Informed Speculation

It is, of course, huge news whenever a former head of state of executed, even one so deserving of the honor as Saddam Hussein.  I’ll update this thread throughout the day to highlight some of the reaction.

Many news sites are now showing video of the noose being placed around Hussein’s neck (for example, here).

President Bush released a statement:

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial — the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people’s resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people’s determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

Saddam Hussein’s execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

Predictably, the progressive hordes don’t see it that way (let’s face it, they think Bush deserves the noose, and some of the commenters at the Daily Kos said as much – attention, Secret Service).  Typical is the reaction of John Nichols:

Convicted in a show trial that certainly appeared to have been timed to finish on the eve of last month’s US elections, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanged in a show execution that just as certainly seems to have been timed to be carried out before the end of the worst year of the Iraq War.

Whatever…

A lengthy obituary from the Financial Times…

I’ll praise the NY Times for a change – their coverage is in-depth…

Memeorandum is chock-full of commentary, as is Pajamas…

Newsweek has an interview with the man who videotaped the hanging…