeks and we could have had the sentenced weeks ago


truly shameful,

Negroponte Makes Unannounced Iraq Visit
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN 11.03.06, 1:00 PM ET


U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met Friday with Iraq's prime minister in the second visit this week by a top U.S. official. The unannounced meeting comes amid spiraling violence that included seven American deaths and the discovery of 56 bodies in the Iraqi capital bearing signs of torture.

"All vacations will be canceled and all those who are on vacation must return," al-Obeidi said.

Saddam's trial was intended to heal the fractured nation by exposing the crimes of his regime in a court of law. Instead, it has been seen by many as worsening tensions between majority Shiites and the Sunni minority who made up the bulk of the former ruling class.

Many of Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs, along with some Shiites and Kurds, are predicting a firestorm if the Iraqi High Tribunal convicts and then sentences the ex-president to death, as it is widely expected to do

 

[Justin24]

were the innocent Kurds siding with Iran and the Ayatollah?

"hundreds of thousands of people that were killed and dumped in mass graves" are you sure about these numbers?

how many innocent "women and children" were killed in Faluhah, and other places by cluster bombs and "phosphorus" bombs during this current Iraq war?

Saddam was convicted of allowing how many people to be killed and under what circumstances?


This trial, verdict and execution will be a net loss for the U S.

But , the sentence was so obviously timed to get a few more of the GOP disaffected base to the polls on Tuesday

the verdict has been in for weeks and we could have had the sentenced weeks ago

truly shameful,

So what do you propse we do with the next person??? And your whole how many woman and children were killed by cluster bombs, how many innocent woman and children in Germany were killed during the invasion of Berlin? How many french civilians or British civilians were killed by German Bombers. Innocent people unfortunatly die in war? What do you propose. Fist Fights?

 

[AchtungBono]

All I am going to say is he is getting what he deserves. People that is my opinion ok. And as for Dazzling. HE has his own religious view on why he does not want to mention God's full name. HE is not forcing you to believe in god. And I find it sad that you mock him by saying it's only a word. It seems you are forcing your non-beliefs onto others.

That's ok Justin, Dazzling was curious about my writing G-d's name and I took it as a question and I replied accordingly. I have no doubt that it wasn't meant to mock or disrespect.

 

[AchtungBono]

You actually think they would allow Saddam to be visited by reporters? So what if he's someone important? They would put restrictions on him for that exact reason, you're defeating your own argument Justin.

You didn't answer my question - what would it solve in the long term by killing him as opposed to putting him in jail?

I'm going to ignore the childish "Hippies suck." comment, because he/she's probably too chickenshit to actually stick around and discuss it.

If I may be permitted to reply, even though the question wasn't addressed to me:

Keeping him in jail would only serve the terrorists by giving them incentives to hijack more planes and take more people hostage in return for his release.

I don't pretend to believe that that terrorism will end the day he is hung but it will send a strong message that terrorists will ultimately be made to pay for their atrocities.

Letting him live is a luxury he didn't give thousands of others under his regime.

......and am I the only one who DOESN'T believe this sentence has anything to do with the U.S. elections? The experts indicate that the democrats will win in any case whether he was sentenced today or next week or next month.

Case in point, George Bush Sr. was unstoppable after the 1991 gulf war but he STILL lost to Bill Clinton a year later - proving that one thing has nothing to do with another.

 

[BonosSaint]

Political equivalent of the Hail Mary pass.

 

[Diemen]

Do you honestly believe the terrorists give a shit about whether Saddam Hussein lives or dies? And to those of you saying the terrorists would use Saddam's life imprisonment to their advantage - they will use his death sentence to their advantage far more than a life sentence. They are opportunists. If he dies, then they will use him as a martyr (though he had little to nothing in common with them). If he lives in prison for the rest of his life he is no martyr, and can hold absolutely no power over them.

Do you honestly think these terrorists would want to free Saddam and put him back in power? Fat chance. Doing so would be their undoing. Saddam was a secular ruler, and the last thing the terrorists want is a secular leader who would minimize their fundamentalist leanings.

 

[trevster2k]

I, for one, would think keeping Saddam alive and picking his brain for his memories would be important information for the world. Regardless if it was deranged or factual, if a book was published of his knowledge of the behind the scenes dealings with other nations over his lifetime, we would all be stunned by the revelations. Of course, no Western nation would want any of his information to reach the general public. But it would give us a better understanding of the mind of megalomaniacs and perhaps what motivates them and how best to handle them in future conflicts since they aren't going away.

