...no, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blhillaryclock.htm

All of The Usual Suspects are simply shocked, shocked that the Iraqi government, after a trial and appeal, is going to execute this bloody tyrant.

Even a Cardinal, purportedly speaking for the Catholic Church, says capital punishment is contrary to Catholicism. Dunno what Bible the good Cardinal got that from...not the one I read.

The man has gotten far more Due Process of Law than he ever gave any of his hundreds of thousands of victims.

Hanging Saddam Hussein is truly a just act and necessary for the good and safety of the Iraqi nation.

I like to see a very vigorous defence of tyrants like saddam.

that way there can be no reasonable accusations of railroading later.

his days are very numbered. note that if this trial was stateside he would have some 5 to 10 years worth of appeals ahead. go figure.

CBCpravda ---note the imploring pictures.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/28/saddam-lawyer.html

now if we could send Clifford Olson over as a counterweight we would be in business.

UN Human Rights Commissioner: Wait with Saddam execution

Reuters ^ | Dec 28, 2006
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called on Iraqi authorities to act with restraint in regards to the implementation of ousted tyrant Saddam Hussein's death sentence. "There were a number of concerns as to the fairness of the original trial, and there needs to be assurance that these issues have been comprehensively addressed. I call therefore on the Iraqi authorities not to act precipitately," Arbour said. ...-
free republic

Message from Citoyen Kyoto Dion: D'accord, and STOPIGGY, too.

So Saddam's going to have to pay for his tyranny of the people of Iraq. To many of these cock roaches end up in France; as as guests of there government, so as not to offend french sensibilities. There is a tear in my BEER for him. Yes no prayers.

do you think we could convince them to do a "Pay per View" ??

It would be way better that another Leaf's game

Very necessary if you don't take out the garbage life becomes impossible. Saddam got due process far more than the victems of his regime. No loss to humanity anyone who bleats for him should get the same treatment they are the enemy of civilisation and should not be tolerated least they poision the well we must all drink from. he was a piece of crap who fathered the same.

So the great Canadian Ms Arbour says to not punish him even if it is upheld....well the Israeli government can be glad that she wouldnt hang them for the war crimes she has convicted them of.

Now I am not a believer in capital punishment, solely because mistakes get made, and I am uncomfortable with the State having the power to kill citizens as a result of due process.

However, in this case there is no doubt that the punishment fits the crime. And there is no doubt of his guilt, and he was no regular citizen, a special punishmnet for a head of state and government.

the cries of protest would be pretty quiet and muffled from me anyway on this one.

LEts just hope his death will change things for the better, or at least not the worse and those who suffered under his rule will be able to move beyond.

“An ordinary clock” (tm PW) glimpsed in its brief moment of delusional utopian martyrdom

tic tic tic tock tock tock tock tock tock tock tock……beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

[deleted - wishing harm on those not convicted of this crime is crossing the line. Ed]

Love google:

England Swings (Roger Miller)

(D)Saddam Swings like a pendulum do,
A couple of his friends (A7)chemical Ali too-o-o,
(D)The war's not over (G)We still have good men
Saving the futures for the (A7)little child(D)ren,

Now, you huff and puff,
don't like guns on tv (A7)curl up on yer couch, or drive yer SUV,
(D)Take a tip before you (G)take your trip;
Let me tell you (D)where to go,
Go to (A7)Falujya,

Oh, (D)England Swings like a pendulum do,
Bobbies on bicycles, (A7)two by two,
(D)Westminster Abbey the (G)tower of Big Ben,
The (D)rosy red cheeks of the (A7)little child(D)ren,

I suppose the punishment will fit the crime, but is limited to the extent they can only hang the bastard once.

Isn't Louise Arbour simply precious?

"After his sentence was given, Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged Iraq to ensure a fair appeals process and to refrain from executing Saddam even if the sentence is upheld."

I've got news for ya, Louise. The appeal is automatic for a death sentence under Iraqi law, and the appeal was already held, and denied this past Tuesday. And Louise Arbour should be the last person in the world arguing for the abandonment of the rule of law simply because she dislikes the result.

Furthermore, representatives of the UN, which colluded with Saddam Hussein to create the largest fraud in the history of the world (Oil for Food scandal) really ought to keep their mouths shut regarding Saddam Hussein. Or Iraq. Come to think of it, it may be high time to put the League of Nations part deux out of its misery, too.

I'm not generally a fan of the death sentence, my litmus test being "could I throw the switch?"

I'm okay with this.

From "Groatian Moment" blog:

"Over the next few days, critics will undoubtedly pick apart various aspects of the Dujail Opinion. The English translation is a bit awkward, the text is redundant, and the prose certainly won’t be compared to the opinions of Oliver Wendell Homes or Learned Hand. But even the harshest critics of the Tribunal will have to admit that it did a competent job writing its Opinion, and that the Opinion does answer many of the questions about the fairness of the process.

On December 3, 2006, the Defense Counsel filed lengthy briefs appealing various aspects of the Dujail Judgment and Opinion. These will be considered and a final Appeals Chamber decision issued in a few months. Whatever the outcome, the 298-page Dujail Trial Chamber Opinion accomplished one of the most important goals of international justice. Much like the multi-volume set containing the judgment of the World War II Nuremberg Tribunal that is available at every law library in the world, the Dujail Trial Opinion sets forth a detailed and credible historic record, which may one day play a positive role in the establishment of peace in Iraq."

