Saddam Hussein Sentenced to Death

[kenshinsbabe]

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town, as the ousted leader, trembling and defiant, shouted "God is great!"

As he, his half brother and another senior official in his regime were convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!" Later, his lawyer said the former dictator had called on Iraqis to reject sectarian violence and refrain from revenge against U.S. forces.

The trial brought Saddam and his co-defendants before their accusers in what was one of the most highly publicized and heavily reported trials of its kind since the Nuremberg tribunals for members of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and its slaughter of 6 million Jews in the World War II Holocaust

"The verdict placed on the heads of the former regime does not represent a verdict for any one person. It is a verdict on a whole dark era that has was unmatched in Iraq's history," said Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shiite prime minister.

Some feared the court decision could exacerbate the sectarian violence that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war, after a trial that stretched over nine months in 39 sessions and ended nearly 3 1/2 months ago. The verdict came two days before midterm elections in the United States widely seen as a referendum on the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials have denied the timing was deliberate.

The White House praised the Iraqi judicial system and denied the U.S. had been "scheming" for the verdict.

Iraqis "are the ones who conducted the trial. The Iraqi judges are the ones who spent all the time pouring over the evidence. ... It's important to give them credit for running their own government," said Tony Snow, the president's spokesman.

In north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district, clashes broke out between police and gunmen. Elsewhere in the capital, celebratory gunfire rang out."

[B][SIZE=2][FONT=Georgia]The rest of the article can be found here: [URL]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061105/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saddam_verdict[/URL]

The former dictator was finally sentenced. Right now, I'm not sure what to think. It just kinda came out of the blue for me. After I heard that his trial was being moved to Baghdad, I didn't hear anything else about it until I read this article. How strange to think that the world will be free of one less dictator.

What do you think?[/FONT][/SIZE][/B]

[Albert Flasher]

[COLOR=Sienna]No one should be surprised by this. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long.

I must say, though, that I take a small amount of sadistic pleasure from the irony that post-Saddam Iraq is in far worse shape then it was during his reign. Baghdad, once a functioning modern city, has decended into a Mad Max gang-ruled cesspit, overrun by constant violence and divided between religious factions that war with each other. The economy is in terrible shape too, and the infastructure of the country is completely wiped out.

Saddam may have been a despotic mad-man dictator, but at least he could keep his country from decending into madness...[/COLOR]

[Leofski]

It's not really suprising at all, considering 3 of his defense lawyers were assassinated and the first judge resigned due to politival interference.

[Retribution]

[quote name='HedonismBot][COLOR=Sienna']Saddam may have been a despotic mad-man dictator, but at least he could keep his country from decending into madness...[/COLOR][/quote]
[size=1]Very true, but at what expense?

Anyway, I'm glad the man's being sentenced to death, and that's coming from an anti-dp man. I'd like to see a picture of him right before he's hanged, with the noose around his neck and his bewildered face.

Of course, his execution brings the specter of increased insurgent violence.[/size]

[Sara]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']I'd like to see a picture of him right before he's hanged, with the noose around his neck and his bewildered face.[/size][/quote][color=#b0000b][size=1]That's awful.[/size][/color]

[DeathKnight]

[quote name='kenshinsbabe']What do you think?[/quote]

[color=crimson]Well, you reap what you sow in general.

I'm not surprised.. or really that aware of how farcical or not the trial was.

When they first placed him on "trial" I thought that this sentence was inevitable.

Just have to run through all the drama and bureaucracy first. [/color]

[quote name='Sara][color=#b0000b][size=1]That's awful.[/size'][/color][/quote]

[color=crimson]Awful images sell the best.[/color]

[Albert Flasher]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']Very true, but at what expense?[/size][/quote]
[COLOR=Sienna]
The expense of liberty, of course. And I'd take opression over total anarchy any day. Besides, compared to a lot of Middle Eastern, African, and Asian (even South American) nations, the Iraqis had a lot of things going for them; semi-stable economy, fairly modern cities, the basic securities (i.e you weren't afraid of walking down the street for fear of a bombing). Obviously Saddam could only maintain this by crushing the dissidents with an iron fist; not the greatest way to rule a country, but, considering the situation he inherited when he became the countries ruler, he handled it the only way someone could.