I don't think killing him solves anything except satisfy the feelings of vengeance. The trial was a farce anyway, not that I think he should be freed. But it was a total mess from the start with the removal of judges, assassinations of defence lawyers, foolishness in the courtroom, etc. Kangaroo court at best.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

It's totally unbelievable, just a few years ago this tyrant was terrorozing his people, living in golden palaces while his people starved, using chemical weapons on them, imprisoning them without trial, torturing, maiming, raping....and other unspeakable acts of cruelty. His sons were murderous maniacs who committed atrocities in their father's name....and the list is endless.

And look where he is now - in the prisoner's dock, sentenced to hang like the common criminal he is, brought to justice and made to pay the ultimate price for his crimes.

This couldn't have happened without the brave actions of the United States and the allies who are fighting a bitter war to bring this man and his cohorts to justice.

I pray that all the terrorist leaders will very soon follow in Husseins footsteps all the way up to the gallows, in order for the world to be rid of the cancer of terrorism.

It took 12 years and millions of lives until the Nazis were defeated and it will probably take longer to take down the terrorists leaders threatening our existance, but eventually their day of reckoning will come too, G-d willing.

G-d bless America and the allies.

You're kidding right? "America" is soooo nice for doing that. So noble, those "americans"!! Think again, kiddo. If "America" hadn't felt threatened by Saddam they wouldn't have done anything about it and they would've let people keep dying. They didn't do it to save others, they did it to help themselves. So don't come to me with that crap that "Thank God for America".

Wake up, smell the thorns.

 

[BVS]

Hippies suck.

Thanks for bringing so much to the discussion.

 

[BVS]

If I may be permitted to reply, even though the question wasn't addressed to me:

Keeping him in jail would only serve the terrorists by giving them incentives to hijack more planes and take more people hostage in return for his release.

I don't pretend to believe that that terrorism will end the day he is hung but it will send a strong message that terrorists will ultimately be made to pay for their atrocities.

Letting him live is a luxury he didn't give thousands of others under his regime.

......and am I the only one who DOESN'T believe this sentence has anything to do with the U.S. elections? The experts indicate that the democrats will win in any case whether he was sentenced today or next week or next month.

Case in point, George Bush Sr. was unstoppable after the 1991 gulf war but he STILL lost to Bill Clinton a year later - proving that one thing has nothing to do with another.

You celebrate violence far too much...

And you've got to be kidding with this post?!

What does his sentence have to do with terrorist incentive?

And Bush Sr was never unstoppable.

 

[redhotswami]

Political equivalent of the Hail Mary pass.

I couldnt've said it better myself. I just hope that the on-the-fence voters won't be naive enough to let this sway their vote.

The death penalty is archaic and absurd. And I find death by hanging to be absolutely disgusting. It's all a damn demonstration.

And I have a few problems with these:

"Maybe this will help alleviate the pain of the widows and the orphans, and those who have been ordered to bury their loved ones in secrecy, and those who have been forced to suppress their feelings and suffering, and those who have paid at the hands of torturers," Prime Minister Maliki said.

When will people learn that blood will never wash away the tears?

US President George W Bush welcomed the verdict as a "milestone" in the efforts of the Iraqi people "to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law".

Just as someone else mentioned, the US is cool w/ dictators as long as they are cool w/ the US. How about some damn consistency...besides being consistent at sucking at life.

I also find it ironic how this guy who's campaign foundation was "the culture of life" really likes to promote killing people. Shouldn't Pro-Life be consistent BEYOND birth?

But the European Union urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence.

That is the best news I've heard all day. I heart the EU.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Hanging - classy.

 

[dazzlingamy]

What has terrorists got to do with Saddam? You do know that he had NOTHING to do with sept 11th and all that jazz right. Please tell me you're not one of those people!!

And i agree with err the guy from the last page about the us only going to Iraq to help themselves - this is true. there are SO MANY atrocities going on in the world, Sudan, Darfur, Laos (where 50,000 people are being systematically killed because of their heritage) etc etc and I don't see the "allies" swooping in their like supermen. YES Saddam was a bastard, but there are plenty of them in this world, and its shame that to get to this end point thousands and thousands of innocents had to die. If all they're going to do is kill Saddam why not send a crack team back in 2003 and put a bullet in his head, a HELL of a lot less bloodshed and animosity towards the states would have been saved.