I'm not sure what the controversy is with Saddam's upcoming execution. He was tried by an Iraqi court for multiple murders, which seem to be well documented and are only a small percentage of the murders that are allegedly attributed to him. Why are the usual suspects over here making such a fuss?
I remember a few years ago when Benazir Bhutto's father was tried by a Pakistani court and hanged for allegedly authorizing the murder of a single person; nothing near the same scale as Saddam's crimes, and there was hardly a peep heard from the (usually) chattering classes who are making such a ruckus now. I suspect that what we are seeing today is a manifestation of BDS. If Bill Clinton were in the White House, I would expect the same response to Saddam's execution as there was with the Bhutto execution.

Thank God he wasn't tried and convicted in North America. Taxpayers would be shelling out for a decade or more of 3 ring circus appeals.

In Saddam's case, the punishment fits the crime, and the sooner the better.

As a Christian, I'm not sure that I like anyone being sentenced to death by hanging, the guillotine seems faster and surer.

That being said, may God be the final judge on his life.

www.clocklink.com do countdown clocks but you need to know WHEN he's a gonna swing!

as mean spirited carmudgeon, Saddam can suffer the fate of his enemies, in the manner of his enemies. Anyone have a can of mustard gas handy?

BTW, tickerfactory.com is but one place for those things.

Television networks have to make a decision about how they will broadcast Saddam Hussein's execution as early as this weekend. Do you believe his hanging should be available to be seen on Canadian television screens?
Yes, Canadians need to see Saddam get what he deserves
34.4%
No, executions are gruesome affairs that do not belong on television
64.1%
Other, mornings@cfra.com
1.35%
Total Votes: 148
cfra.com

I'm for letting him live. In a cell. With one television. Tuned to the View. Until eternity.

Interesting how CFRA worded the question, that's what I would call it an introduction to bias. It should be yes, no, opinion unformed.

We will not have a similar outcome after the 1 to 2 year media/lawyer fest of the Robert Picton trial.

The new courthouse being built in Calgary is going to be "terrorist proof" all special materials. Seems to me since it is full of lawyers and criminals we should have built it from paper mache and sawdust mixed with sterno.

Hunter,
By the end of the French revolution, some guillotine blades were so dull from hitting vertebrae that often, victims were effectively bludgeoned to death by the blade, or had their necks stretched and dislocated, resulting in paralysis or they were killed from a crushing injury...I have read where often the executioner had to help the head off the body by using a little muscle and a few tugs and twists..

When done correctly,hanging is a near 100% effective way of putting a person to death.

Hanging would be humane compared to the 'executions' manifested by Saddam and his two sociopath sons. Feeding people to lions, anyone?. Hmmmmm. I wonder if some of the lions at the Kuwait City Zoo that were shot, wounded, and left to suffer by Iraqi troops in 1990 are still around & looking for a snack?
Oh, forget it....I agree with shaken.

Feeling a little to the right of Atilla the Hun today, Kate? While he can't begin to suffer enough for his crimes, at least not in an earthly sense, relishing his execution is slightly disturbing as well.

the trick is to make sure the knot in the rope is positioned just so, and the drop is enough to wrench and snap the neck.

adios saddam. tick tick tick ......

Actually Tom, if you're to be historically and ideologically accurate in your criticism of my "relishing" the prospect of a state-sponsored execution, you're probably better to accuse me of being a "little to the left" of Joseph Stalin or Mao Tse-Tung.

Waste of a good rope, you ask me. I understand there's a really big plastic shreding machine down there that hasn't seen much use since Saddam got deposed, maybe they could fire that sucker up for one last fling.

Live by the plastic shreder...

so true Kate. the lefties easily win this horror

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democide

Apropos of the apparently imminent hanging of Saddam Hussein, the US Library of Congress has available online the digitized versions of the famous Alexander Gardner photographs he made of the June 1865 execution by hanging of the four Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators.

These are, to say the least, remarkable photos. (As they're US government property, they're therefore under copyright-trademark-patent common law, not copyrighted and available for public use.)

A technical note about hangings: the so-called "hangman's noose" is the knot used with 1/2" to 3/4" rope, with the noose drawn snugly about the throat just below the jaw, with the large knot directly under either the left or right ear. When the condemned is dropped, it's typically a five to six foot drop. (The Lincoln execution photos include several before and one after photo that illustrate this.) The momentum of the fall, the knot and the abrupt jerking at the end serve to instantly break the condemned's neck when he drops the length of the rope, causing (if done properly) instantaneous death.

As a further historical footnote, the hanging of the four Lincoln conspirators was done correctly. They had a lot of experience in hanging of murderers in those days.

The fate of the first group of Nuremberg Tribunal condemned wasn't as lucky. The hangman, a US Army MP Sergeant and official hangman from the military prison at Leavenworth, botched the job. Some of the hanged nearly had their heads cut off, causing a bloody, foul mess below the gallows. Some of those convicted Nuremberg defendants not sentenced to death were made to clean up the blood and other body substances off the floor.

