Comments on: Saddam Hussein Has Been Executed http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/ Refunds Cheerfully Given To All Who Disagree Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:29:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Hitchens On The Hanging http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-185392 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Hitchens On The Hanging Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:04:47 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-185392 [...] The concerns expressed by Hitchens are very similar to what our good friend Fargus posted elsewhere in the comments, and the unsavory aspects are duly noted and largely agreed with.  Hitchens’ concerns about the U.S. role at least acknowledge the passivity of our culpability, rather than placing the U.S. in the role of instigator in the manner of Glenn Greenwald: This depressing New York Times article by John Burns and Marc Santora details the frantic, reckless manner in which Saddam Hussein was shoved into the noose in clear violation of Iraqi law. We can’t even get a hanging right. With all of the world watching, we yet again were the primary authors of a violent, uncivilized, and primitive act which — no matter how justified in some ultimate moral sense — was carried out in the most thuggish, wretched, inept, and (we now learn) patently illegal manner. [...] [...] The concerns expressed by Hitchens are very similar to what our good friend Fargus posted elsewhere in the comments, and the unsavory aspects are duly noted and largely agreed with.  Hitchens’ concerns about the U.S. role at least acknowledge the passivity of our culpability, rather than placing the U.S. in the role of instigator in the manner of Glenn Greenwald: This depressing New York Times article by John Burns and Marc Santora details the frantic, reckless manner in which Saddam Hussein was shoved into the noose in clear violation of Iraqi law. We can’t even get a hanging right. With all of the world watching, we yet again were the primary authors of a violent, uncivilized, and primitive act which — no matter how justified in some ultimate moral sense — was carried out in the most thuggish, wretched, inept, and (we now learn) patently illegal manner. [...]

]]> By: The Ugly American http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-185353 The Ugly American Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:04:23 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-185353 the Execution really sums up exactly how badly the Iraqis have squandered the opportunities we and the coalition have given them. Saddam would still be in power if not for the United States. We gave them an opportunity for democracy, for freedom, and for justice. While justice was meted out in the case of Saddam the Iraqis so far have opted for a new group of strong men and tyrants, and vengence over justice. The pain the Iraqis suffered under Saddam falls rightly on his head. they pain they suffer going forward is of their own making. the Execution really sums up exactly how badly the Iraqis have squandered the opportunities we and the coalition have given them.

Saddam would still be in power if not for the United States. We gave them an opportunity for democracy, for freedom, and for justice. While justice was meted out in the case of Saddam the Iraqis so far have opted for a new group of strong men and tyrants, and vengence over justice.

The pain the Iraqis suffered under Saddam falls rightly on his head. they pain they suffer going forward is of their own making.

]]> By: Andy http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-182361 Andy Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:54:23 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-182361 Unfortunate that professionalism was lacking. Basically looked like a run of the mill whack job by a militia, instead of the Army. Would rather have a 'legitimate' scenario where the executioners could have been seen to represent all three, Kurds, Shite & Sunni while remaining anonymous. Unfortunate that professionalism was lacking. Basically looked like a run of the mill whack job by a militia, instead of the Army.

Would rather have a ‘legitimate’ scenario where the executioners could have been seen to represent all three, Kurds, Shite & Sunni while remaining anonymous.

]]> By: Josh http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181613 Josh Sat, 30 Dec 2006 18:08:58 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181613 I agree with you on this one Fargus. Why weren't the executioners in uniform? Why were the executioners even allowed to speak? If you were to have replaced Saddam with a kidnapped foreigner or even a captured soldier I doubt that anyone would have been able to tell the difference between the state run execution and a run of the mill insurgent execution video. I agree with you on this one Fargus. Why weren’t the executioners in uniform? Why were the executioners even allowed to speak? If you were to have replaced Saddam with a kidnapped foreigner or even a captured soldier I doubt that anyone would have been able to tell the difference between the state run execution and a run of the mill insurgent execution video.

]]> By: Fargus http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181602 Fargus Sat, 30 Dec 2006 17:52:03 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181602 Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Their justice system, that's fine. I'm not making an anti-death penalty case here. All I'm saying is that watching that video and reading those accounts, it plays much more like a higher-profile incidence of sectarian violence than an official state execution. Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Their justice system, that’s fine. I’m not making an anti-death penalty case here. All I’m saying is that watching that video and reading those accounts, it plays much more like a higher-profile incidence of sectarian violence than an official state execution.