It just doesn't make sense.

oh and even though AB and indra replied Justin, i wasn't making fun of AB religion, i was just interested in why they couldn't write the word god. And 'its just a word' is for the swear words with the asteriks. anyway, they've already said it, just clearing up my position

 

[DaveC]

I also find it ironic how this guy who's campaign foundation was "the culture of life" really likes to promote killing people. Shouldn't Pro-Life be consistent BEYOND birth?

No kidding.

I long to see the day when the Republican party values a living person's life as much as they do an embryo's.

 

[VertigoGal]

of course we didn't go in there for purely humanitarian purposes- no war ever, ever is really about that.

Not a comparable situation, but it's not as if we were primarily concerned with saving the Jews when we finally got into WW2 for example.

I think many people hoped that we would be helping the Iraqis out, but of course it was implied that we had national interests that would be served by going into Iraq. now I think it's questionable/subjective as to whether Iraqis are better off, but in my opinion it seems pretty clear it's gotten our country into a much worse position than we were to begin with.


I just don't see why it's such a huge revelation that we didn't simply go there for humanity's sake. sure they tout that but everyone knows that's not the case and I don't see why we should expect any different from any country. and it's not as if anyone else is rushing in to save the people of Darfur.

I don't really see what this has to do with Saddam's hanging but again I don't really see the big revelation here...

 

[vaz02]

I never had Saddam down as a swinger.

 

[dazzlingamy]

of course we didn't go in there for purely humanitarian purposes- no war ever, ever is really about that.

Not a comparable situation, but it's not as if we were primarily concerned with saving the Jews when we finally got into WW2 for example.

I think many people hoped that we would be helping the Iraqis out, but of course it was implied that we had national interests that would be served by going into Iraq. now I think it's questionable/subjective as to whether Iraqis are better off, but in my opinion it seems pretty clear it's gotten our country into a much worse position than we were to begin with.


I just don't see why it's such a huge revelation that we didn't simply go there for humanity's sake. sure they tout that but everyone knows that's not the case and I don't see why we should expect any different from any country. and it's not as if anyone else is rushing in to save the people of Darfur.

I don't really see what this has to do with Saddam's hanging but again I don't really see the big revelation here...

Oh i'm not saying its a new idea or anything, we've been saying it since the us/allies stepped one foot on the soil. I was just agreeing with the point of the hypocrisy of saying 'thank you usa/allies' etc when it comes to Iraq, because its not like they did it out of the kindness of their hearts to help the people or some shite.

Yes no one is helping out Darfur. Its a travesty

 

[VertigoGal]

Oh i'm not saying its a new idea or anything, we've been saying it since the us/allies stepped one foot on the soil. I was just agreeing with the point of the hypocrisy of saying 'thank you usa/allies' etc when it comes to Iraq, because its not like they did it out of the kindness of their hearts to help the people or some shite.

Yes no one is helping out Darfur. Its a travesty

right- and my point is that no war ever is about that. our involvement in WW2 wasn't driven by purely noble means but you wouldn't rush around calling a European from that era a hypocrite for being thankful to American soldiers.

maybe it's just semantics, but I feel like the fact that it's intent was primarily to serve the country national interests isn't a good basis for criticizing a war. of course there are tons of other areas where this war can be legitimately criticized (ie it hasn't actually, umm, served our interests; concerns over treatment of citizens; destabilization of the area etc).

again I'm sorry this has little to do with saddam's hanging, just wanted to reply to the posts on the last page.

 

[DaveC]

right- and my point is that no war ever is about that. our involvement in WW2 wasn't driven by purely noble means but you wouldn't rush around calling a European from that era a hypocrite for being thankful to American soldiers.

The difference is that the Europeans (and the rest of the world) wanted us there in WWII - the Iraqis (for the most part) never asked for the US to invade their country, and world opinion was definitely against this one.

Also, Europe was MUCH better off after World War II than during it. I doubt you'd find too many Iraqis that would say the country is doing much, much better now than it was in 2002 (you might find some that would say it's better but it's a bit of a "lesser of two evils" call).

Plus, I don't think that whoever you're replying to (I'm sorry, I forgot the name and can't see it below the reply box ) is Iraqi, so they have absolutely no true perspective on the situation to be praising America as if they are liberators.