(Kate, as a matter of historical interest and pertinence, you might want to download and post those Lincoln assassin execution photographs. So far as I know, they're the only known official photographs of a hanging, in any Western nation. Apropos, given the upcoming identical fate of Saddam Hussein.)

"Saddam Hussein Hanging LIVE Thread

Since it now seems very imminent, I decided that it was an appropriate time to start this up. Links to information and pictures (if we get them) can be posted here."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759930/posts

The macabre, ghoulish public (gallows) execution is now used to describe every sort of party, otherwise known as a 'gala' event.

See, now when did it become our perogative to dole out justice? I understand keeping him locked up where he can't hurt anyone else but killing him? I'm not one of those weird activists either, I'm just honestly asking, what ends will this achieve? Saddam WANTS to die, he's all excited cause he gets to be a martyr.

Posted by: Tom at December 29, 2006 10:16 AM

...just to clarify, that was another "tom", but I'm sure the IP addy would give it away.

"what ends will this achieve? Saddam WANTS to die, he's all excited cause he gets to be a martyr"

I don't think that he wants to die, if he did he would have come out of that hole guns a blazing.
He knows the inevitable is coming and he's trying to put on a brave face, imo.

See, now when did it become our perogative to dole out justice?

What are you talking about? This justice was doled out by Saddam's fellow Iraqis.

what ends will this achieve?

I have taken the liberty of copying this reply on the Captain's Quarters blog by jdwhit:

Something to think about for those of you apposed to the death penalty under any circumstance. Suppose that Saddam was given a life sentence and locked away in some impenetrable jail cell with no possibility of escape or parole. How long do you think would pass before some jihad lunatic threatened death and destruction of innocents, held hostages, or threatened a WMD attack to gain his release. Do you really think that he would be locked away to never be heard from again? We have no choice but to execute him if we want to be rid of him.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought this exact type of crime is what the World Court at the Hague was supposed to be for. Now, why wasn't Hussein tried there? So I have to ask--why was this trial even held in Iraq?
Many of the crimes Hussein has been convicted of were committed while he was a friend of the US. Nothing was done then, not until they decided to atack Iraq. something smells here.

FOX cites an AP source: To take place sometime before 6 AM, Baghdad time.

www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=27

I'd feel better about this if Saddam was tried in the Hague, but, unfortunately (and, unlike Nuremberg), the Hague court does not have the death penalty.
I agree with those who have suggested
we feel pity for anyone in this position, but we also need to remember what this guy did. As well, it may make other dictators re-think their actions.
As it is, it looks like victor's justice, but despots who win wars are rather reluctant to submit themselves to justice.

What gets me is the "now you've really got them p*ssed off, and they're really going to be trying to kill Coalition troops and civilians now" crap. Yeah, the Baathist and Sadamite dead-enders have been holding back all these years now, until now. (Didn't the Left say the same thing about killing Zawaqari?)

He was no good but he'll be dead soon and that is fine by me.

Hang in there Saddam!

Saddam is being executed by Iraq because he was found guilty in Iraqi courts of ordering the mass murder of over 100 Iraqi innocent men and boys in retaliation for an assassination attempt.

The only person who would argue for jurisdiction to be transferred to the Hague is a person who wants to see him walk free or spared through unending legal arguments for the rest of his natural life.

George, when Hussein was a friend of the US they didn't want to kill him. Then the US was at war with Iraq--these changes happen, George--and now supports the Iraqis who want to kill him after a fair trial.

What smells is your inability to adjust yourself to reality rather than blame the US and probably Bush.

Get over it.

P.S. Since when is the International Court a reliable or even legitimate body? On what grounds, George?

Usually as a rule I don't like the death penalty for several reasons.

1) A few innocent always get caught up in the system.

2) I think its too quick. The perpetrator should be put in a hole for 40 years.

3) I think life is sacred, & being a Christian I have reservations on taking upon oneself the prerogatives of God. Worse, allowing the State to have them.

There are exceptions though. In this case all Saddams being kept alive would result in. Is a whirlpool of more death in his name. Factions using him as there brand name. This is more like curing an infection from a body than just one man's just death for individual criminal actions. This is no martyr. He was a warlord & will die as such. As a symbol of death the Iraqis want him gone. As an individual, his killings where enough to gag a serial killer. All done at the behest of his own self.

He justified his genocidal murder both personnel & political as the will of the State. He was the one who instigated the chemical bombings, wars & such. Of personnel slaughter , we even have him shooting an opponent in there so called Parliament at the time on tape. A man completely lawless.

All know the proclivities of his sadistic son's.
Of his guilt there is no doubt.

The Louise Arbour's of the world. In other words our self made aristocracy. Are as scared as the nobles with their Kings where about Killing monarchs or the elite in the age of tyrants. They consider themselves above the law, so are appalled when a ruler or leader like themselves get justice. They fear justice for there own crimes. Its why in Canada are no big wigs involved in adscam who are now in jail. The rulers have always feared the “mob” as they call it. It why so much distain was heaped on America, when it didn’t have “there betters” running a nation. The commoners running the government? How vulgar , was the usual European sentiment.

In one way or another your sins catch up with you eventually. God will judge this man.

