Saddam's Death Sentence Upheld

[Drakonix]

The highest appeals court of Iraq has upheld Saddam's death sentence.

Saddam must now be executed by hanging within 30 days.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13163805/

[Nicobie]

Seeing as how I don't believe in the death penalty,

Why not just let him free in the streets of Bagdad.

Announce the time and place in advance and let the people there make their own judgment.

[floydian slip]

too bad they couldnt hold off until super bowl sunday

just imagine the witty advertisments and high ratings

[Nicobie]

Originally Posted by floydian slip

too bad they couldnt hold off until super bowl sunday

just imagine the witty advertisments and high ratings

The bookies would jump all over it too...

Bet the odds/minutes of survival.

[Drakonix]

Saddam's execution is planned to occur within the next 48 hours, on Friday or Saturday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16384738/?GT1=8816

[miss_silver]

Originally Posted by Drakonix

Saddam's execution is planned to occur within the next 48 hours, on Friday or Saturday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16384738/?GT1=8816

Get ready for a full blown scale civil war when it happens, another martyr, another wave of mass violence.

Isn't it forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary according to the international conventions?

[Drakonix]

Get ready for a full blown scale civil war when it happens

But... I thought Iraq was already in a state of civil war. You said so.

Saddam is an Iraqi.
Saddam is the (former) "President" of Iraq.
How could handing him over to the Iraqi Government (his own country) constitute handing him over to an adversary?

Just because Saddam has been tried and convicted as a criminal, this (IMO) does not make his own country an "adversary" within international laws.

[miss_silver]

Originally Posted by Drakonix

But... I thought Iraq was already in a state of civil war. You said so.

Saddam is an Iraqi.
Saddam is the (former) "President" of Iraq.
How could handing him over to the Iraqi Government (his own country) constitute handing him over to an adversary?

Just because Saddam has been tried and convicted as a criminal, this (IMO) does not make his own country an "adversary" within international laws.

Hardy har har

Saddam is going to be considered as a martyr. Isalmists take their martyrs very seriously. I consider sectarian violence the beginning of civil war, hang Saddam, Shiites and Sunnies are really gonna go at eachother's throath. If you would have bothered to read my previous post to you, you might have realised that the Sunnies are a minority in Iraq. The current gov is Shi'a, all things considered, since he was captured by the US army, he was a US prisonner of war. Handing him over to a Shi'a government is giving him to the hands of the adversary.

[floydian slip]

The Hangin' Song from Ren & Stimpy's "Out West"

C'mon everbody! Let's have a hoedown!

Oh, Lord loves a hangin'.
That's why He gave us necks.
It tightens up our vocal cords
And loosens up our pecs.

So if you are a horse theif
And guilty to the bone,
Go ahead and blame a friend
And you won't hang alone.

It may be hard to swaller,
But you'll be three feet taller.
It's a dandy way to entertain your friends.

You say you are a villain,
But can't abide by killin';
Go ahead a steal yourself a horse.

Oh, Lord loves a hangin'.
And so do we, by heck;
So get yerself a lasso
And decorate your neck.

Oh, we is awful ignorant
And uglier 'n sin;
So go ahead 'n cut us down
And hang us all again,

Hangin' that is. Swing a spell...

[RDixon]

Wanted: Dead or alive cards - $20.00
Illegally invading and occupying a sovereign nation - $500,000,000,000.00
Dead man swinging from a tree - Priceless?

[Mazer]

Careful RDixon. You're in danger of developing a sense of humor.

[Drakonix]

"Saddam is going to be considered as a martyr"
BFD. So, he gets the 70 virgins - or does he? He killed other Muslims, and that's a Qur'an no-no. Maybe he gets 70 virgin female demons (with fire “down there”).

I am sure some will consider Saddam a martyr. If Saddam is a martyr, so are all his victims - including the soldiers (on both sides) that died in the Iraq conflicts.

"Shiites and Sunnies are really gonna go at eachother's throath"
They already are "at each others throats". Saddam is a Sunni, are the Sunnis going to increase hostilities? Maybe. Such things can’t be permitted to interfere with the legal process. Saddam is a convicted criminal.

"If you would have bothered to read my previous post to you, you might have realised that the Sunnies are a minority in Iraq"
Actually, I did read the post. I was already aware of the points within it. If you had read what you copy/pasted you would know the Sunnis are a (approximately 8:1) majority, not a minority.

