Saddam has been executed

[Ecthy]

There has been no lynching in the first place you know.

[Colon™]

That picture is bizarre. Leather jackets? Ski masks? For a moment I thought the execution had been outsourced to bank-robbers.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
You can watch the CNN video showing Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan dancing in the street instead, GP .

God, they are so ****ing lame (CNN). Can't get ANYTHING done in country. What a bunch of potatoheads.

[TCO]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


It prevents him from ever being freed (either through direct action or executive action) and stirring up more trouble. Which, unlike the situation in the first world, is a very real possibility for those being held by Iraqi authorities. Which is why executions in Iraq are justified for serious crimes.

When a society does not have the means to securely isolate criminals for the rest of their lives then execution becomes a justifiable course of action.

The only way around this would have been to have the US hold him indefinitely outside Iraq. And I see no particular reason he should receive preferential treatment in this regard when compared with common murderers, rapists, kidnappers and robbers (whose execution is also justifiable given Iraq's present condition). So to avoid executions by Iraq the US would have needed to commit to paying for the maintenance of thousands of foreign prisoners indefinitely, which is an excessive burden.

Bingo. Prize goes to Kitty, who understands this is about politics, not about justice. And rightly so.

[Alinestra Covelia]

It's interesting to me that the world response to this has put some governments against others in whether they're pro-death penalty or anti-death penalty.

China, long seen as an opposition country to American interests, was fairly sanguine about this execution. Of course, there are good reasons why they wouldn't like to be seen criticizing other nations' death sentences...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Saddam_Hussein#Political_leaders

[lord of the mark]

So am i like the only who is disappointed that this somewhat hasty execution means Saddam will never be tried for the Anfal campaign? Which with all due respect to the Shiites whose murder this execution was punishment for, was rather more clearly an act of genocide.

One of the key benefits of trials of criminals like this, is the chance for education about what they did, and for opprobrium against those acts, and as a preemptive strike against minimizers, deniers, and apologists. The Anfal campaign, more than the crimes he was executed for, needed that, and now its too late for a trial of Saddam (which would have gained more publicity than any thing else about Anfal) on that charge.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
So am i like the only who is disappointed that this somewhat hasty execution means Saddam will never be tried for the Anfal campaign? Which with all due respect to the Shiites whose murder this execution was punishment for, was rather more clearly an act of genocide.

One of the key benefits of trials of criminals like this, is the chance for education about what they did, and for opprobrium against those acts, and as a preemptive strike against minimizers, deniers, and apologists. The Anfal campaign, more than the crimes he was executed for, needed that, and now its too late for a trial of Saddam (which would have gained more publicity than any thing else about Anfal) on that charge.

Not the only one, I said it was a shame he wouldn't get tried for other crimes before getting some abuse for my comments.

[SlowwHand]

He's dead. It's known what he did.

[germanos]

LotM: why only Anfal and not the rest of the war against Iran?

[SlowwHand]

Probably another impersonator.

[Aeson]

The US probably didn't want some of Saddam's other doings to come to trial. Some of them could make us look bad. It's too bad our own leaders so rarely have to take responsibility for their actions.

While having Saddam alive would be maintaining a risk, it also would have maintained potential. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

[SlowwHand]

It's always USA's fault. What a jackass.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
So am i like the only who is disappointed that this somewhat hasty execution means Saddam will never be tried for the Anfal campaign?

Yes. Start up a "truth and reconciliation" commission if you want publicity for it. Getting Saddam out of the picture permanently was a necessary step, and the quicker the better.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Dauphin


Not the only one, I said it was a shame he wouldn't get tried for other crimes before getting some abuse for my comments.

Oh bull****. You tried to separate the issue of your DP opposing from your desire to have him tried for various crimes (so that we can not see that you are just unhappy killing him, as you are anti-DP, so that you want to stretch things out). But every one of us cave men pro-DPers just wanted him dead as soon as possible to avoid any chance of him wiggling out of his DP sentence.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
Ah, shame.

Like I said, I cannot justify even his execution, what with being pro-life and all.

I don't see what was so wrong with letting him be an extended guest at Abu Ghraib, y'know? Or having to live in his little rabbit hole for the rest of his life.

The spider hole has been destroyed to prevent it becoming a shrine for his followers. I did get to see it just before it was destroyed but I didn't have a camera with me. I didn't even known we were going there until the Civil Affairs major I was working with at the time (in order to get the four vehicle convoy to leave the post we had to work with other teams) mentioned that we were near Saddam's spider hole and that he'd like to go see it.