Saddam's execution will serve as a powerful symbol to all the dictators in the region. Don't think that they won't feel a chill go up their spine as they realize the very same thing could happen to them.

So while I might have favored popping his top as soon as he was spotted in the spider hole, I have to admit that the public relations benefit to an execution will be extremely valuable.

I will also say that anytime some monster kills a bunch of people along with the other horrible things, their final punishment on all of us is forcing us to deal with them. Because of their horrible deeds, they make it the responsibility of good people to administer justice. Most of the time the people offing them would rather not have to contaminate themselves by killing anyone ever. But people like Saddam administer one last coup de grace on us all by making us take their lives as well. (Of course by that time, knocking him off has become a pleasure to look forward to; in my part of the country a hundred years ago, families flocked to a public hanging, bringing picnic lunches.)

">>>Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, who also appealed in U.S. court, is expected to be executed along with Saddam. Also slated for execution is Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief.

Oh, good. A three-fer."

Comment Free Republic.

Any newss about Baghdad Bob?

George, when Hussein was a friend of the US they didn't want to kill him

It is a silly exaggeration to say that Saddam was ever a friend of the US. Less bad than Iran is probably more accurate at the time. I think it was Kissinger that said "It's a pity they can't both lose".

Also it was the Soviet Union, France and Germany who sold Saddam practically all of his weapons back then. The US barely registered on the scale.

Thanks, randall. You're quite right.

I'd feel better about this if Saddam was tried in the Hague, but....

The same Hague, that useless, worthless entity, like the UN, that after four years of ongoing hearings let Milosevic, the Butcher of the Balkans, die peacefully in his sleep without a conclusion.

Saddam should have summarily been executed right after they pulled him from his spider hole in keeping with the attitude of Winston Churchill at the end of WWII. He wasn't enamored with the Nuremberg Trial as a necessary event. Who really was it meant to protect or comfort at that point? He felt that the identifiable high ranking Nazi scum should have just been shot on sight.

IMO you are not 'left' of Stalin or Lenin or Mo tse Kate.

The 'left' thought group kills/tortures people who threaten the absolute power of 'the state'; the people of Iraq were at the mercy of Saddam and his thugs just as the people of Cuba are at the mercy of Castro. All tyrants are of the same ilk; they all rule by force; the people of such nations are subjects; their existance is dependant on the whims of the thug all of the time.

Saddam Hussein was cruel and evil in the extreme and he preyed on his own subjects with impunity. The power of a person over the life and death of millions of people is intoxicating. Sometimes the brain of those who attain absolute power curls into an Medusa head - evil only and a feeling of immortality.

People in North America have no clue of how life was in Iraq when Saddam ruled there because we have elected heads of state who are responsible to the citizens of Canada. We had a PM who robbed from us and lied to us about BIG things. We booted him out of power. In Iraq the people had no choice, they had to live in a atmosphere of fear and repression all the time with no end in sight. The people of Iraq did not have any rights at all when Saddam ran the show.

IMO, hanging a man, who gleefully pulled the entrails out of living people, is a act of kindness to the people who had their souls torn apart while this monster (Saddam) was ruling their country. If he was allowed to live the people he destroyed and tortured would have no vindication. Saddam will never be a 'martyr' to the people who matter; just as Stalin is not a martyr in Russia.

I cannot remember who said "Chaos is the absence of Justice" but IMO this statement fits the Iraq situation today. When Saddam hangs the 'absence of Justice' will be rectified to a degree and the situation in Iraq will take a sharp turn for the better for the citizens of that country. Saddam's disgraceful death will send a message to the people of Iraq that Justice has returned to their country.

You are on the side of Justice, IMO, Kate.

I wonder if Saddam will scream for mercy as loud as his victims did? Or will he die for the evil crimes he commited (unlike his victims)?

A day of days indeed. May he rot in HELL.

Revnant Dreams / Greg In Dallas. Excellent comments. The execution of this tyrant is a duty. It is not a task that needs to be enjoyed.

'They don't care whether it is Eid or respect Eid as a religious day. They just want to carry out a wish which was made by [U.S. President George] Bush months and months ago.'
-Najeeb al-Nauimi

CBCpravda put this in bold just to make sure we knew it was GWBs fault.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm

For Immediate Release:
February 25, 2003

For more information contact:
Joyce Battle (202) 994-7145

(Right: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983.)

Go to the Electronic Briefing Book

U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN IN EARLY 1980s
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Fear of Iraq Collapse in Iran-Iraq War Motivated Reagan Administration Support;
U.S. Goals Were Access to Oil, Projection of Power, and Protection of Allies;
Rumsfeld Failed to Raise Chemical Weapons Issue in Personal Meeting with Saddam

Washington, D.C., 25 February 2003 - The National Security Archive at George Washington University today published on the Web a series of declassified U.S. documents detailing the U.S. embrace of Saddam Hussein in the early 1980's, including the renewal of diplomatic relations that had been suspended since 1967. The documents show that during this period of renewed U.S. support for Saddam, he had invaded his neighbor (Iran), had long-range nuclear aspirations that would "probably" include "an eventual nuclear weapon capability," harbored known terrorists in Baghdad, abused the human rights of his citizens, and possessed and used chemical weapons on Iranians and his own people. The U.S. response was to renew ties, to provide intelligence and aid to ensure Iraq would not be defeated by Iran, and to send a high-level presidential envoy named Donald Rumsfeld to shake hands with Saddam (20 December 1983).

