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Original poster

They have executed Saddam Hussein

258 replies

mummydear · 30/12/2006 09:06

He's dead

here

Now lets see what happens .

OP posts:
hatwoman · 30/12/2006 14:33

oh I totally agree on the US influence, and the speed, but just not that Christmas day was imbued with any particular symbolism. the timing was far more political than that.

PeachysaysBlwyddynNewyddDda · 30/12/2006 14:33

FIS I see your point, but it would have been nice to have the option of NOT going on internet site X or buyingt hat paper- when every newsw channel is blaring them out, its either no news or watch something you (I) find disturbing and unnecessary.

kittyinwaiting · 30/12/2006 14:35

Sorry, but I really cannot understand why anyone is upset about this. I'm not being factitious, it's something that had to happen.
I also don't find find anything gratuitous on the reports, it all seems very non gratuitous if anything.

PeachysaysBlwyddynNewyddDda · 30/12/2006 14:35

I just think Pres Bush rather enjoyed watching it on the News as he ate his mince pies (dod they eat those in America????)

rather nice tie in with the Democrat Christianity obsession

PeachysaysBlwyddynNewyddDda · 30/12/2006 14:37

It's only something that HAD to happen if you subscribe to a particular set of principles, which is of course valid but not universal.

Some of it is gratuitous. OK show the bosy in the shroud if you must, but Saddam with a noose around his neck? Why? That's a man in his last moments, its not entertainment or even particularly informative

MKG · 30/12/2006 14:45

I don't think Bush watches the news. He's on vacation in Texas on is ranch, he probably got a phone call last night.

He's said that he doesn't read newspapers, so I doubt he watches the news. I mean why would a world leader want to know about what's happening in the world?

kittyinwaiting · 30/12/2006 15:25

Bush is a joke, not a very funny one mind.

TBH I'm suprised there there isn't footage of the whole execution.

Ready · 30/12/2006 15:49

Propaganda on the BBCNews24 - everyone that they interviewed when I watching was in favour of SH's execution. Poor journalism going into a Kurdish Restaurant and canvassing opinions - what do we think they are going to say

They did have a small excerpt from Amnesty saying that he didn't have a fair trial.

The only time any objective opinions were expressed was when they read out the emails.

Twinklemegan · 30/12/2006 16:32

I haven't read the whole thread yet so I apologise if I am repeating what someone else has said. I too found the reports of Saddam's execution utterly distasteful and quite upsetting, and I was quite surprised at myself for it. My thoughts have now turned to the ironic comparison with Pinochet who is also believed to have been responsible for many, many deaths, but escaped trial to the last. It just seems so hypocritical.

I also heard on the news that Saddam was actually convicted specifically for the ordering the killing of 148? Kurds after a failed assassination attempt. Yes, this may have been brutal and out of proportion, but so is what the USA and Britain have been doing in Iraq. On the basis of the specific crime for which Saddam has been executed, I do not think that comparisons with Bush and Blair are at all unjustified.

cyrilsquirrel · 30/12/2006 16:39

does anyone know how Saddam's death toll compares to Bush and his lapdog Blair? Saddam's total is, I don't know, 10,000? B&B's stands at 100,000, doesn't it?

Tinker · 30/12/2006 16:41

300,000 killed by Saddam according to this

cyrilsquirrel · 30/12/2006 16:44

300,00 during his regime. Does that mean directly on his orders? I'm not sure.

B&B are catching him up then if that's the case anyway, with no end in sight for the Iraq war

MKG · 30/12/2006 16:45

son-in-law

Saddam killed his own son-in-law.

Monkeytrousers · 30/12/2006 16:56

DP came in and handed me a book which lists Iraqi atrocities in the Kuwaiti war and they are truely appauling.

He was a monster. I think I'm close to changing my mind.

I don't agree with the death penalty but this man seems to have met a kind end compared to what he did to others.

I'll post some examples if I have the stomach. They are from a book called 'Humanity' by Jonathan Glover

Ready · 30/12/2006 17:01

What SH did during his time in charge of Iraq was sickening and beyond belief. No one in their right mind would think differently... this does not make capital punishment right IMO. Using emotive examples of his atrocities just blurs the line between the two and causes people to think that maybe "in this instance it was right to kill him" - No. It is never right to take a life. Ever.

Twinklemegan · 30/12/2006 17:03

Please don't post examples Monkeytrousers. I don't think it would be helpful at all.

Blandmum · 30/12/2006 17:06

While I don't want to read the examples either, I think it is wise to be aware of how horrific this man was, to avoid simplistic comparisons of 'Blair is as bad as Saddam' Blaire may be many bad things, but not evil to the same degree.

Twinklemegan · 30/12/2006 17:08

I take your point Martianbishop. Whilst I don't subscribe to the view that Bush/Blair are as bad as Saddam, I still maintain that comparisons can be made if you consider the specific crime he seems to have been convicted for. However I only heard this on the news and hope to read some more intelligent reporting in the papers tomorrow.

Monkeytrousers · 30/12/2006 17:13

Hi MB - I think I was guilty of that. It's somehow easy to talk of large statistics, then you find out the facts of some of those numbers as individuals it does change things.

I don't agree with the death penalty either - but I also think he got off lucky..now.. and that he probably knew it.

I have no wish to upset anyone though.

MKG · 30/12/2006 17:13

I think that the way his execution came about is wrong. I would have preferred a grassroots movement where Iraqis took back their country, and killed Saddam without the influence of other countries.

Blandmum · 30/12/2006 17:14

and FWIW, I don't believe in a dreath penalty for anyone. Not even a murdering psychopath like Saddam

Aloha · 30/12/2006 19:48

I don't think Blair is is psychopathic, but I think his fatal flaws include his ambition and his love for power and money. IMO he saw his alliance with Bush as the route to both. I do seriously think that Bush and his henchmen are utterly devoid of morals. I don't think many of the high command were psychopaths either, they saw their policies as right for their country, and I think Bush et al are just the same in their outlook. Individuals and human rights are simply unimportant to them.

Aloha · 30/12/2006 19:50

And of course Bush snr & the CIA were absolutely complicit in all of Saddam's crimes - from funding his rise to power, encouraging him to invade Iran and providing the very gas which he used to kill the Kurds. They were partners in crime.

notanotter · 30/12/2006 19:51

i cannot bear the feeding frenzy that ensues and the hideous images of an atrocity about which we are all supposed to be pleased.....

cyrilsquirrel · 30/12/2006 20:00

yes Aloha, you are right.

Blair got carried away with himself. He was bored of domestic politics and wanted his place in history.

You are also right about Bush Snr and (don't know how to spell his name but begins with R.....) Didn't they actually supply him with the means to commit his crime??
He was in effect, their creation, wasn't he?