UPDATE (from Dymphna): Uh oh. Some of our pessimists may be right.
Saddam could get out of the noose through some kind of loophole. See the links at “Rope. Bridge. Saddam. Some Assembly Required.”
An Iraqi court has sentenced Saddam Hussein to death.
Not by being lowered feet-first into a wood-chipper.
Not by inhaling mustard gas.
Not by being raped repeatedly in front of his family and then having his throat cut.
Not by being stabbed, shot, and having his genitals cut off and put in his mouth.
Not even by being machine-gunned from a helicopter and then bulldozed into a mass grave.
No, Saddam will simply be hanged by the neck until dead.
– – – – – – – – – –
The old suspensus per collum. Some will consider that insufficient justice; others will be satisfied.
Will there be a candlelight vigil the night before his execution, organized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the ACLU, etc., etc.? Will George Galloway kneel, weeping, by the gibbet? Expect to see Episcopal priests marching up and down in front of the prison, holding signs that say “SAVE SADDAM!”
I have no idea what effect Saddam’s execution will have on internal Iraqi politics, whether it will damp down the Sunni insurgency or encourage it.
But I’ve never seen a man who deserved the noose more.
Just because Saddam was sick doesn’t mean that we have to lower ourselves to his level.
Pamela has a post up at Atlas claiming that Dan Rather was caught on camera this morning uttering the following words:
“The last time I talked to Saddam Hussein, he denied he had WMD. You Americans can’t take the blood.”
Isn’t Rather American himself?
The definitive picture of the evil that is Saddam Hussein is the photo of the mother and child lying dead in the streets of Halabja.
If wanting Saddam to bear thr full price for the horrible evils he inflicted on the Iraqi people means that I’m lowering myself to his level, so be it.
But I dare you to say that to an Iraqi.
How morally superior of you, Supercop. At least you stay in character.
Can’t understand why you come here. You don’t like what we have to say and you’re unpleaant when you do show up. Is this some kind of release valve for you, so you don’t have to torture flies or little kids?
Get back under the bridge. You’re scaring the pedestrians.
Pastorius–
I think it will be years and years before they finish uncovering the evil that constituted Saddam Hussein. His vileness is beyond words. Unlike Hitler, who had the good sense to off himself before the victors showed up, Saddam scurried to a spider hole. Probably a manifestation of both cowardice and delusion.
Who knows? Iraq will breathe easier when he is gone.
Anyone wanna take the bet, that Saddam doesn’t get hung and by some twist of fate, gets life imprisonment. “Life” means, until after the US and coalition forces leave Iraq.
I’ll believe it if I see the video of Saddam swinging in the breeze..
Somehow, I don’t think they’ll hang him. Just a strange feeling.
Call it a hunch.
Well said, Dymphna, well said.
If slaughtering people by the thousands doesn’t get you sentenced to death, I don’t know what will. It’s absolutely ridiculous to say a state exacting justice against a genocidal dictator is “stooping to his level.”
Tell me supercop, if the penalty for a crime does not outweigh the crime itself, how is there a deterrent value? People like you, who do not support the death penalty, are clearly opposed to any sort of justice. In your stupid hippie world, stealing 500 dollars would get you a 100 dollar fine.
Tell me also, if the state does not have the right to take criminals’ lives, how does it have the right to go to war? Isn’t crime simply internal opposition to the state? The state by definition has to have the means to exact justice against those who oppose it. I suppose fighting the Nazis was “stooping to their level” too, huh?
Go back to DailyKos and whine about the death penalty to your fellow madmen, will you?
Exile, there’s really only two futures open now to Saddam. Either he dies by hanging, or Ceaucescu style, shot lest the tables be turned.
Exile, you beat me to it:
“I’ll believe it if I see the video of Saddam swinging in the breeze..”
dymphna:
If wanting Saddam to bear thr full price for the horrible evils he inflicted on the Iraqi people means that I’m lowering myself to his level, so be it.
He can be imprisoned, even executed, but torturing him to death is unacceptable. We are a civilized culture, so we should act like it.
But I dare you to say that to an Iraqi.
How morally superior of you, Supercop. At least you stay in character.
You aren’t an Iraqi either, so why are you talking about the subject? Furthermore, do you think justice should be administered by angry mobs, and not a court of law?
Can’t understand why you come here. You don’t like what we have to say and you’re unpleaant when you do show up.
Are the commenters supposed to be your personal cheerleader squad, or something? If you’re so pumped up about Western values, then you should be able to deal with the fact that people won’t always agree with you.
Is this some kind of release valve for you, so you don’t have to torture flies or little kids?
That’s hilarious coming from someone who just advocated extreme torture.
Get back under the bridge. You’re scaring the pedestrians.
Oh, here we go. Anyone who disagrees with your Ultimate Truth is now a troll. I think you and the Islamofascists you claim to oppose have more in common than you think.
ah… sweet sweet, long running and delayed justice.
a little while coming really and a superb chance for the Iraqi people to restart themselves– if they, and we in the US and the West take it properly.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
That Justice in Iraq was sought;
I know of no reason why a dictator’s seizure
Should ever be forgot.
Saddam won’t be tortured to death–he’ll be hanged. And if that was good enough for Major Andre, Benedict Arnold’s partner in treason, or Alfred Jodl then it’s certainly good enough for him.
He’ll be executed by means of a drop hanging, which if performed correctly will snap his neck and render him instantly unconcious–death follows immediately as the brain dies of oxygen deprivation. His face will darken, a natural consequence of asphyxiation. His eyes may bulge out somewhat, but he won’t be aware of it and neither will the witnesses as he will probably be hooded. And he’ll piss and crap himself–normal in cases of sudden, violent death. But that probably won’t be seen either.
Personally, I’d prefer to see him hanged like an Iranian rape victim–hoisted by a crane slowly so that he strangles and struggles for a few minutes before losing consciousness–those minutes would last an eternity for him….
The one beauty of hanging is it is the most ignominious form of execution. Other than killing him once for each person he had killed, exactly the way he had them killed, hanging does second best.
I am not normally a ghoul, but this is one snuff film I may actually watch. The next needs to be OBL.
isn’t there somewhere that states that “cursed is anyman who hangs on a tree” or something of the sort?
I agree with Jesus Christ Supercop on this. I cant support hanging.
Besides I agre with Exile, that it will not happen.
It can be postponed by legal matters. There is no timelimit on how long the defense has to get ready for the appeal.
Jonathan 11/07/2006 2:48 AM said…
isn’t there somewhere that states that “cursed is anyman who hangs on a tree” or
something of the sort?
See Deuteronomy 21:22-23:
22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on
a tree, 23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury
him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.
You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an
inheritance.”
and is quoted in Galatians 3:12-14, referring to the sacrifice of of Christ on
the Cross:
’13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for
it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in
order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.’
However, originally, it seems that under the Mosaic Covenant, the criminal
guilty of a capital offence was stoned to death (having their neck broken), and
their dead corpse was hung up as a warning to others and as a visible symbol of
their being “cut off” from God’s people. See:
http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/col_mclaughlin/OT.col_malaughlin.Deut.21.html
See also:
http://www.quodlibet.net/gunby-sanctity.shtml
for Biblical exegesis arguing for the imposition of the death penalty for
murder.