Sadaam is hanged
 

News reports tell us that Sadaam Hussein, former president of Iraq, has been executed, in accordance to the verdict that was delivered at his trial. What do you think about the effect upon the Iraqi people - relief or not?

Umm, I guess i cant answer that 'cause I'm not in Iraq... ... ?

It won't end the insurgency.

out of the frying pan, into the fire
anticlimax
too bad the war isn't over now
:| :mad:

Put yourself in Iraqi folks' places - how would you feel? Not asking about insurgencies, not asking about the war. How would THEY feel?

(ps wowy, never had Hal on one of the few threads I've done. Feel the honor waves.....)

Okay, I'm in the Iraqi's shoes. The insurection will not end or even relent because of this. If anything there is a hollow sense of vengence or justice, but it really is nothing but a useless exercise that doesn't make current life any better. My power is still going in and out, food is scarce, military officers go up and down my street every day and every night, and I wonder when or if the fighting will ever stop.

Again, it won't end the insurgency.

Interestingly enough, some of his last statements were a call for the Iraqi people to reach peace.


Oh well. He was a horrible criminal. He had a much more civil end than he gave many of his enemies.

This seems like yesterday's news that doesn't affect/help todays problems. But the Iraqis lived with this man as their ruler for some years....so I imagine they have some kind of feelings....

Somehow, Willravel, I don't thing the millions of Shiites and Kurds who suffered so greatly under his tyrannical rule are right now thinking about how the insurgency is going - I just think they are pretty much happy that he is gone.

Sometimes in the midst of hardship there is joy to be found. Perhaps the victims of Sadaam's reign are now finding that measure of joy, even amongst the danger that finds them in everyday life.

Don't ya think? I mean, he killed how many Kurds by gassing them, and the Shiites by dessimating their villages?

Insurgency will remain, but for today, Sadaam is dead, and for that - they can rejoice.

I can't speak for Iraqis, but I say good riddance.

one more death... [sarcasm]hurray[/sarcasm]

Soooo... Who's killed more innocent Iraqis? Saddam or Bush?

I'd be willing to bet it's the latter.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/...ush/index.html

I 'spose I have a different meaning of the word "Fair" than everyone else. Saddam was found guilty even before the trial began. I don't think there was a single person in the world who thought the verdict was going to be different than what it was.

Ah well... The way I see it, all the United States did was replace one dictatorship with another, while in the process destabilized Iraq's economy for the next twenty or so years.

I don't know why but for some reason I felt like he shouldn't be executed. I KNOW that he should be feel like he shouldn't, very odd.

I kind of miss him already.

"What would Bob say about this?"

I don't think death is the answer to death, he was merely a political tool anyways. There were greater things at work behind his actions than a mere madman that he was portrayed as.

"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking" - Saddam Hussien

I'm generally not in favour of the death penalty nor was I in favour of the American aggression in Iraq - however, having reached this point, I think ending Saddam's existence became a neccessary step towards Iraq moving forward.

Since I don't believe in the death penalty, I think that the hanging is sad. To me death does not justify death. He will be dealt with on a much higher level then any human hand could do.

Ding dong the dick is dead!

If I werent going to work I would have a glass of wine, since I am going to work I will have my glass of wine this evening.

There are such an amount of problems in Iraq; no one event can make a difference. The conviction and death of Saddam doesn't address the lack of security, basic services, or governmental influence.

I believe some folks thought/think that a criminal process of trying and convicting a former dictator would be a galvanizing event. Instead, it's a sorry postscript.

I'm not saying he didn't deserve the death penalty--handed down by in a fair trial by an impartial tribunal. The trial he received was a total joke, the sentence a foregone conclusion, and the tribunal a puppet of the US occupiers. The ends don't justify the means. There was no justice done here.

I'd bet anything that Saddam's Sunni brethren will be stepping up their attacks, now that they have the great martyr Saddam to rally around. This is exactly how violence begets violence, which is a lesson we seem hell-bent on not learning.

Sorry, but that's crazy thinking. Death justifies death. Period. The other alternatives are to let them go, and then they'll kill again, or put them in a life sentence in jail to cost the taxpayers $35k/yr here in America. Probably less in other parts of the world, but still. If you kill somebody, you should get killed back by the law agencies. NO exceptions.

How is it anything more than a postscript to what's already happened? Maybe it will cause a temporary surge in violence, maybe not. Whether your for or against the death penalty, it doesn't change anything, especially since Iraqi law allows for it.

Unless this is the thing that unleases fullblown civil war, I honestly don't see it as that big of a deal. It was a forgone conclusion from the day they found him in the spider hole.

more repulsive theater of the absurd from the bush administration.

what i am amazed at is the newspaper coverage this morning: the huge typeface, the cheerleading in the writing, the use of this particularly ambiguous moment as a tool for re-marketing the bushwar in iraq. you'd almost get the impression that the execution has nothing to do with iraq, and is more a spectacle aimed at generating a nice little new years poll bump for the bush people as they prepare to face The Enemy--you know, the next congress with the slim democrat majority.



i expect this will only serve to intensify opposition on the ground to american colonial occupation. creating a martyr never helps. at least with hussein alive, one could pretend that the internal struggles over succession prevented the resistance from focusing on the occupation: this move could well change that.....but who knows. it is obviously difficult to peer through the hall of mirrors that shapes american infotainment about iraq and get an idea of what is happening on the ground.

