Thread: Saddam Dead

Did anyone think the video footage of the erxecution was thoroughly morbid?
Why would the US media decide it was ok to broadcast this footage when their own (convicted) convicts are afforded the dignity to die in relative privacy?

Also it looked like some sort of militia execution, people in balaclavas and stuff.
I'm no fan of legal state killings of any fashion but this was a fuking circus and totally unbecoming in this day and age.

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Why would the US media decide it was ok to broadcast this footage when their own (convicted) convicts are afforded the dignity to die in relative privacy?

i'm far from an apologist for US foreign policy or its current capital punishment laws, and i agree that it is hypocritical, but this was primarily a pragmatic decision. from their perspective, there is a small groups of people who need to see the video.....anyone who was holding out hope for saddam's return.

i don't know if you saw it, but an earlier video was shown by major media outlets...the video was broadcast quality and whoever was filming was standing next to saddam as the noose went around his neck--and then it abruptly ended. the second video which was shot from below, and actually shows him drop, was taken with a camera phone in poor lighting.

my guess is that at the very least, the US was aware the second video was being filmed and they're pleased it's on the internet because it provides them plausible deniability to charges that they didn't respect the dead.

i've also read where saddam was defiantly abusive to his executioners, and his final words were along the lines of 'death to the traitors and invaders'....and of course the US didn't want that on youtube.

Originally Posted by Little Chuchok

^neck problems I think....

I think it was an allergy to rope. That can be a pain in the neck!

Whats the difference between Saddam and a tampon?

A tampon is a string that hangs from a cun t.

Originally Posted by raycarey

Originally Posted by little chuchok

neck problems I think....

Originally Posted by Mr Earl

I think it was an allergy to rope. That can be a pain in the neck!

Originally Posted by flash

Whats the difference between Saddam and a tampon? A tampon is a string that hangs from a cun t.

hold on....my sides....phew....wow......funny, original stuff there guys. thanks.

Your welcome.

Originally Posted by raycarey

i'm far from an apologist for US foreign policy or its current capital punishment laws, and i agree that it is hypocritical, but this was primarily a pragmatic.

More like for propaganda purposes at a time when even a majority of U.S. servicemen and women think the President's handling of the war is horrendous.

I wonder if the nations of the world will ever hold Bush accountable for war crimes in the same manner of execution.

Originally Posted by surasak

...I wonder if the nations of the world will ever hold Bush accountable for war crimes in the same manner of execution.

It'll never happen.

^Neither will the Japs get done for their war crimes...

Nor will any of the other world leaders with blood on their hands.

Which brings us the real reason for executing Saddam: to keep him quiet lest he give the details of what the U.S. really did to assist him during the time when he was our friend. The key witness in what could have been an embarassing exposure of truth is now dead.

Don't see the point in going through the bother of topping him if they follow it up by sending him home to become a point of focus for supporters and the usual bandwagoneers. Unmarked grave, could've avoided one unforced error.

The American fair trial got Saddam to hell! Anyway, he deserved more than that. He should have been put behind bars for the rest of his life with some harsh duties.

It makes me think, after watching the execution video, what's the difference between those insurgents who've been beheading people infront of the camera and those who executed Saddam? If it was a fair trial, how come only Moqtada Al Sadar's supporters were there (even they were shouting "Moqtada, Moqtada") to witness the execution and film it. Why nobody stopped the witnesses from shouting nonsense? Such things, video etc, will only worsen the situation and draw more Saddam sympathiser.

Apparently the US tried to delay the execution, but the Iraqi government being so weak, didn't want to take the risk to see Saddam escape and have a new chance to run the country. It's possible that the US is planning to leave immediately after they send more troops in the coming 3 months, and we all know what would happen to the Iraqi government then. It will collapse. For many, Saddam was still a better alternative and he started to look very good in the existing cahos created by American troops. Now he will be worshiped like a God.

Saddam was definately a better solution if one compares to the chaos now. At least fewer people died unde Saddam than Bush.

Originally Posted by keda

Don't see the point in going through the bother of topping him if they follow it up by sending him home to become a point of focus for supporters and the usual bandwagoneers. Unmarked grave, could've avoided one unforced error.