'Least he kept the zealots in line...[/COLOR]

[QUOTE]I'd like to see a picture of him right before he's hanged, with the noose around his neck and his bewildered face.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=Sienna]
This is the age of the internet... I'd wager that about 30 seconds after he's hanged you'll have the video on YouTube and hundreds of the above-mentioned pictures with 'Where's your Allah now?' captions plastering Farks and YTMND.[/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid][QUOTE=HedonismBot][COLOR=Sienna]
This is the age of the internet... I'd wager that about 30 seconds after he's hanged you'll have the video on YouTube and hundreds of the above-mentioned pictures with 'Where's your Allah now?' captions plastering Farks and YTMND.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]Sadly that's all too true. And like a lot of nosy teenagers I'll probably take a peek at one of them.

The whole mess over there just gives me a headache, I'm glad he's being punished, but do they really need to make it public? Besides I'm not too keen on the Death Penalty anyway. Seems like being locked in a cell for life would be more fitting.
[/COLOR]

[Albert Flasher]

[QUOTE=Aaryanna][COLOR=DarkOrchid]Sadly that's all too true. And like a lot of nosy teenagers I'll probably take a peek at one of them.
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Sienna]Hell, I'll probably make one or two...[/COLOR]

[QUOTE]The whole mess over there just gives me a headache, I'm glad he's being punished, but do they really need to make it public? Besides I'm not too keen on the Death Penalty anyway. Seems like being locked in a cell for life would be more fitting. [/QUOTE]
[COLOR=Sienna]
I believe the whole trial is being done under Islamic law... which means that a 'quick drop and a sudden stop' is probably the most merciful thing that could have happened to Saddam. A life-sentance in a tiny cell under Sharia law is probably the least humane thing one can be subjected too. Although I guess a lot of people would have prefered the latter punishment, I guess.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[quote name='Sara][color=#b0000b][size=1]That's awful.[/size'][/color][/quote]
[size=1]Oh c'mon. You know you secretly love it.

There's something about seeing a mass-murderer reap what he sows that gives me satisfaction.[/size]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]Anyway, I'm glad the man's being sentenced to death, and that's coming from an anti-dp man. I'd like to see a picture of him right before he's hanged, with the noose around his neck and his bewildered face.
[/size][/QUOTE]If there is anyone who deserves the death penalty, he is definitely one of them. And as mean as it sounds, I too wouldn't mind seeing the same picture.[quote name='Retribution][size=1']There's something about seeing a mass-murderer reap what he sows that gives me satisfaction.[/size][/quote]Quoted for truth. I feel the same way.[/COLOR]

[The13thMan]

[QUOTE=HedonismBot][COLOR=Sienna]No one should be surprised by this. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long.

I must say, though, that I take a small amount of sadistic pleasure from the irony that post-Saddam Iraq is in far worse shape then it was during his reign. Baghdad, once a functioning modern city, has decended into a Mad Max gang-ruled cesspit, overrun by constant violence and divided between religious factions that war with each other. The economy is in terrible shape too, and the infastructure of the country is completely wiped out.

Saddam may have been a despotic mad-man dictator, but at least he could keep his country from decending into madness...[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Sometimes it takes a little violence for a country to regain its balance and return normality. Look at the bloody history of our nation for example. I'm sure the violence will end sooner or later and after that i believe that Iraq will be much better for it as apose to Saddam still being in control of it all.

I'm sure you're not saying you're not glad Saddam's out of power. It's just a damn shame there still has to be so much violence in this world before peace can come. But that is a curse of man...

I have mixed opinions on sentencing people to death. I always believe that people should be given a second chance, but only when they truly mean to redeem themselves. If Saddam had no intention of dropping his evil ways then i'd be fine with giving him the ol' hangman, otherwise i'd give him another chance. Unfortunately there is no way to tell whether a man such as that is sincere or not, so, to be realistic, the death penalty was the only logical answer.

I wish it wasn't so hard to have faith in people.


[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sandy]

Sheesh, people here are acting like they were personally harmed by Saddam Hussein... Hungry for a little blood, eh?

Anyway, I'm glad they finally got a resolve to this situation, and that it was [I]the Iraqis[/I] who decided it, not UN or USA or any other foreign party. It must mean a lot of those who were oppressed by Saddam's government.