People? Probably! Iraqis? I doubt it! A large number of insurgents are not even Iraqis. Many of those we're fighting over there are outsiders trying to make a point.

I'm going to also have to disagree with you. I don't find "an eye for an eye" to be barbaric at all. Perhaps there will be divine justice invoked, perhaps not. Since we have no assurance of such, or understanding of how such a thing might work, serving justice here on Earth, where we can be certain that it occurs is acceptable. In fact, it's partly a good deterrent. It's partly good for everyone else's sanity to know that bad things really DO happen to bad people. It's good that those bad people do not become a drain on the resources of good people.

I got on AIM with some friends over there, both US military and Iraqi civilian, and they are kinda treating this like the elections. Yes, it's good that it happened, but the prevelant discussions are all about ongoing problems. Saddam's removal from power was rejoiced once upon a time, and cheering and dancing filled the streets. That's just not going on anymore. When Saddam was overthrown, there was a general sigh of releif and hope was back in Iraq for the fist time in 30 years. That hope isn't there anymore.

It's kinda like being sick on your birthday. You're happy to get the cake but you still feel like shit.

I read an interesting article in Foreign Affairs a few months ago that described the level of cluelessness that Saddam Hussein was ruling under, as a result of his informants being terrified of telling him bad news.

As for the execution, I don't know enough details about the trial and process of ruling to comment on it intelligently. I will admit I am surprised he was executed, as it seems it's a more common trend to lock these guys up for life, but not kill them.

How will it affect those in Iraq? No idea. I'd imagine they have mixed views just as other cultures do.

One of the first articles I saw reporting Saddam's death said something like, "After the hanging, gunfire, presumably celebratory, was heard in Baghdad."

.... "Presumably celebratory"? How could you tell the celebratory gunfire apart from all the OTHER gunfire in Baghdad these days? And what bald-faced editorialist is doing the presuming, exactly??

They should have chopped off his head and put it on a pike.


Just for kicks.

I don't think that anyone sees the hanging as a great thing, I mean he's gone but it doesn't solve any of their problems. Hopefully now people will concentrate on the real issues at hand. The whole Iraq issue will not be solved by one person dieing. It won't be solved by any number of people dieing.

As for the arguements that the trial was not fair: Think about it. Would a truly impartial group of people find him innocent? I would like to think not. And if they didn't chose the death penalty, Iraqis would be stuck paying for this guy to sit in a cell for the rest of his life (that's not cheap). So I think it is for the best.

we still shouldn't kill, at some point, we will know, for a fact, that we did execute an innocent person (sadam excluded) on that day, we all will be murders, and all deserve to die. if its to expensive, we need to stop giving them so much, cut there food with saw dust, put them to work.

I could not possibly agree with you more. Working prisoners instead of killing them is an excellent option, and state sponsered executions in an imperfect system means we always run the risk of killing the innocent.

If Saddam's people were less like sheep they'd have taken care of this long ago. Of course, sheep are not afraid, being very dim.
He was a wolf and I'm glad he's dead...good riddance.

So your going to celebrate over a man who killed thousands, tortured as many, and was eventually killed, himself, by hanging? That's sick (as in disgusting).
He was guilty of his crimes, but why does it make you guys happy? Its not like killing him cancels out all the people who died on his account. That people would rejoice over a man being executed is something I think is terribly off-balance and wrong.

Well, obviously.

However, people forget the US government promised the Kurds that if they attempted revolt against Saddam Hussein, we would assist the Kurds. We didnt lift a finger. In an indirect way, we caused that slaughter.

I dont think it is a good thing at all, to be perfectly honest. Killing one man may kill thousands more. Not worth it at all.

It will not only remain, it will increase. And I refuse to rejoice in an action that will cause a lot more problems.

There is nothing good to be gained in this eye-for-an-eye spectacle, only more violence.

I think both Dilbert and willravel made good points here. There are other, better ways to deal with criminals than the death penalty.

TY, can you imagine if we made Saddam work to rebuild Iraq? Working on a highway, building a hospital, or maybe handing out food.

Yeah, that'd never happen. You'd end up with the same result anyways. Tell him do this work or die...you just delay the death a few days.

Just say he's locked up and put him in a good disguse.

Edit: does your cutlass really have 270 hp?

Hell just had a cold spike…

Thanks onesnowyowl, I never see justification for killing someone who is subdued, unarmed, and no longer a threat. As for if they don’t want to work, give prisoners the least amount of food, shelter to get by, nothing more, if they work, they get things, work hard, more food, and more shelter. They are cooperative, hard workers, ‘model prisoners’ give them a TV or something like that.

I believe that, in treating other people the way that he did, in taking away their humanity, he lost the right to claim his.

I'm glad he's dead because he deserved to die. And I don't believe very many people deserve to die.