Posted on 01/15/2007 10:26:10 AM PST by NormsRevenge
LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said that the way in which Saddam Hussein's half-brother was executed was "wrong", after it emerged his head was severed during hanging.
Human rights groups criticised the punishment after the Iraqi government said "no violations" had occurred but confirmed that Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti's head was ripped from his body as he swung on the gallows.
Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Blair's spokesman restated Britain's opposition to the death penalty and again said it recognised Iraq's right as a sovereign government to make its own decision on capital punishment.
"However, we emphasised (to the Iraqi government) if the executions were to be carried out, they should be done so in a dignified way," he said.
"Now if, as it appears to have been the case, that it didn't happen, then that clearly was wrong.
"But the manner of death should neither obscure the crimes that these people committed against the Iraqi people, nor excuse the manner (of the execution) if indeed it did go wrong."
Al-Tikriti, Saddam's former intelligence chief and half-brother, and Awad Ahmed Bandar, the former head of the revolutionary court, were executed at dawn, the Iraqi government in Baghdad said Monday.
Both were sentenced to hang on November 5 by a special court along with ousted president Saddam Hussein for their part in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in the 1980s.
Saddam's execution on December 30, before which he was taunted by Shiite guards and observers, drew criticism worldwide for the way it was handled by the Iraqi authorities.
Blair was attacked for initially remaining silent over the hanging. But he also eventually branded the manner of the former dictator's execution as "completely wrong".
Britain lobbied "at the highest level" to spare Saddam's life the day before he faced the gallows, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said in a letter made public last week.
London's reaction to the latest hangings Monday morning was initially more muted, with the Foreign Office and Blair's office refusing to criticise Iraq for carrying out the executions until the decapitation was confirmed later.
This is the first I have heard about the guy's head coming off. Back on the live Saddam hanging thread I had posted a recommended drop chart based on weight (just to be helpful). And later when I watched the video of Saddam's hanging I thought at the time it looked like there was too much slack in that rope. Sounds like they didn't bother reading the instructions.
Well, you know, Tony, we shouldn't be in a position to dictate these things to a sovereign Iraqi government. "Completely wrong" would have been dropping them into a plastic shredder without a trial.
"Very nice video. I have never seen it."
Isn't he good? I'd never seen him either. Hope he's working on a new routine.
I guess they think he would be less dead if his head didn't come off. These dumb asses think it is ok to for muslims to behead people but it shouldn't happen to them. What asshats. Liberals, we should exile them all to the moon.
In other words the rope tension should be high enough to snap the neck, but not enough to uncork the head.
LOL. You got me!
The problem with that is that the bystanders would no doubt laugh at the guy when he fell to the ground the first couple of times. From what I hear, the difference between an execution and a lynching is when the condemned gets taunted.
Here is that drop chart: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759930/posts?page=157#157
If this chart I found on the internet is accurate, Saddam should have dropped about 5 feet. In the video it looked to me that he probably dropped several feet.
The high notes.
Wouldn't it be much easier to simply starve them for a few weeks so they aren't so fat when you string 'em up?
Ya got me too on that one! That was startling! LOL!
Going wobbly.
Sh-stuff happens.
Folks
Here is the reason all the lefties are all in a huff about the hangings. I was reading a post in a blog in an area newspaper that quoted some cindy sheehan associate who advocated sweating the saddam family for information to hang Dubya with..in some insane obsessive compulsive search for a smoking gun on the war.
"Who knows what the penalty is for striking a Roman Citizen?" - Bob; History of the World
That is how I feel about the story and PHOTOS of the awful executions going on in Iran - including stoning women to death - yet you don't hear a word from the "feminists" who suffer from Bush Derangement Syndrome. Remember - they loved Clinton, because he encouraged them to abort their babies.
Yep, 'encouraged' is the right word. To Liberals, and especially feminists, abortion is not merely one option. It is the prefered option, the recommended first option, something that should practiced as often and as regularly as possible. Abortion to them is a fundamental right, a sacrament,something that asserts their power and control over their bodies. It's symbolic. In fact I am sure many feminists get pregnant just so they can abort their babies and show people who's in charge.
at least they did use a bungee cord or a trampoline
http://trampolinelol.ytmnd.com/
Bunch of pussies
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