Like [B]HedonismBot[/B] said, it's too bad that Iraq is now in chaos and turmoil, it definitely needs a strong leader now (one which isn't a dictator or a foreign nation). But I also agree with [B]The13thMan[/B] that the peace will eventually be restored, one way or the other.

[Chiyasha]

[QUOTE=kenshinsbabe]"The former dictator was finally sentenced. Right now, I'm not sure what to think. It just kinda came out of the blue for me. After I heard that his trial was being moved to Baghdad, I didn't hear anything else about it until I read this article. How strange to think that the world will be free of one less dictator.

What do you think?"[/FONT][/SIZE][/B][/QUOTE]

It may be STRANGE but believe me, that culprit's game's over. He's an irresponsible git. :animeangr He's one of the radicals who are responsible of giving Islam a bad name.

[Kageh_Mygen]

[QUOTE=HedonismBot][COLOR=Sienna]No one should be surprised by this. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long.
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Surprised it took this long? I think its pretty obvious why the trial was scheduled for when it was, seeing as there are elections coming up and such. I figure that the trial was postponed so that this would happen right before the November elections, thus when he was sentenced to death it would make certain American politicians/political parties look like they were doing a better job... and thats all I'm saying about that, don't want to go into any detail (I have a feeling already that some people won't like me after saying even this much, why should I continue).

Anyway, is anyone else disturbed by the method of execution. Saddam is a bad, bad man, don't get me wrong, and I find myself conflicted with my own anti-war and anti-death penalty beliefs, but hanging is just so barbaric. I mean, really, the only positive thing about hanging is that its cheap. If your going to kill someone, you should at least have the mercy to give them a relatively painless and dignified death, no matter how evil they were. In my oppinion, this whole thing should have been taken care of long ago. Very few people really deserve to die more than Hussein (though, again, I'm conflicted about the whole thing), but stalling this long instead of ending this right after his capture is an obvious political ploy on multiple sides.

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656446]Took this long 'cause US Elections' just around the corner and Bush need to put some closure (or at the very least a sense of) on issues concerning the invasion of Iraq to keep his guys in office and his plans from falling apart. [indent]"Hey guys, y'all hate Saddam right? Well we've got him lined up for the gallows. No more criticizing okay? [SIZE=1](And while you're at it, forget the fact that this whole shebang started as an offensive against Osama bin-Laden and al-Qaeda and since we can't gas him out, we got you Saddam and mowed down Iraq instead. lol)[/size]"[/indent]

Saddam ain't as irresponsible or sinister as pop info would like you to believe. Even history books printed [i]outside[/i] Iraq will tell you that. It's kinda like the unification of China under the Qin dynasty: political regions came together under Saddam's administration and, since the mid-70's, moved towards progress as one nation.

Bush's administration, on the other hand, got US neck-deep into shite that'll take billions of dollars, plus a number of fall guys and rehabilitation of at least 2 Middle-East nations to get out off.

Saddam >> Bush, goddamit. For once let the great guys win.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[QUOTE=Delta][COLOR=#656446]Took this long 'cause US Elections' just around the corner and Bush need to put some closure (or at the very least a sense of) on issues concerning the invasion of Iraq to keep his guys in office and his plans from falling apart. [indent]"Hey guys, y'all hate Saddam right? Well we've got him lined up for the gallows. No more criticizing okay? [SIZE=1](And while you're at it, forget the fact that this whole shebang started as an offensive against Osama bin-Laden and al-Qaeda and since we can't gas him out, we got you Saddam and mowed down Iraq instead. lol)[/size]"[/indent]

Saddam ain't as irresponsible or sinister as pop info would like you to believe. Even history books printed [i]outside[/i] Iraq will tell you that. It's kinda like the unification of China under the Qin dynasty: political regions came together under Saddam's administration and, since the mid-70's, moved towards progress as one nation.

Bush's administration, on the other hand, got US neck-deep into shite that'll take billions of dollars, plus a number of fall guys and rehabilitation of at least 2 Middle-East nations to get out off.

