Poor Saddam

[Jacobtm]

He got hisself a hangin comin up

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6117910.stm

[Democratic Hawk]

What goes around, comes around

Dave

[John Dibble]

I have news for you - this isn't news.

Really it was only a matter of time. A not guilty verdict just wouldn't happen.

[Inmate Trump]

I oppose the death penalty, so I'm against this.  Why not just life in prison?  That's a worse punishment than just death.  Death is the easy way out.

[Silent Hunter]

I oppose the death penalty, so I'm against this.  Why not just life in prison?  That's a worse punishment than just death.  Death is the easy way out.

So do I. But it's the Iraqis' decision at the end of the day.

[afleitch]

I tend to agree; I oppose the death penalty in all cases and I think the Iraqi's have made a grave mistake in doing so, but it is their decision at the end of it all.

[merseysider]

I am just wondering how long it will be before some whingeing human rights lawyer or spokesman for 'Liberty' appears on BBC News complaining about the violation of Saddam's human rights.

[Democratic Hawk]

I am just wondering how long it will be before some whingeing human rights lawyer or spokesman for 'Liberty' appears on BBC News complaining about the violation of Saddam's human rights.

Won't be too long I imagine . Finland, as President of the EU, has criticised the death sentence

Dave

[The Dowager Mod]

Yes make him a martyr to his followers, always a good idea.

[°Leprechaun]

I am just wondering how long it will be before some whingeing human rights lawyer or spokesman for 'Liberty' appears on BBC News complaining about the violation of Saddam's human rights.

Well, I don't feel sorry for him, but all things considered I could argue that it could be perceived by some that given the fact that the US is pretty much calling the shots in Iraq and that it is hardly disinterested in Saddam, that he didn't get a fair trial. I am not saying that that is true, only that I could understand if someone did.

[Citizen James]

What goes around, comes around

Dave

So, do you think the people who provided him with those weapons and looked the other way when he killed his own people will face justice as well?  Saddam is/was a HP, but he's just the tip of the iceburg.

[kashifsakhan]

I am just wondering how long it will be before some whingeing human rights lawyer or spokesman for 'Liberty' appears on BBC News complaining about the violation of Saddam's human rights.

Well, I don't feel sorry for him, but all things considered I could argue that it could be perceived by some that given the fact that the US is pretty much calling the shots in Iraq and that it is hardly disinterested in Saddam, that he didn't get a fair trial. I am not saying that that is true, only that I could understand if someone did.

I would have been alot happier with his decision had it been handed down by the Hague.

Iraq's a country thats effectively in civil war, i dont think they should be having trials such as these.

[Colin]

What goes around, comes around

Dave

If that was true he would be gassed and then thrown into an unmarked pit.

I tend to agree; I oppose the death penalty in all cases and I think the Iraqi's have made a grave mistake in doing so, but it is their decision at the end of it all.

Well he probably would have died with life in prison anyway. I'm betting one of his guards would have found him "attempting to escape" or that he might have "hung himself during the night".

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I like this cartoon that suggests a worse punisnment than the death penalty that could have been given to Saddam.

[The Dowager Mod]

[opebo]

What goes around, comes around

Dave

No it doesn't, Dave.

George Bush has killed far more Iraqis than Saddam, and no doubt he will die in patrician comfort some decades hence.

[Silent Hunter]

I hope this stupid decision plunges Iraq further into civil war.

You're sick, you know that?

[WMS]

Conspiracy-minded, you lefties are.

Can you honestly say Saddam Hussein is not guilty of the charges against him?

And my preferred method of justice would be releasing Saddam on his own recognizance...in the middle of As Sulaymaniyah. Publicly announced beforehand.

[minionofmidas]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

[WMS]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

Well, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of Kurds slaughtered by Saddam wouldn't care what it was called.

[minionofmidas]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

Well, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of Kurds slaughtered by Saddam wouldn't care what it was called.

They're dead, so indeed they don't care.
But then they don't care whether he is killed in the first place.

[WMS]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

Well, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of Kurds slaughtered by Saddam wouldn't care what it was called.

They're dead, so indeed they don't care.
But then they don't care whether he is killed in the first place.

Perhaps...depends on one's views on afterlife matters. But the Kurdish survivors of those massacres do care.

And addressing the point you seem to be making. I do think the death penalty is overused and not subject to enough oversight. But sometimes, it is appropriate, and killing one of the worst war criminals alive today is something I consider appropriate.

[The Dowager Mod]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

Well, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of Kurds slaughtered by Saddam wouldn't care what it was called.

I'm still looking for where i said anything about him not being guilty.

[minionofmidas]

Old tyrants are not executed, they are exiled or murdered. Sometimes the murderer calls it an "execution" - Ceausescu, Zulfikar Bhutto, perhaps Saddam now - but that doesn't change the facts.

Well, I'm sure the hundreds of thousands of Kurds slaughtered by Saddam wouldn't care what it was called.

They're dead, so indeed they don't care.
But then they don't care whether he is killed in the first place.

Perhaps...depends on one's views on afterlife matters. But the Kurdish survivors of those massacres do care.

And addressing the point you seem to be making. I do think the death penalty is overused and not subject to enough oversight. But sometimes, it is appropriate, and killing one of the worst war criminals alive today is something I consider appropriate.

It's probably bad politics.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I'm a little suprised they didn't sentance him to be killed in the way that despots have traditionally been killed in Iraq actually. Was it not an option