The declassified documents posted today include the briefing materials and diplomatic reporting on two Rumsfeld trips to Baghdad, reports on Iraqi chemical weapons use concurrent with the Reagan administration's decision to support Iraq, and decision directives signed by President Reagan that reveal the specific U.S. priorities for the region: preserving access to oil, expanding U.S. ability to project military power in the region, and protecting local allies from internal and external threats. The documents include:

A U.S. cable recording the December 20, 1983 conversation between Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein. Although Rumsfeld said during a September 21, 2002 CNN interview, "In that visit, I cautioned him about the use of chemical weapons, as a matter of fact, and discussed a host of other things," the document indicates there was no mention of chemical weapons. Rumsfeld did raise the issue in his subsequent meeting with Iraqi official Tariq Aziz.
National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 114 of November 26, 1983, "U.S. Policy toward the Iran-Iraq War," delineating U.S. priorities: the ability to project military force in the Persian Gulf and to protect oil supplies, without reference to chemical weapons or human rights concerns.
National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 139 of April 5, 1984, "Measures to Improve U.S. Posture and Readiness to Respond to Developments in the Iran-Iraq War," focusing again on increased access for U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf and enhanced intelligence-gathering capabilities. The directive calls for "unambiguous" condemnation of chemical weapons use, without naming Iraq, but places "equal stress" on protecting Iraq from Iran's "ruthless and inhumane tactics." The directive orders preparation of "a plan of action designed to avert an Iraqi collapse."
U.S. and Iraqi consultations about Iran's 1984 draft resolution seeking United Nations Security Council condemnation of Iraq's chemical weapons use. Iraq conveyed several requests to the U.S. about the resolution, including its preference for a lower-level response and one that did not name any country in connection with chemical warfare; the final result complied with Iraq's requests.
The 1984 public U.S. condemnation of chemical weapons use in the Iran-Iraq war, which said, referring to the Ayatollah Khomeini's refusal to agree to end hostilities until Saddam Hussein was ejected from power, "The United States finds the present Iranian regime's intransigent refusal to deviate from its avowed objective of eliminating the legitimate government of neighboring Iraq to be inconsistent with the accepted norms of behavior among nations and the moral and religious basis which it claims."

George:

I don't understand where you are going with your post. All of what you say took place 20 or more years ago under many different administrations. It's past history. World events change and statagies must change also. Since 9/11 we are in a new era.

If it makes you feel better George - light a candle.

"So Damn Insane" only had his minions kill over two million Iraqi's of all backgrounds, he even had his two son in laws murdered. Does he deserve to swing at the end of the rope? Duh!

I hope they are going to have the courage to bury this creep in pigskin. Otherwise, he may become a martyr to his tribe.

Bazoo--but Hussein is being hung for the crimes of 20 years ago--you overlook US complicity in the crimes because it was under another administration? Has the former US administration(including Rumsfeld) been hung for their complicity in the crimes?
BTW--Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11

George
You also need to check out the case of USS Stark, and its aftermath. Rather shocking!

Cheers

Iraqi Sites Guide - The Massgraves

Victims of Saddam's Regime

http://www.9neesan.com/massgraves/
(via LGF)

(Warning: Graphic)

Executing Saddam won't improve the situation in Iraq"

Maybe not, but the world will suffer one less asshole.

George,

As far I can tell Hussein isn't being hung by the Iraqi government for 9/11.

But if it makes you feel better - it's George Bush's fault.

Done; 10 min ago

Saddam has hung.

Banner at the top of CNN.com:

"Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is dead -- executed by hanging for killings committed during a brutal crackdown nearly 25 years ago –- Iraqi TV stations report."

Yap, Iraqi media reporting he has been hanged...

It would be fitting if he was buried wrapped in a pig's carcass...no virgins for YOU, Saddam...

Anyone want to bet how long it will take before the video is posted on YouTube? I'm guessing within the hour.

So Saddam has joined the domain of the dead dictators with Castro (he's still on ice) this year.

Boo Hoo.

It's been a good year for dead tyrants. Saddam, Castro, and running a distant third, Pinochet. (I give Pinochet some credit for peacefully ceding power and leaving his country in relatively good shape - very unusual for tyrants.)

Here's hoping Kim Il-Dong gets terminal syphilis.

JM Heinrichs--check out the story of the USS Liberty--then ask yourself why that was OK when it was Israel that killed the US sailors?

Saddam Hussein 'Red Carded' by his own people!
Exactly as it should be.
CBC's Neil MacDonald notwithstanding.
The George Bush anti-American CBC spin is on full bore, even before Hussein is removed from the gallows!

I hope Dan Rather and Eason Jordan feel proud today, for having primped their own careers on the backs of the victims of this rotting piece of meat.

Rest in Pain, funnyman...

The Iraqi ambassador to the UN was just on Anderson Cooper's CNN show for about half an hour (and is still on the panel of "experts"), and he was brilliant in describing the situation in Iraq right now. I have to give credit to CNN for giving him so much airtime when his message doesn't really fit in with the usual leftie groupthink about Iraq.