Saddam >> Bush, goddamit. For once let the great guys win.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[size=1]Are you forgetting the whole, you know, mass-murder part about Saddam? I mean, I don't like Bush, but I have a problem with people saying Saddam is better than Bush.[/size]

[Albert Flasher]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']Are you forgetting the whole, you know, mass-murder part about Saddam? I mean, I don't like Bush, but I have a problem with people saying Saddam is better than Bush.[/size][/quote][COLOR=Sienna]

It's worth mentioning that the US had no problem with Saddam gassing the Kurds or murdering his people back when they were being committed... ****, they even gave him the means to do it more often then not!

Besides, it's not like he just randomly picked people off the streets and tortured them to death... Most of the people he murdered with dissidents who threatened his government; maybe they were rallying people to new, radical ideas, or maybe they were plotting an assassination attempt, but he wasn't the wanton murdering machine he was made out to be.[/COLOR]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[quote name='HedonismBot][COLOR=Sienna']Besides, it's not like he just randomly picked people off the streets and tortured them to death... Most of the people he murdered with dissidents who threatened his government; maybe they were rallying people to new, radical ideas, or maybe they were plotting an assassination attempt, but he wasn't the wanton murdering machine he was made out to be.[/COLOR][/quote]

[color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy]Yeah, he just gassed minorities no harm there! Because as we all know minorities along with women, children and old people don't really matter in the big sceme of things. Yep, can you sense the sarcasm?

Sadam may have not been responsible for the terror attacks and he was able to keep some control in his country but as other people have said, at what cost? He terrorized his own people from the day he came to power until the Fourth Infantry Division out of Fort Hood Texas (along with other divisions, but I was stationed at Ft.Hood at the time so I have to give a shout to 4th ID).started firing down on them in March 2003. Heck his sons tourtured the Iraqi soccer team when they lost games. People got shot for the sake of getting shot. So get your head out of your butt and look at the big picture.

That said... I'm glad he's being hung especially if his neck doesn't snap immediately and he has to wait until he suffocates. Yes I know I'm morbid and it's not good karma to wish suffering on people. But in this case I'm sure karma will make an exception. I'm also shocked that I didn't post this story when it happened on Sunday morning.[/color][/font]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Like Ken, I'm surprised this farce took quite so long to conclude. Saying that the Iraqis were in control of the show in akin to saying it's the puppet who comes up with the jokes rather than the guy with his hand up it's ***. I personally don't think the man deserves the death sentence, for a whole variety of reasons other than my objection to the death penalty itself, the most major one being my considering this trial a massive farce when Saddam has proven to be one of the most stable and moderate influences in the Middle East, at least when compared to his counterparts elsewhere. I'm not saying he didn't commit atrocities, but if Bush is looking to go and punish war criminals, let him go to Africa and do a proper job of it.

Whether or not there will be riots over his death, I'm inclined to say there will be, as he will become one of the things he himself fought against, a martyr to fundamentalist Muslims everywhere. I feel most sorry for the Iraqi people themselves, the Americans will go home eventually and wash their hands of the whole situation until they feel that the new government is "oppressing" it's people and sweep in like the proverbial hawk.

[B][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein[/url][/B]

Looking over the article, there's actually a rather interesting little tid-bit at the end, should Saddam manage to evade the hangman for only another seven months he will be too old under the Iraqi justice system to be executed.[/SIZE]

[Dodeca]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy]That said... I'm glad he's being hung especially if his neck doesn't snap immediately and he has to wait until he suffocates.[/color'][/font][/quote]

[SIZE=1]It's amazing how sadistic people can become when dealing with 'evil' people, 'specially when that person'd never done anything that had even [i]remotely[/i] affected said people. On that note, I find it kind of ironic that evil ol' Saddam is probably causing more people to part with their usual sense of morality in [his approaching] death than he ever did in life.

Sure, Saddam probably does deserve his sentence, but as far as I care, that doesn't make it right. The death penalty in any form is uncivilised, but hanging is plain barbaric. If Bush was [i]really[/i] serious about bringing Iraq around to the Western, 'civilised' way of doing things, he wouldn't be supporting this.

The EU, on the other hand, have the right idea. Fo shaw.[/SIZE]

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=Dodeca][SIZE=1]If Bush was [i]really[/i] serious about bringing Iraq around to the Western, 'civilised' way of doing things, he wouldn't be supporting this.

