Informed Speculation

There is widespread opposition in Europe to executing Saddam, but it’s not because he isn’t believed guilty; rather, it reflects (a) European opposition to the death penalty, and (b) a belief that said execution would push Iraq into a civil war (rather late for that one, isn’t it?):

Tony Blair has joined other EU countries in asking Iraq not to execute Saddam Hussein.

Mr Blair said the conviction of the former Iraqi leader was a reminder of his regime’s “barbaric brutality”.

He told his monthly press conference in Downing Street that the Government was “against the death penalty, whether it is Saddam Hussein or anybody else”.

Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, called for Saddam’s life to be spared, as he appeared alongside Mr Blair after talks at Downing Street.

Asked about his view of the death sentence, Mr Prodi said: “Italy is against the death penalty and so even in such a dramatic case as Saddam Hussein, we still think that the death penalty must not be put into action.”

Massimo D’Alema, the Italian Foreign Minister, went further after talks in Paris with his French counterpart, saying the execution of Saddam Hussein could push the country towards a real civil war.

“This is the reason for the appeal we are sending to the Iraqi authorities – to the democratic authorities of Iraq, which we respect and support – that the sentence should not be carried out,” Mr D’Alema said.

Phillipe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister, said France and the European Union were opposed to the death penalty and wanted to see it abolished worldwide.

“So for purely ethical reasons, Saddam Hussein should not suffer the death penalty,” he said. “But above all, you also have to think that the situation in Iraq is excessively worrying and we are on the brink of civil war.”

Well, I suppose it all boils down to how you view the death penalty; if you’re opposed to it, I suppose there is an admirable consistency in not making exceptions (for the record, I support the death penalty).

Nevertheless, there are signs that Saddam’s execution could come rather quickly:

Iraq’s appeals court was expected to rule on Saddam Hussein’s guilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January, the chief prosecutor said Monday.

Additionally, the Associated Press has learned, Iraq’s three-man presidential council agreed at least six months ago not to block the death penalty for Hussein, should it be upheld on appeal.

All three members of the Presidential Council — President Jalal Talabani and Vice Presidents Tariq al-Hashimi and Adel Abdul Mahdi — must sign death warrants before executions can be carried out.

Hussein and two other men sentenced to hang were among eight defendants in a trial for the 1980s killings of nearly 150 Shiite Muslims from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after a failed assassination attempt on Hussein in the city in 1982.

If the nine-judge appeals panel upholds the death sentences, they could be ready for signing early next year, according to a schedule laid out Monday by chief prosecutor Jaafar Moussawi.

Moussawi said the Iraqi High Tribunal, which issued the verdicts on Sunday, must send the entire case file to the appeals panel within 10 days, or by November 15.

Hussein’s defense team must submit its appeal to the tribunal by December 5.

While the appellate court has no deadline for its ruling, Moussawi said it would act quickly because it had no other cases under consideration.

“The appeals panel will take less than a month to make its decision,” Moussawi said.

Regardless of your stance on the death penalty, let’s not hear any garbage about stooping to Saddam’s level; had the Iraqis done that, he would have been tortured and killed months ago, sans trial…