]]> By: Mark http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181507 Mark Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:35:39 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181507 Oh, and Fargus, I did read about the executioner praising al-Sadr on the gallows - yes, very troubling. I fear that the coalition of moderates I had hoped for may be dead in the water...our larger Iraq policy didn't gain much from this event, you're right. Still, this wasn't strictly about politics - it was about the death of a tyrant... Oh, and Fargus, I did read about the executioner praising al-Sadr on the gallows – yes, very troubling. I fear that the coalition of moderates I had hoped for may be dead in the water…our larger Iraq policy didn’t gain much from this event, you’re right. Still, this wasn’t strictly about politics – it was about the death of a tyrant…

]]> By: Mark http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181494 Mark Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:29:43 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181494 Josh, how about those Red Raiders?... Josh, how about those Red Raiders?…

]]> By: Mark http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181493 Mark Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:29:01 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181493 Well, Fargus, it wasn't our decision - it was the Iraqis. Their court, their verdict, their execution. Good riddance to bad rubbish...I get no pleasure out of a hanging, either, but I do believe justice was served... Well, Fargus, it wasn’t our decision – it was the Iraqis. Their court, their verdict, their execution.

Good riddance to bad rubbish…I get no pleasure out of a hanging, either, but I do believe justice was served…

]]> By: Fargus http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181383 Fargus Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:26:11 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181383 One of his executioners exclaimed "Long live Muqtada al-Sadr!" on the gallows. Also, strictly in terms of the photo-op, the executioners bore a stunning resemblance to those men who beheaded poor Nick Berg all that time ago. The execution was carried out according to Saddam's own execution procedure. And perhaps worst of all, as you noted in your earlier post, there was a <a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/12/30/saddam/print.html" rel="nofollow">religious concern</a> going on here. <blockquote>The tribunal...had a unique sense of timing when choosing the day for Saddam's hanging. It was a slap in the face to Sunni Arabs. This weekend marks Eid al-Adha, the Holy Day of Sacrifice, on which Muslims commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son for God. Shiites celebrate it Sunday. Sunnis celebrate it Saturday -- and Iraqi law forbids executing the condemned on a major holiday. Hanging Saddam on Saturday was perceived by Sunni Arabs as the act of a Shiite government that had accepted the Shiite ritual calendar.</blockquote> It's not like people are gonna miss the guy, but if it could have been carried out by people who didn't look like the garden-variety thugs who have been populating televisions for years now, and in a way that didn't simply play into the hands of all the problems going on in the country today, it could have been a much better thing. As it happened, I have a hard time seeing how it will have done any good at all. One of his executioners exclaimed “Long live Muqtada al-Sadr!” on the gallows. Also, strictly in terms of the photo-op, the executioners bore a stunning resemblance to those men who beheaded poor Nick Berg all that time ago. The execution was carried out according to Saddam’s own execution procedure. And perhaps worst of all, as you noted in your earlier post, there was a religious concern going on here.

The tribunal…had a unique sense of timing when choosing the day for Saddam’s hanging. It was a slap in the face to Sunni Arabs. This weekend marks Eid al-Adha, the Holy Day of Sacrifice, on which Muslims commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son for God. Shiites celebrate it Sunday. Sunnis celebrate it Saturday — and Iraqi law forbids executing the condemned on a major holiday. Hanging Saddam on Saturday was perceived by Sunni Arabs as the act of a Shiite government that had accepted the Shiite ritual calendar.

It’s not like people are gonna miss the guy, but if it could have been carried out by people who didn’t look like the garden-variety thugs who have been populating televisions for years now, and in a way that didn’t simply play into the hands of all the problems going on in the country today, it could have been a much better thing. As it happened, I have a hard time seeing how it will have done any good at all.

]]> By: too many steves http://informedspeculation.com/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/comment-page-1/#comment-181212 too many steves Sat, 30 Dec 2006 12:41:28 +0000 http://decision08.net/2006/12/29/saddam-hussein-has-been-executed/#comment-181212 I derive no pleasure but significant satisfaction from his death. Bye-bye Saddam. Best wishes to the Iraqi people who have now received justice. I derive no pleasure but significant satisfaction from his death. Bye-bye Saddam. Best wishes to the Iraqi people who have now received justice.

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