George, don't be a bozo. It was never "okay".

Israel paid six million dollars in reparations.

You and -the Tribe- always refer to the Liberty but for some reason never talk about the Pueblo.

Somewhat OT: I just looked at cnn.com and english.aljazeera.net. At CNN there is a story "Somali prime minister arrives to cheers in Mogadishu." On Al Jazeera there is a story "Anti-Ethiopian protest in Mogadishu -
The Somalian PM arrives as thousands protest against Ethiopian presence." Interesting.

Anderson Cooper is doing his dammdest to blame Bush and the US for this hanging. Will chretain go to his funeral, to protect his oil interests in Iraq. AC can harldy wait to post the pics of the hanging. Saddam killed over 2 million of his own people, and caused massive hardship on the rest of them. Oil for Food comes to mind. I want someone to tell me why they say the US has killed over 600,000 Iraq civilians. Where are the bodies. If that many have been killed, it is by muslims killing muslims.
OT, but I have complained to the cbc for showing that black rock all those pilgrims are going around, it offends me, as it is a religious symbol glorifying some religious holiday in mecca. Wonder if all the muslim terrorists have made their pilgrimage to mecca. Burn in hell saddam and your brothers with you. May you meet your sons and grandson there.

Uhhhh George:

I have read a lot about the Liberty. It remains the most exhaustively investigated incident in US Naval history (between the US and Israel - total of 10 formal inquiries, if I remember correctly).

Yes not all answers are satisfying...yes, there are still reasonable people who feel that there are unanswered questions...but no one has ever said that it was all "OK."

concrete is correct, Israel paid reparations, apologized up the wazoo...what else can be done?

And even if you still think that forgiveness came too easily and that there was some sort of cover-up...what would satisfy you? The President at the time was LBJ (Democrat)...and almost ever US senator that has since vowed to take up the cause to investigate further - a list that includes Ted Kennedy - have been Democrats. And they always come back saying that there is nothing more to uncover.

I'm sure someone has some reason as to why this is a Republican conspiracy that somehow involves George W. Bush...but I don't see it.

George made the following unsubstantiated and prejudicial statement,
"but Hussein is being hung for the crimes of 20 years ago--you overlook US complicity in the crimes because it was under another administration? "

A handshake does not equate to complicity. If it did then Canada is complicit in Castro's crimes.

Anderson Cooper is doing his dammdest to blame Bush and the US for this hanging.

Rubbish. I have been watching. You must have the channel on some other network or inhabit some alternate universe. You have lost credibility in my opinion.

AC can harldy wait to post the pics of the hanging

And I can hardly wait to see them. If you are squeamish change the channel.

We know him well
He cannot tell
Untrue or groundless tales-
He always tries
To utter lies,
And every time he fails.

The Mikado

Anderson Cooper continues to have the Iraqi UN ambassador on for comment. The "worst" thing that AC did was ask him whether the Iraqi gov't leaking info to Al Hurra (the US backed network) showed that they were a "puppet" of the US. Faisal dispatched this easily and they went on about Saddam and his horrors, and the painful period Iraqis continue to go through. Mary T you are too paranoid.

Ambassador Faisel on Anderson Cooper's show on CNN:

"Today is a day of reflection on what evil can accomplish, given time and resources."

CNN coverage was atrocious, up until the point they had the Iraqi ambassador on. He very effectively laid waste the ridiculous commentary that preceeded him.

listening to 101fm in Vancouver and the announcer sounded like he was ready to cry, made me want to give him a good slap upside the head. 'course what can you expect living here in the land of fruits and nuts?

Also it was the Soviet Union, France and Germany who sold Saddam practically all of his weapons back then. The US barely registered on the scale.

Germany was the main chemical supplier for Saddam. However, the 3 main suppliers for arms to Saddam's military were:

1) USSR - 57%
2) France - 13%
3) China - 12%

These 3 countries supplied 82% of Saddam's arms. The USA? A whopping 1%. And guess which 3 countries on the UN Security Council did everything they could to halt the liberation of Iraq...

My source? A Swedish Peace Institute--SIPRI. The original SIPRI link has expired, but here is a copy of SIPRI's findings:
http://www.command-post.org/archives/002978.html

CNN, click ' Muslim Americans dance in the street'

Reporter; All the Muslim Americans here in Dearborn are jubilant that Saddam is dead. They made comments such as 'now the Iraqi people, and we here in America, can get on with our lives knowing we are now safe, thank you, thank you.'

And the apologists, like The UN's (Canadian) Louise Arbour ??, ahh, maybe he should have a chance.

I bet the Leftstream Media is hoping and praying there is at least one bombing in Bagdad tomorrow. "Bringing Saddam to Justice is making the terrorists kill innocent Iraqi's, Blah Blah". Sick.

Maz2, thanks for the link to "Victims of Saddam's Regime".

I couldn't help but go through all 74 slides of pictures. I was left with the overwhelming thought that Saddam's reign of terror is exactly to the Iraqi people what the Holocaust is to the Jews. The sheer density of death in the pictures from the link shows the zeal in which Saddam's butchers carried out the carnage. It was hard to stomach but the pictures put Saddam's execution in vivid context...a job the lefty media is incapable of doing.