I'm not sure what my point was with that post, I just felt like replying to that - I've had too much coffee in the past hour for my own good and I'm off the wall right now

 

[namkcuR]

Isn't the OP the same person that started the 'O'Reilly For President' thread a couple weeks back?

Says it all.

I've had it with self-righteous, holier-than-thou people who think that they are in any position to decide whether or not other people deserve to live.

The "He/she doesn't deserve to live" line is so flawed it's laughable.

There are holes in it so big you could fly a 747 through it, and the hypocrisy inherent in the ultimate punishment it implies is so deep you could pour an entire ocean into it.

 

[VertigoGal]

The difference is that the Europeans (and the rest of the world) wanted us there in WWII - the Iraqis (for the most part) never asked for the US to invade their country, and world opinion was definitely against this one.

Also, Europe was MUCH better off after World War II than during it. I doubt you'd find too many Iraqis that would say the country is doing much, much better now than it was in 2002 (you might find some that would say it's better but it's a bit of a "lesser of two evils" call).

Plus, I don't think that whoever you're replying to (I'm sorry, I forgot the name and can't see it below the reply box ) is Iraqi, so they have absolutely no true perspective on the situation to be praising America as if they are liberators.

I'm not sure what my point was with that post, I just felt like replying to that - I've had too much coffee in the past hour for my own good and I'm off the wall right now

oh I know they're not comparable situations in other aspects, I mentioned that. I don't really know what my point is anymore, well I do but I'm bad at articulating it, and anyway it's so specific it really doesn't matter.

so back to the hanging- will this be a public hanging? bring the kids event? any chance it's scheduled for tomorrow or perhaps tuesday morning?

 

[anitram]

I also find it ironic how this guy who's campaign foundation was "the culture of life" really likes to promote killing people. Shouldn't Pro-Life be consistent BEYOND birth?

Fetus = gift from God
Baby born = a welfare problem

 

[A_Wanderer]

I was overwhelmed with joy and relief as I watched the criminals being read their verdicts. For the first time in our region tyrants are being punished for their crimes through a court of law.

Until this moment and while I’m typing these words I’m still receiving words of congratulations in emails, phone calls and text messages from friends inside and outside the country. These were our only means to share our happiness because of the curfew that limits our movement.

This is the day for Saddam’s lovers to weep and I expect their shock and grieve to be huge. They had always thought their master was immortal so let them live in their disappointment while we live for our future.

This is a day not only for Iraqis but a historic day for the whole region; today new basis for dealing between rulers and peoples are found.

No one is above the law anymore.

I was particularly pleased by the way Judge Raouf Rasheed handled the session; he was reading the court’s decision and at the same time chastising members of the current government for their misbehavior and threatened to throw them in custody regardless of their ranks!

We are living a new era where there’s much hope despite the difficulties…our sacrifices have a noble cause, that is to build a new model that obviously terrifies other tyrants.

I believe it wasn’t Saddam alone who was shaking and shouting in hysteria when the verdict was read; I can see hysteria takes over all of Saddam’s followers and apologists.

Today we had turned a page that was full of pain and ugly crimes that were committed by the same criminals who were shaking in the hands of Iraq’s new justice.

We were among the first to bring Saddam’s crimes in Dujail to the surface in this blog almost three years ago even before cases were chosen or a tribunal was formed.

I did that because one of my friends was a direct victim of that crime when he was thrown in prison in the middle of the desert when he was only 7 years old along with his mother and a younger sister and lost 30 members of his extended family over the years of that tragedy.

Some people back then questioned the credibility of my friend’s story and couldn’t believe the crimes of Saddam were that cruel and inhuman. But today that the truth is out there for the whole world to see, the criminals stand small and shaking while the families of the victims stand proud seeing justice served.

Right now volleys of bullets ring not far from where I sit, some are fired to express joy while others are fired in a desperate expression of denial but I have no doubt who is going to prevail. Although the road is long but we are walking forward and will not look back.

I salute the honorable special tribunal that challenged threats and risks and insisted on keeping up the work until the end, and today it brought back the pride of the land that wrote the world’s first laws.

I salute the witnesses who risked their lives to reveal the truth and expose the crimes of the dictator.

I salute the brave men and women of the coalition who came to this land and made this day possible.

Congratulations to all my Iraqi brothers and sisters on this glorious day.

http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/11/the_day_of_justice.php