"The current gov is Shi'a, all things considered, since he was captured by the US army, he was a US prisonner of war. Handing him over to a Shi'a government is giving him to the hands of the adversary"
Saddam was indeed captured by the U.S. and his legal status was prisoner of war.
Handing a POW who is Iraqi over to the Iraqi government is not "handing him over to an adversary". Many thousands of Iraqi POW's held by the U.S. were released back to Iraq.

It's apparently a moot point now anyway - Amid conflicting reports, the U.S. has already transferred custody of Saddam to the Iraqi Government. Saddam has already surrendered his personal belongings to his family and has given them his will. The Iraqi Prime Minister has signed the death warrant. It looks like his execution will be soon - maybe today (Friday 12/29) or early Saturday morning Iraq time.. They may delay it for one week because of a religious holiday.

Fox news also reported that video of the execution is expected to be released.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239783,00.html
U.S. media will probably not show it, but it will probably be on the ‘net.

Although Saddam’s execution seems eminent, he still faces other genocide charges in which he killed up to 100,000 Kurds.

The new Iraqi government is going to have to find a way to appease the various groups. I do not envy them, it seems as if that is an impossible task.

I can only hope that Saddam's conviction and execution will at least release most Iraqis from the pain of his cruel reign.

If the execution is prepared properly, Saddam’s end will be quick. His death will be much more humane than that of his victims.

[miss_silver]

Originally Posted by Drakonix

"Saddam is going to be considered as a martyr"
BFD. So, he gets the 70 virgins - or does he? He killed other Muslims, and that's a Qur'an no-no. Maybe he gets 70 virgin female demons (with fire “down there”).

I am sure some will consider Saddam a martyr. If Saddam is a martyr, so are all his victims - including the soldiers (on both sides) that died in the Iraq conflicts.

"Shiites and Sunnies are really gonna go at eachother's throath"
They already are "at each others throats". Saddam is a Sunni, are the Sunnis going to increase hostilities? Maybe. Such things can’t be permitted to interfere with the legal process. Saddam is a convicted criminal.

"If you would have bothered to read my previous post to you, you might have realised that the Sunnies are a minority in Iraq"
Actually, I did read the post. I was already aware of the points within it. If you had read what you copy/pasted you would know the Sunnis are a (approximately 8:1) majority, not a minority.

"The current gov is Shi'a, all things considered, since he was captured by the US army, he was a US prisonner of war. Handing him over to a Shi'a government is giving him to the hands of the adversary"
Saddam was indeed captured by the U.S. and his legal status was prisoner of war.
Handing a POW who is Iraqi over to the Iraqi government is not "handing him over to an adversary". Many thousands of Iraqi POW's held by the U.S. were released back to Iraq.

It's apparently a moot point now anyway - Amid conflicting reports, the U.S. has already transferred custody of Saddam to the Iraqi Government. Saddam has already surrendered his personal belongings to his family and has given them his will. The Iraqi Prime Minister has signed the death warrant. It looks like his execution will be soon - maybe today (Friday 12/29) or early Saturday morning Iraq time.. They may delay it for one week because of a religious holiday.

Fox news also reported that video of the execution is expected to be released.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239783,00.html
U.S. media will probably not show it, but it will probably be on the ‘net.

Although Saddam’s execution seems eminent, he still faces other genocide charges in which he killed up to 100,000 Kurds.

The new Iraqi government is going to have to find a way to appease the various groups. I do not envy them, it seems as if that is an impossible task.

I can only hope that Saddam's conviction and execution will at least release most Iraqis from the pain of his cruel reign.

If the execution is prepared properly, Saddam’s end will be quick. His death will be much more humane than that of his victims.

About the Sunnie and Shi'a ratio, I made one fatal mistake, to trust the US administration report.

Is There a Sunni Majority in Iraq?

by Faruq Ziada


Introduction

The United States based its policy on Iraq on two primary so-called facts:

1. The Sunnis are a 20% minority.
2. The Sunni minority and Saddam Hussein ruled the Shi'ite majority in Iraq.

Thus, the U.S. Iraq policy – as set by the Bush Administration, and the Neoconservatives – both before and after the 2003 war and occupation, was based on this false premise. Because of this, the Sunnis were marginalized and power was handed over to the Shi'ite religious parties and Kurdish parties by the occupation force CPA, Ambassador Bremer, and later Ambassador Negroponte.