The EU, on the other hand, have the right idea. Fo shaw.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]There is a small problem in the fact that President Bush is himself a rather big fan of the death penalty, as proven by his tenure as Texas' governor. I love it when Republicans in America say they oppose abortion and yet support the death penalty, especially these guys are born-again Christians who seem to be unaware of the Fifth Commandment.

As for the E.U., I'm so disillusioned with that sorry *** political institution, if it can so be called that it really makes no difference. America is the puppeteer in this show and they're the ones who'll make the Iraqi courts and judges dance.[/SIZE]

[Your Mother]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']America is the puppeteer in this show and they're the ones who'll make the Iraqi courts and judges dance.[/SIZE][/quote]


[SIZE=1]Amen. Amen. AMEN.[/SIZE]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[QUOTE=Dodeca][SIZE=1]It's amazing how sadistic people can become when dealing with 'evil' people, 'specially when that person'd never done anything that had even [i]remotely[/i] affected said people. On that note, I find it kind of ironic that evil ol' Saddam is probably causing more people to part with their usual sense of morality in [his approaching] death than he ever did in life.

Sure, Saddam probably does deserve his sentence, but as far as I care, that doesn't make it right. The death penalty in any form is uncivilised, but hanging is plain barbaric. If Bush was [i]really[/i] serious about bringing Iraq around to the Western, 'civilised' way of doing things, he wouldn't be supporting this.

The EU, on the other hand, have the right idea. Fo shaw.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy]Yeah, admittedly that was a little morbid. But did you catch what I had added after that quote?

[quote name='Myself'] Yes I know I'm morbid and it's not good karma to wish suffering on people. But in this case I'm sure karma will make an exception. [/quote]

Besides I'm on the fence with the death penalty. Personally I think we should be busy trying to ressurect public humiliation and bring back the stocks and save the sterilized needles for lethal injections for child molesters and rapists and the like.

While I know that Saddam was ruling all the way over in Iraq he did indirectly cause suffering thanks to America's very own White House Cowboy. If Iraq hadn't invaded Kuwait in 90' and then we didn't start the Gulf War in 91' then pull out and Saddam hadn't begun threatening George Herbert Walker Bush (George Bush Senior) then George W. Bush wouldn't have decided to add Iraq to his list of things to bomb and invade in 2003.To me it looks like everything is related.

Like Gavin said the US commander in chief is very big on the death penalty. In fact when he was still govenor of Texas that state had the highest amount of inmates on death row and executions out of every other state in the nation with the death penalty. That's crazy even for a semi Catholic Democrat pro choice individual. So... should I go bring the Death Penalty thread back to life?[/color][/font]

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656446][quote name='Retribution][size=1']Are you forgetting the whole, you know, mass-murder part about Saddam? I mean, I don't like Bush, but I have a problem with people saying Saddam is better than Bush.[/size][/quote]Sorry to hear that, chief. Just to level the playing field for Saddam, kindly Google the Panama invasion of the early 90's or, if you prefer to read about something more recent, what happened to Haditha about a year ago.

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=#9933ff][font=lucida calligraphy]While I know that Saddam was ruling all the way over in Iraq he did indirectly cause suffering thanks to America's very own White House Cowboy. If Iraq hadn't invaded Kuwait in 90' and then we didn't start the Gulf War in 91' then pull out and Saddam hadn't begun threatening George Herbert Walker Bush (George Bush Senior) then George W. Bush wouldn't have decided to add Iraq to his list of things to bomb and invade in 2003.To me it looks like everything is related.[/color'][/font][/quote]Ah, I just want to add the fact that the US government was instrumental to Saddam's acquisition of military and political control over Iraq back when Charlie's Angels was still the "in" thing. It's not a conspiracy theory thing, they favored (and aided in) the transfer of power to Saddam (who had amicable relations with the US then).

[center]~*~[/center]

I am rather appalled at how the general public was misinformed about the US administration's agenda. Survey says: 1) hunt for al Qaeda; 2) war against terrorism; 3) "liberation" of Iraq; and 4) Bush's compensation for Bush the Elder's, ehrm, faux pas.

If history really is "the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon" as Napoleon put it, I wonder how this [i]event[/i] will appear on books printed half a century from now.[/COLOR]