Saddam's Execution

[monsoon]

..... Wouldn't that in essence be saying "Sorry Iraq, you can't govern your own people and laws".

....

[dimebag1980]

Because the alleged crimes did not occur under this government's laws. This is a puppet government that only exists at the pleasure of the US Military and soon as we are gone, it's gone. Just like S. Vietnam. Most of the world views this as an execution by the US Military and GW Bush.

[monsoon]

Sometimes a FAIR trial just isn't justified. ....

[Gusterfell]

Since these crimes didn't occur under the existing Iraqi government's laws, does that mean they didn't occur? The whole world knew these crimes occurred and we all knew what a tyrant Saddam was. They're not "alleged" crimes and I can't believe someone would actually say that he deserved a fair trial.

Sometimes a FAIR trial just isn't justified. Saddam's crimes against humanity weren't fabricated by the United States or George W. Bush, they were real. And for anyone to doubt this, given the fact that the entire world was aware of these crimes, is a display of extreme ignorance.

I wish all the people who were personally affected by Saddam's crimes could have been allowed to line up and spit on, and kick the ever-loving crud out of, his lifeless body after his execution. That still wouldn't have been justice, but those people sure would have felt great afterward.

[Charlotteman]

Well, so far the new year in Iraq is close to what the old year was.

There are actually demonstrations going on in Iraq today IN FAVOR of Saddam, many calling him a martyr! Men in Sunni neighbors are firing guns into the air in protest as their sons emulate their dads with toy guns. (One assumes the women are at home cowering in fear as their daughters play with Barbies~~)

A giant mosaic of Saddam is being constructed in a Sunni enclave. Rallies and speeches are happening throughout Sunni parts of the country in favor of Saddam, calling him a hero and a visionary. Sunnis and Shiites are more in hate with each other than ever.

Whether or not Bush will admit it, it doesn't matter. Iraq is in crisis. It is in a bloody civil war, and religious extremists are becoming even more extreme. LOTS of the blame can be laid on Bush's doorstep, as he did almost everything wrong in Iraq.

BUT I also think the DEPRAVITY of so many sick and twisted people in Iraq cannot be discounted. If so many people think Saddam was great, is there a possibilty these people don't even want freedom? When I read of the atrocities carried out in the name of Allah I am chilled to the bone.

[monsoon]

BUT I also think the DEPRAVITY of so many sick and twisted people in Iraq cannot be discounted. If so many people think Saddam was great, is there a possibilty these people don't even want freedom? When I read of the atrocities carried out in the name of Allah I am chilled to the bone.

[tombarnes]

I'm certainly no great fan of the death penalty, but Saddam deserved it more than most I could possibly think of on the planet right now. As for his death improving the situation, I doubt this will happen. The one certainty achieved is that he cannot return to power. This may--eventually-- ensure some sort of stability, but not in the short run. We are in a dreadful quagmire.

[tombarnes]

To reply to Marc's assertion, I would agree that we may have done ourselves a disservice in making Saddam a martyr. Still, he was an evil man if ever one walked the earth. I take no particular joy in his death, but things may get better without him. Do we want to stay there indefinitely to see that they do? I doubt the wisdom of the latter course. How can we make a graceful exit?

[michaelskis]

It just amazes me that there are so many people who are willing to argue about Saddam

[monsoon]

....

I just do not understand the thinking of some people in this board.

[skylinefan]

Most of these crimes were committed with the knowledge and blessing of Reagan, Bush I, Rumsfeld, and the rest. Our government even supplied the weapons used in many of them. Want real justice? Get rid of the American neocons who propped him up for decades, and were complicit in his crimes.

It should also be noted that Saddam was only one of many third-world puppet dictators our government supported, including some who made Saddam's atrocities look like small potatos.

Regardless, I can't believe an American citizen would say any criminal, no matter how heinous, doesn't deserve a fair trial. That's fascism. We are better than that, or at least we used to be.

I'd like to see everyone personally affected by Bush's crimes get the chance to spit in his face. The line would be much longer than Saddam's.

[Charlotte_native]

I don't read where anyone is saying Saddam was a good guy or should not have been executed. I think that is a moot point to everyone.

For me, it is the manner in which all of this occured.

