Saddam Hussein and Barack Hussein Obama
Seperated at birth?
Posted on 12/28/2006 5:37:50 AM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD–Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate U.S.-led foreign troops in a goodbye letter posted on a website yesterday, a day after Iraq's highest court upheld his death sentence and ordered him hanged within 30 days.
A top Iraqi government official, meanwhile, said Saddam's execution could proceed without the approval of Iraq's president, meaning there were no more legal obstacles to sending Saddam to the gallows.
One of Saddam's lawyers, Issam Ghazzawi, said the former dictator wrote the letter Nov. 5 – the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal for ordering the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims in Dujail.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," said the letter, which was written in Arabic.
"I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us," it added, referring to the invasion that toppled his regime nearly four years ago.
Against the backdrop of sectarian killings that have dragged Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims into civil warfare over the past year, Saddam urged his countrymen to "remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness and brotherly coexistence."
But he also voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen." He urged Iraqis to be patient and rely on God's help in fighting "against the unjust nations."
Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of that struggle. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs."
Despite his calls for conciliation among Iraqis, Saddam's legacy is brutal. He put suspected foes to death without trial, oppressed Kurds and Shiites, waged war on Iran and twice fought U.S.-led armies. He left an impoverished nation now gripped by sectarian bloodshed and an insurgency against the U.S. presence.
Violence struck Baghdad again yesterday, with a car bomb killing eight civilians and wounding 10 near an Iraqi army checkpoint. Four more civilians died in a mortar attack in a Shiite neighbourhood, and police found the bodies of 51 apparent victims of sectarian killings.
Questions had arisen about whether the appeal court's ruling needed to be approved by the Iraqi presidency, which customarily signs off on death sentences. But Busho Ibrahim, deputy justice minister, said approval wasn't necessary.
A spokesman for President Jalal Talabani acknowledged the legal argument that the execution could go ahead without ratification by the president, who has expressed opposition to the death penalty.
"Some people believe there is no need for his approval," spokesman Hiwa Osman said. "We still have to hear from the court as to how the procedure can be carried out."
An official from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party said "the government wants Saddam executed as soon as possible." Another official close to al-Maliki said the execution would take place before the end of the 30-day period.
Saddam will remain in a U.S. military prison near the airport, Camp Cropper, until the day of the execution, at which point he will be handed over to Iraqi authorities, the official said.
Ghazzawi, the defence lawyer, said Saddam's letter was published yesterday on the website of Saddam's former Baath Party.
The deposed leader said he was writing the letter because his lawyers had told him the Iraqi High Tribunal that tried his case would give him an opportunity to say a final word.
"But that court and its chief judge did not give us the chance to say a word, and issued its verdict without explanation and read out the sentence – dictated by the invaders – without presenting the evidence," Saddam wrote. "Dear faithful people," he added, "I say goodbye to you, but I will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any honest believer."
Some Saddam loyalists threatened to retaliate if he is executed, warning in a posting on the same website that they would target U.S. interests.
"The Baath and the resistance are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to Baath fighters as "the resistance." The Baath Party was disbanded after U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam in 2003. The website is believed to be run from Yemen, where some exiled members of the party are based.
Saddam is in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. command reported three American military deaths yesterday, bringing the U.S. death toll for December to 93 in one of the bloodiest months for U.S. troops this year.
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The Rule of Law Rules Iraq =
A 2007 Year minus SADDAM
Everything our Hero American Soldiers have been so selflessly fighting for:
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~ALOHARONNIE
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Saddam Hussein and Barack Hussein Obama
Seperated at birth?
Ooooh, I have him in my dead pool. That will give me 5 of 10 for 2006.
The latter disputes the former. You are either FOR justice, or against it. The sentence IS justice and he is against it.
Excellent post and right on point with everything I've been told by those returning from the war zone. Thanks!
You're absolutely right.
And as a Catholic, that's my one major disagreement with the Catholic Church.
He is simply issuing orders to the terrorists.
It's common to change your stripes at the last moment.
Whether sincere or not is of little consequence now. He said what he said and, perhaps, a slim chance exists that it may be helpful to the US.
LOL
Catholics don't believe in the Old Testament? I didn't know that. The New Testament does not abolish the Old Testament.
Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Sounds like the Louis XVI approach---let not my blood fall upon France, etc., blah blah blah.
So I suppose Godly people should be out stoning those who gather firewood on the Sabbath? (Numbers 15)
And wow...how about those Exodus 21 ones..."He that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death." and "He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death."
Some would take John 8:7 as a claim against capital punishment. But then again, some would say that Christ was very much in favor of following governmental authorities, too...so...who knows. I was simply stating what I understood to be the official RCC belief.
There was quite a rush in late 2006 that checked off many who were slated for 2007.
ahl-doo-LAY'-mee?
Yeah, right. I think it's more like EYE-scroo-awl-y'all.
well the new testament did trump some of the old testament- such as being able to eat things once forbidden, & remember that some old testament laws were not God's laws but God telling folks they had to obey the customary laws of the lands of that time- like stoning adulterers- that was a cultural secular law- I do beleive though that capital punishment is STILL allowed- the catholic priest should know that God appoints judges and that their rulings need to be adhered to & their ruling is that Saddam hang! http://sacredscoop.com
Not here to argue with you Gond! I was simply trying to put some things in perspective. I have no idea what Catholics believe that differs from Protestants.
Romans 13:3-4
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Did you ever think of Saddam's possibilities as a great man had he gone for good instead of evil? I still think of what a great man Hitler could have been if he had put all his energy into doing good for mankind and his country. He would now, be considered the greatest man that ever lived. Instead he chose evil and now is the greatest dictator. An emblem of evil itself.
ALL the Roman Catholics I know believe in Capital Punishment.
The way some religious liberals speak, you can see them pleading with Jesus to spare the devil after Armegeddon (sp?).
"He is simply issuing orders to the terrorists."
~~~~~~
No, he is simply playing the MSM's game:
He is indulging in wishful, delusional thinking -- and hoping that if the lie is repeated enough, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(Did this idiot work for/study at the New York Times?)
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