ah capitol punishment..the ultimate hypocrisy
Funny how the death sentence is imposed for this, but it was okay in the 1980s for Saddam to use chemical weapons supplied by the United States, and arranged by Donald Rumsfeld, to slaughter untold numbers of Iranians.And what must the sentence be for causing the deaths of 650,000 Iraqis since 2003? These two would like to know ...
Saddam Hussein was buried before dawn on Sunday in his native village of Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, the head of his tribe said.Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, told journalists the burial in a family plot took place in the early morning, less than 24 hours after the former president was hanged for crimes against humanity.
His sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003, are also buried in Awja, close to Tikrit, where tribal elders received the body on Saturday from Baghdad.
Saddam was buried in a family plot next to the graves of his two sons, witnesses said.
Those who saw the ceremony said only a few people were present for the burial in Awja, a small town outside Tikrit, Saddam's power base 130km north of Baghdad.
Millions of people around the world watched television images of the body of the fallen dictator lying wrapped in a shroud, his neck twisted to one side, after his dawn hanging.
Dramatic footage relayed from Iraq also showed the man labelled the "butcher of Baghdad" facing the final moments of his life - resigned to his fate as executioners in balaclavas tightened a noose around his neck.
On Sunday a new video emerged showing Saddam exchanging taunts with onlookers before the gallows floor dropped away, while a witness to the execution claimed Saddam had sworn at a guard.
The video, first broadcast by Al-Jazeera satellite television, had the sound of someone in the group praising the founder of the Shi'ite Dawa Party, who was executed in 1980 along with his sister by Saddam.
Saddam appeared to smile at those taunting him from below the gallows. He said they were not showing manhood.
Then Saddam began reciting the "Shahada", a Muslim prayer that says there is no god but God and Mohammed is his messenger, according to an unabridged copy of the same tape, apparently shot with a phone camera and posted on a website.
Saddam made it to midway through his second recitation of the verse. His last word was Mohammed.
The floor dropped out of the gallows.
"The tyrant has fallen," someone in the group of onlookers shouted. The video showed a close-up of Saddam's face as he swung from the rope.
Then came another voice: "Let him swing for three minutes."
National security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, who witnessed the hanging, told The New York Times that one of the guards shouted at Saddam: "You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us live in destitution."
"I have saved you from destitution and misery and destroyed your enemies, the Persian and Americans," Saddam responded, al-Rubaie told the Times.
"God damn you," the guard said.
"God damn you," responded Saddam.
Al-Rubaie and other officials denied on state television a statement read out earlier that Saddam's half-brother and a former judge were also hanged.
The senior official said Barzan al-Tikriti and Awad al-Bander, convicted with Saddam last month, would be executed after the week-long Eid al-Adha holiday.
Saddam's execution at the start of Eid is highly symbolic. The feast marks the sacrifice the prophet Abraham was prepared to make when God ordered him to kill his son and many Shi'ites could regard Saddam's death as a gift from God. Such symbolism could further anger Sunnis, resentful of new Shi'ite power.
Al Jazeera television also quoted a family source saying Saddam was buried in Awja, despite a statement from the family late Saturday saying the body might be taken from Tikrit to the western city of Ramadi for burial.
Iraqi officials in Ramadi said they were unaware of any plan to bury Saddam there.
Saddam, 69, was hanged at dawn Saturday in a base in Baghdad once used by his own feared intelligence services.
He was shown on state television going calmly to his death on the scaffold. Grainy video later showed his body in a white shroud, the neck twisted and blood on a cheek.
Saddam was sentenced to death after his conviction for crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people in 1982 in the Iraqi Shi'ite town of Dujail. Capital punishment was carried out after his appeals were rejected by a higher court.
Three decades after he established his personal rule by force, it closed a chapter in Iraq's history marked by war with Iran and a 1990 invasion of Kuwait that turned him from ally to enemy of the United States and impoverished his oil-rich nation.
However, as US President George W Bush said in a statement, sectarian violence pushing Iraq towards civil war had not ended.
Car bombs set off by suspected insurgents from Saddam's once-dominant Sunni minority killed more than 70 people in Baghdad and near the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, in areas populated by Shi'ite Muslims oppressed for decades and now in the ascendant.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, his fragile authority among fellow Shi'ites significantly enhanced after he forced through Saddam's execution over hesitation from Sunni and Kurdish members of his government.