Has no one noticed the creepy resemblance with his death to the beheading videos we have all seen from the terrorists? My issue in Iraq is we hope we are the good guys, but with Abu Garib, this execution, the continued destruction of Iraqi cities and the death of their people, we are no better than those we came to take out.

Hooded men in a grainy video taunted and killed a man then published the act on the internet and in the media. Substitute the noose for a knife or sword. We have no moral high-ground any more.

We have legislated various forms of torture, we allow phone tapping for now...

Yes, he was a horrible man and definitely deserved to die, but we never seem to think about our national well-being, world standing, or long term effects of our actions any more. War criminals have been convicted many times in international courts -- justice there does work and likely would have in this case as well -- but we wanted an emotional monkey court to do this.

[monsoon]

It has come out that Saddam's execution took place on a United States military base. It gets scant mention in our mostly brain dead media, but this is huge and very bad news throughout the rest of the world.

[Charlotteman]

The execution was carried out at an American base~~~~~~just one more occurance that begs "What the hell were they thinking????"

By their continuing blunders, miscalculations, and recklessness, the administration has proved long ago it does not possess the finesse to deal with this war.

I'm begining to become alarmed by this. If the administration is so blatantly amatuerish with the war, what other crucial non-military things are they messing up too? Of course we all know about stem cell research, Grand Canyon biblical history, No Child Left Behind, etc the list goes on and on.........has Bush done ANYTHING well??????

[dgreco]

It has come out that Saddam's execution took place on a United States military base. It gets scant mention in our mostly brain dead media, but this is huge and very bad news throughout the rest of the world.

[Charlotte_native]

It has come out that Saddam's execution took place on a United States military base. It gets scant mention in our mostly brain dead media, but this is huge and very bad news throughout the rest of the world.

[nowensone]

I think the Republicans have proved they have more kahones (that's for metro) than Democrats ever will as a party - they tried and nearly suceeded in having Clinton impeached for oral sex while Bush continues to destroy this country and the Democrats can not muster the courage to try and remove him from office. At this point, I am wondering what it would take for this to happen. Maybe the Republicans can do it...

[monsoon]

It brings into people's minds on why there are gallows on a USA military base. It's even more disgusting they are putting efforts into trying to prosecute the person who filmed it with the phone camera.

[Charlotte_native]

It's even more disgusting they are putting efforts into trying to prosecute the person who filmed it with the phone camera.

[nowensone]

^ & ^^ Yep. They don't seem to see the grave error in judgment with hanging him in the first place, or having a hand in it, only that it was leaked. The cluelessness abounds, who could not have seen that his execution would have a negative energizing affect, however it was carried out? He has become a martyr, even if only as an excuse for some to do further violence when he could have rotted away and been forgotten. The thing I find eerie is that upon being mocked mere seconds before the floor gave way, his last words were how unmanly the mockers were. Seems to show a level of character that is at odds with his condition when found hiding in a hole several years ago.

[kayman]

IMO, I don't have a true opinion about Saddam's execution. I agree with Metro.m, there should have been a fair trial in International Court. The cronies and Bush have once again done the unbelieveable, allowed something to occur under US possession/control like this execution on a US Base.

This country is in for a moral epiphany, and we are going reap exactly what we sowed with this screwed up administration.

[kayman]

I think the Republicans have proved they have more kahones (that's for metro) than Democrats ever will as a party - they tried and nearly suceeded in having Clinton impeached for oral sex while Bush continues to destroy this country and the Democrats can not muster the courage to try and remove him from office. At this point, I am wondering what it would take for this to happen. Maybe the Republicans can do it...

[Captain Worley]

All that has provened is the current faction that is ruling the Republican party is VERY CORRUPT. The things they have done (and even the things we don't even know) will come back to haunt this country for DECADES. We are just seeing the tip of the iceburg of corruption. The Democrats should take the high road because in the end, the karma is going to be a beotch for all those who cosigned and condoned what that faction has done to this country and the world in the past decade.

[monsoon]

The Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans. Given any chance at power, so would the Libertarians, the Green party, and so on. The system as a whole has become that way. Do what I do, vote against the incumbent.

[nowensone]

^ Good point, an International court would have certainly revealed our previous support of Saddam Hussein and Iraq in it's actions against Iran, and the level of our involvement. Perhaps it is a good thing these specifics did not come out in such a way, could have been even more polarizing for the Middle East than the situation now..