IT IS a new day in Iraq. Saddam's death will be celebrated...and rightly so - justice has finally been done to one of the world's most vicious murderers in a place where lefties fear to tread. The Iraqi people have a real reason to hope for a better future now that Saddam can't come back. Good job and god bless, G.W.B.

Saddam Insane stretches -

Can't wait until Our Lady of Perpetual Misery's avatar Peter "Cluck" Mansbridge puts on his best shocked, disbelieving and
angry face on The National.

The America hating Terrorist lovers that infest the CBC and the Toronto media in general will be in full squeeeel.

Stuck Pigs of Canada - Unite!!!!!!

the equivalent to roadkill, he thought he was headed for virgins, lots 'n lots o' virgins. I wonder if the virgins wear birquas

The trial/execution of the ex-dictator/ruler of a Muslim state, Saddam Hussein,

is a first in history. ...-

Does medieval Islam have lessons for today?

Excerpt:

"the only instance where a Muslim ruler was put on trial was in Samarkand in 1095 when Ahmed Khan was put before a panel of jurists and judges who ultimately charged him, not with bad government, but with apostasy." ...

According to the classic Islamic view, she said, it is religion that creates the state and the government belongs to God. If God is taken out of the equation, medieval Muslims thought it would leave only individuals whowould do what they pleased. All Muslims also believed themselves to be slaves of God, not man. The rights and duties of a Muslim were set out in the Sharia, it was believed. — Khalid Hasan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-5-2004_pg7_50

As for the pundits predicting a civil war as a result of Saddams hanging, do you mean to tell me that the Sunnis have been keeping this insurgency thing at an idle awaiting the outcome of the trial?

`Moderate` Sunnis who happily benefited from the terror parsed out by the Saddam loyalist Sunnis, are realizing any chance to regain their day in the sun has just come to a close.

Saddam died for his crimes and symbolically for his governments and peoples crimes. If there is to be forgiveness and conciliation between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq, my thought is that Saddams hanging will help, not hurt.

I actually tuned into CBC Newsworld this morning for coverage of Saddam's execution. Silly me.

The young, female talking head was dour, dull, and spoke in a monotone. But the spin was very lively: that the execution would probably provoke islamic extremists--as if they aren't always provoked by the most minor of events--and cause lots of violence and bad things in Iraq--as if that's not "business as usual". Only problem? There was no evidence of a huge backlash in Iraq. I couldn't take this propaganda for more than a few minutes. Damn CBC.

So I checked out Fox News. There, many Iraqis were saying how pleased they were with the execution of this tyrant. (I wonder if CBC ever got around to such interviews.)

I keep up a lively correspondence with the CBC ombudsman--for documentation only: do I expect fairness? No way! The CBC ALWAYS says I'm mistaken in my criticism. Does the CBC actually make a compelling case? No. It simply proclaims its "correctness": "We're right [left!?] and you're not. So there."

The sooner CBC "news" is history, the better.

Randlal. You obviously did not see all the coverage on cnn thruout the day. Almost everyone questioned or interviewed was asked some question trying to implicate the US. The ambassador did put AC in his place with his stmts. The body language and facial expressions of AC said it all. Sort of reminded me of his horrible coverage of Katrina, which again was very biased. And for those complaining about the trial, human rights violations etc, this trial took place in Iraq, under their laws and customs. Canadas laws and customs and human rights had no place there.
Terrorist muslims have just killed more civilian muslims with 3 car bombs. The biggest problem with all the leftist wackos in Canada is they think that when they travel, they are subject to canada lax legal system. Will taliban jack go to the funeral in Iraq and offer condolences.

anyone else except CBCpravda remember relentless bombing of bagdad in the first gulf war?
a chronology
http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/nirq050.htm

CBCpravdas take on it.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/29/saddam-dead.html

AP, via Forbes.com: "Vatican Spokesman Denounces Execution" - http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/12/30/ap3289404.html

A, that's rich, from the organization that has probably been responsible for the largest aggregate number of human deaths by human hands in recorded history...

Well, judging by much of the commentary on this blog, people here would like to imprison, torture, and kill "moonbats" and "lefties". You don't disaprove Stalin's actions; you disaprove the cause in the name of which he claimed to perform them. This is confirmed by your support of American foreign policy over the years, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

Yes, I know what the counter-argument will be: something variant of "you're an idiot". Let's just take it as said, shall we? In fact, I'll post the reply for you.

exile, you're an idiot. You're stupid. you're a moonbat. You're a cheese-eating surrender monkey.

correction: "some variant"

And apparently illiterate, too.

I'm sorry, I just fed a troll; I am so weak. Maybe gene therapy will rid me of the social dystrophia that seems to signal that minor character flaw deep from my lineage somwhere...

Media " .. eliminating a brutal dictator may(they hope)unleash more violence .." Like the cartoons did ??

sarge here. yes the tyrant is dead-wonder what the hurry was-perhaps old bushs 1st thing what went as planned. sarge awaits the other foot to drop ie the handing over of them other mass war criminals to the iraqi civil authority bush runmmie and cheney. sarge has no love of old sadam but wonders if bush will be brave enough to forgo the hood or will he wet his pants while crying out for his somewhat dehydrated mommy?