At least 80 Iraqis died in bombings and other attacks in the wake of Saddam's execution.
So, Saddam has finally been executed. hang
But was this the best solution?
Bombings on the execution day killed 80 Iraqi's. Will Saddam's supporters quit now he is dead, or will they continue their retaliation?
What does mean for the Iraqi people? Can they move on?
Is Iraq really better off without him? Would it have been preferable to sentence him to life imprisonment?
I first heard about his execution last night. I was shocked to hear the hanging had already been carried out, as I believe it wasn't supposed to happen until January. I was glad for the Iraqi people, but also a little disapointed, because, although I support the death penalty in some instances, I didn't feel sure that Saddam actually deserved to die, not because his crimes didn't warrant death, but because death is an easy way out. Killing him means no one no longer has to deal with him. I feel he should have been made to sit in prison for the rest of his life.
An execution is taking the easy way out.
I wonder if those 80 Iraqi's would not have died had Saddam simply been sentenced to a lifetime in prison. Would they have acted they way they did if their 'hero' were alive, albeit in prison?
Did killing him only fuel anger and violence amongst his supporters?
I wondered about that all day, and I guess we won't know if such attacks as which occured yesterday will decrease. We can only hope.
Does anyone else share my view? Was executing him too easy?saddam
Ahhh gotta love the 'ol propaganda machines.
The various papers were screaming about how Saddams death is 'a win for Justice and shall lead Iraq to freedom'
....WHOA WHOA WHOA I GOTTA SEE THIS...oh wait the countries STILL A BLEEDIN HELL-HOLE.
Out of four newspapers only one seemed to dictate what was the truth ' This will do nothing to solve the current problems within Iraq'
Personally. F*ck 'em . Leave the damned place and let the country(ies) tear them(selves) apart. I'm so sick and tired of this bullshit (as are the families who are losing their sons, husbands,children and daughters) .
As of now it seems this War is just for the benefit of dubyas bragging rights.
-GF
Originally posted by PVSSo no Easter then? That's okay, eggs have nothing to do with it, they celebrate the birth of the summer.
im glad that many people in iraq who were directly effected by his brutality probably feel better. i just think its sad that it took yet another killing to accomplish that.i am especially disturbed, however, of people who celerate the killing of a man who had absolutely no effect or impact on their lives.
i am especially disturbed, however, of people who celerate the killing of a man who had absolutely no effect or impact on their lives.
and who exactly does that include....because the 1st gulf war that saddam started included people from Kuwait, United States, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, Egypt, Syria, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, , Italy, Niger, South Korea
the present war has had people fight from Australia, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Georgia, El Salvador, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Mongolia, Albania, Slovakia, Japan, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Nicaragua, Singapore, Norway, Portugal, Lithuania, Armenia, Bosnia, Estonia, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Canada, New Zealand, Philipines, Iceland
(Ironic that the 1st gulf war was legal and supported yet more nations have put troops into combat in the 2nd supposedly illegal and unsupported war isn't it?)
so i'd say he affected quite a lot of peoples lives
i personally have 4 friends currently serving in Iraq...i have one friend who has PTSD to a severe degree from his service in Iraq...i have a family friend who was killed in an attack on a civilian convoy that he was contracted with.
Originally posted by jaden101
and who exactly does that include....because the 1st gulf war that saddam started included people from Kuwait, United States, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, Egypt, Syria, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, , Italy, Niger, South Koreathe present war has had people fight from Australia, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Georgia, El Salvador, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Mongolia, Albania, Slovakia, Japan, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Nicaragua, Singapore, Norway, Portugal, Lithuania, Armenia, Bosnia, Estonia, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Canada, New Zealand, Philipines, Iceland
(Ironic that the 1st gulf war was legal and supported yet more nations have put troops into combat in the 2nd supposedly illegal and unsupported war isn't it?)
so i'd say he affected quite a lot of peoples lives
i personally have 4 friends currently serving in Iraq...i have one friend who has PTSD to a severe degree from his service in Iraq...i have a family friend who was killed in an attack on a civilian convoy that he was contracted with.
Well we can't really blame Saddam for the second Gulf War now can we?