Probably the part that upsets me. As a general over there said, we'd have done it right. The Iraqis screwed it up. The video shows an air of mob rule and a vindictive killing. His execution was cold justice under the law, and it should have been performed as such.
If that is what we were waiting for, we and everyone else would have been better off with throwing him to a crowd of Shiites right after his capture.
I agree. I also would've had him sung a couple of hymns before the trap door was sprung. Even a mass murderer like Saddam is entitled to a dignified hanging.
What's more, the hymn singing would've shown him the gentle side of America. When he was in American custody, he was well-treated and seemed to appreciate our professionalism. That's the message I would've preferred to see come out.
Better put on your nomex.
too many around here think that it was no biggies, as if the way we act has something to do with the way that he and any other scumbag dictator act.
I do believe that he should have been exectuced - after he stood trial before the Kurds - but this was just a Shiite mob.
That's just sanctimonious BS. Saddam was given a long protracted trial pressured by us and the coalition to go through this kabuki dance. It took more than three years to execute this tyrant who used the trial as a platform to spew his vitriol. A number of people and their families associated with the trial were assassinated. Since when do a few verbal taunts constitute "an air of mob rule and vindictive killing?" I viewed the video of the hanging. Saddam was not physically manhandled and was allowed to speak. His wishes not to use a hood were respected.
I question the motives of those who are "upset" with the hanging of a tyrant whose crimes probably touched directly or indirectly every Iraqi present at the hanging. The fact that some personal emotion was expressed in very human and understandable. Saddam's regime killed hundreds of thousands and his invasion of two countries caused millions of casualties. To expect some sterile, unemotional carrying out of the death penalty is unreasonable. I can imagine the tension in the room was palpable as this monster who ruled the country for over 25 years was finally despatched with far more dignity than any of his victims.
The Italians hung Mussolini and his girlfriend from a lamp post. The Romanians captured Ceausescu and his wife on Dec 22, 1989 and on December 25 the couple were hurriedly tried and convicted by a special military tribunal on charges of mass murder and other crimes. Ceausescu and his wife were then shot by firing squad. I don't recall any handwringing by the Western elite in either case.
You are confusing justice with the process. Saddam was brought to justice and the conditions of his execution were orderly and within the law. I respect the Iraqis for the way the execution was carried out. It must have taken great restraint not to tear him from limb to limb or to make the hanging a public spectacle.