See Provocateur's comments on the Hussein execution

http://provocateurjim.blogspot.com/

The Saddam deathwatch is over, now we can start watching the MSM to see who is the first 'journalist' to elevate Saddam above Ghandi.
I'm guessing a week or two.

How's it hanging?

exile:

You did a great job of dissing yourself. Now do me a favour and bitch-slap yourself across the head, OK?

I'm disappointed. Not a single blogger or media outlet referred to Saddam's execution as "the mother of all hangings". Look for yourself:

http://www.google.ca/search?q=the+mother+of+all+hangings

I mean...the headline was just begging to be used.

My sympathy and condolences to his remaining family members. I share the rejoice to the Kurds and Shia of the removal of the haunting spectre of the thought od another Hussein ever ruling over them again.Probably sucks to be a Sunni or Bat'thst today, but who cares?

Raghad, aka "Little Saddam", is alive.
As Jeancula Chretien once said, da proof is da proof is proven. ...-

Dictator's daughter told her father would hang as she enjoyed beauty salon

She was relaxing in the Dazzle beauty salon awaiting a hot stone body scrub when she got the call.

It was obviously something important or her personal assistant would not have risked invoking her volcanic temper by passing her the mobile phone mid-treatment.

Indeed it was. On the end of the line was a lawyer telling her that Saddam Hussein had lost his appeal and would hang by the end of the week.

And the tall, slim woman who paled as she received this news was the tyrant's redoubtable eldest daughter Raghad.

There was much arm-waving, cursing and shrieking. But as a member of staff noted when she recounted the story to another customer, this kind of behaviour from Raghad is hardly unusual.

In the beauty salon, and elsewhere in the Jordanian capital Amman, the 39-year-old mother of five, who is nicknamed "Little Saddam' because her temperament so closely resembles that of her father, is much-feared.

And like her father during his brutal reign, she is used to getting her own way, although unlike him she has relied on nothing sharper than her tongue.

Number 16 on the Iraqi government's most wanted list, Raghad took charge of family affairs after the capture of the dictator, assembling the international team of lawyers to defend him.

On the death of her brothers Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in July 2003, Raghad and her sister Rana fled Iraq for neighbouring Jordan where, protected by paramilitary police officers, they are guests of the royal family.

It is not clear how much of her father's money Raghad escaped with, although if the stories about his ex-wives fleeing with millions in cash and gold bars are to be believed, she is unlikely to have been neglected.

Given her father's notoriety, one might expect Raghad to lead an anonymous, if not a humble, life in exile, especially as her mother Sajida and Saddam's three other wives all but disappeared without trace following the fall of Baghdad and are said to live under assumed names.

But Raghad, not one to shrink from the public gaze, went on TV on more than one occasion, at least in the months immediately after her father's capture, to defend him.

Of his arrest, she said: "Saddam was tranquillised when captured. He would be a lion even when caged. Every honest person who knows Saddam knows that he is firm and powerful." ...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760589/posts

The Toronto Sun has an excellent lead editorial today , "How the West Could be Lost". In it, the West's almost blanket condemnation--Canada didn't join it, quite--of the hanging of Saddam, which was carried out after he was "fairly tried in an Iraqi court, judged by Iraqis and executed by them for crimes against Iraqis." Did the West protest the mass murders committed under his regime, usually with no trial or after the deliberations of a kangaroo court? No.

"Less and less in the West these days--thanks to the insidious doctrine of moral equivalence--do we seem capapble of unequivocally condemning evil [what's THAT?], even when it is staring us right in the face.

"Rest assured, thought, that our enemies are watching our timid, politically correct reactions. And learning. And plotting."

As I've said many times in many threads, this insidious moral equivalence, which levels the playing field only for the miscreants--good guys lose out, big time--is alive and well in our public school systems--and a whole lot of other systems besides. When the battle comes here, as it well may, will Canada have enough citizens of the calibre of our fine military men and women fighting for us now? I seriously have my doubts.

The almost complete collapse of moral fortitude in the politically correct gulags of the West is a tragedy. A stupid one.

http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=true&token=863ce7d4a3&p=59122&s=1

Yes, Virginia, the Euroweenies are repulsive, Citoyen Dion included. ...-

Media 'repulsed' by Saddam footage

AFP Sunday, December 31, 2006 20:23 IST

LONDON: Commentators and the media across Europe expressed shock and unease on Sunday at graphic television pictures showing the last moments of Saddam Hussein just before his execution.

Images of the fallen Iraqi dictator with a noose around his neck, surrounded by hooded xecutioners,[sic] horrified a continent which does not use capital punishment, even though the actual death was not shown.

"The images of Saddam Hussein with a noose around his neck are extremely disturbing and unnecessary," said Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of Britain's second opposition Liberal Democrat party, which opposed the Iraq war.

Patrick Baudouin, honorary president of FIDH (the International Federation of Human Rights), said he was "repulsed by images representing an extremely unhealthy voyeurism".

He added that it reminded him of the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu in 1989.

"The footage of the execution shocked the whole world," the Austrian daily Oesterreich said...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760716/posts

I find the debate on wether or not Sadam should be executed or not to be rather silly. Why is it any of our business. Iraq belongs to Iraqis, its their country and its for them to run not us.