They could have executed him when justice was served. Justice was not served by leaving other crimes unprosecuted.

Even in the United States a person won't be executed until all crimes he has been charged of have been disposed of. A person accused of three separate murders will have three trials and three sentences.

Where is ths justice for the others Saddam killed but will never be found guilty of killing?

Originally Posted by raycarey

my guess is that at the very least, the US was aware the second video was being filmed and they're pleased it's on the internet because it provides them plausible deniability to charges that they didn't respect the dead.

apparently, my guess was wrong.

according to....

Iraq to Review Abusive Acts at Hussein’s Execution - New York Times

the US is less than pleased with the audio that accompanies the video.

^^ good point sura. But I guess the Iraqi government didn't take care much about those crimes against humanity, all they wanted was to kill him. Who cares anyway since they will commit the same atrocities if they stay in power long enough.

Originally Posted by raycarey

the US is less than pleased with the audio that accompanies the video.

And the execution will be remembered as being carried out by the US infidels, even if this is not entirely true, making the situation much worse.

Originally Posted by raycarey

i agree that it is hypocritical,

Agreed. The "free" media is not allowed to show video of the thousands of coffins of dead U.S. military arriving from abroad but we can all get a front row view of a Iraqi lynching. Fair and balanced my ass.

in all honesty, what has the US done well in iraq? going all the way back to the rationale for the war (wmd), it's been one fuck up after another.

the elections seemingly went well, but the truth is that iraqis simply voted along sectarian lines, and these elected officials are impotent to stop the violence or provide basic services.

Originally Posted by surasak

Even in the United States a person won't be executed until all crimes he has been charged of have been disposed of.

That could take several decades, why waste time and expenses when the result is going to be the same anyway, i.e. death in nations like Iraq and the US?

To deny victims their day in court is to deny justice. If it took a decade to bring forth cases and convict then it should have been done. At least let the world know what Saddam really did even if the end result (execution) would have been the same.

Plus, important details of the biggest mass killings (and who might have supplied the chemical weapons) now will never be known. Is it a surprise? Makes you wonder.

Originally Posted by surasak

Originally Posted by keda

Don't see the point in going through the bother of topping him if they follow it up by sending him home to become a point of focus for supporters and the usual bandwagoneers. Unmarked grave, could've avoided one unforced error.

They could have executed him when justice was served. Justice was not served by leaving other crimes unprosecuted.

Even in the United States a person won't be executed until all crimes he has been charged of have been disposed of. A person accused of three separate murders will have three trials and three sentences.

Where is ths justice for the others Saddam killed but will never be found guilty of killing?

I have read news reports of prosecutors in the US not trying serial rapists or serial murderers, due to time and money restraints, for every murder or rape they have evidence of the accused having commited.

Those people who didn't have their loved one's cases heard in the Iraqi court may well be satisfied in knowing he is dead. Why do you wish to impose your sense of western justice on them? I thought you found imposing western values on other people distasteful?

To deny victims their day in court is to deny justice. If it took a decade to bring forth cases and convict then it should have been done. At least let the world know what Saddam really did even if the end result (execution) would have been the same.

Plus, important details of the biggest mass killings (and who might have supplied the chemical weapons) now will never be known. Is it a surprise? Makes you wonder.

I think spending a decade trying Saddam would have been unrealistic. He get's a fair trial for enough killings to justify his sentence. How many murders he is tried for, ultimately, is the Iraqi's business. If people need more the government can build a Saddam War Crime Museum and Library chronicling his crimes.

So there are no records? It's all secreted away in Saddam's head. If there were any secrets you can bet he told his lawyers so it could be played as a final fcuk you to the US after his death. I wonder how many millions his lawyers negotiated out of Saddam to do it for him?

Originally Posted by attaboy

He get's a fair trial for enough killings to justify his sentence.

i'm guessing you what you tried to post was that saddam got a fair trial.

if so....

3 of his lawyers were murdered, and i lost track of how many judges were replaced.

by most accounts saddam was an evil guy, but his trial wasn't even close to being 'fair'.