Based on this false premise, the US policy failed miserably. Still, the Bush Administration continued and still is continuing this policy. Bush called it "Stay the course…Conclusion

With the full backing of Shi'ite religious leaders and all efforts by the Shi'ite political parties, groups and factions, regardless of whether they were religious or liberal (Ahmed al-Chalabi), and uniting under one banner (Shi'ite), the numbers that the Shi'ites could muster were meager. It can be clearly seen that they are a minority in Iraq, and not a majority:

* They received 26.3 % of the votes of eligible voters in the January 31 2005 elections.
* They received 32.2% of the votes of eligible voters (regardless of all election violations, forgeries and filled ballots boxes) in the December 15, 2005 elections

Therefore, one of the main reasons for the drastic failure of US policy in Iraq must be attributed to the reliance on the false premise that the Sunnis are a minority and the Shi'ites are a majority in Iraq. It is very clear from the official numbers taken from the results of the elections of January 31, 2005, and December 15, 2005, that: the Sunnis are 60–62% of the population of Iraq (42–44% Arab, and 16–18% Kurd and Turk Iraqis), and only 38–40% are Shi'ites.

December 28, 2006"

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/ziada1.html

Ouch! Even worse that I tought.Thanks for setting the fact straight on the sunnie majority. More Saddam supporter will hit the streets rioting.

Just found something really fascinating on Wiki... Unless Wiki became a conspiracy theorist site, the USA is only cleaning up it's mess.

In 1958, a year after Saddam had joined the Ba'ath party, army officers led by General Abdul Karim Qassim overthrew Faisal II of Iraq. The Ba'athists opposed the new government, and in 1959, Saddam was involved in the attempted United States-backed plot to assassinate Qassim.

Saddam was shot in the leg, but escaped to Tikrit with the help of CIA and Egyptian intelligence agents. Saddam then crossed into Syria and was transferred to Beirut for a brief CIA training course. From there he moved to Cairo where he made frequent visits to the American embassy. During this time the CIA placed him in an upper-class apartment observed by CIA and Egyptian operatives. (UPI 'analysis' article)

He was sentenced to death in absentia. Saddam studied law at the Cairo University during his exile.

Rise to power

Concerned about Qassim's growing ties to Communists, the CIA gave assistance to the Ba'ath Party and other regime opponents. Army officers with ties to the Ba'ath Party overthrew Qassim in a coup in 1963. Ba'athist leaders were appointed to the cabinet and Abdul Salam Arif became president. Arif dismissed and arrested the Ba'athist leaders later that year. Saddam returned to Iraq, but was imprisoned in 1964. He escaped prison in 1967 and quickly became a leading member of the party. In 1968, Saddam participated in a bloodless coup led by Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr that overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif. al-Bakr was named president and Saddam was named his deputy. Saddam soon became the regime's strongman. According to biographers, Saddam never forgot the tensions within the first Ba'athist government, which informed his measures to promote Ba'ath party unity as well as his ruthless resolve to maintain power and programs to ensure social stability.

Soon after becoming deputy to the president, Saddam demanded and received the rank of four-star general despite his lack of military training.

The American fear of Communism gave rise to Saddam and his party. Since Saddam was backed by the United States to Overthrow communism in Iraq, the United States administration should take the blame for all the atrocities he commited.

Your founding father had it right when he said that the United States should stay out of "foreign entanglements." If Iraq wanted to turn toward communism, the USA should have let them do so. By supporting Saddam back them, the USA administration paved the way of what Hellhole Iraq is right now.

I just pray that all hell will not break loose at Mecca tonight between Shi'a and Sunnies over this.


Talking about a cruel reign, I wonder what the prisonners at Gitmo and ABU are thinking about your current president?

[Nicobie]

Say what U want about the Sunnys and the Shitys... (hahahahaha ms. silver).

Saddam is a piece of crap.

[Mazer]

Originally Posted by Nicobie

Saddam is a piece of crap.

Not anymore. They hanged him about half an hour ago.

[Drakonix]

Yes. MSN and other sources are reporting Saddam was executed just before 6 AM Iraqi time, 10:00 PM Eastern time.

[theknife]

"Hanging Saddam is easy. It's a job, for once, that these folks can actually see through to completion. So this execution, ironically and pathetically, becomes a stand-in for the failures, incompetence and general betrayal of country on every other front that President Bush has brought us.... This is the best we can do. Hang Saddam Hussein because there's nothing else this president can get right."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011729.php

another act in the farce of iraq. tomorrow, it's back to the reality for the people of iraq whom, by any metric you'd care to use, would be far better off if Saddam was still in charge.

[Drakonix]

[quote}Talking about a cruel reign, I wonder what the prisonners at Gitmo and ABU are thinking about your current president?[/quote]

Saddam's "accomplishments":

1980-88: Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead. As much as 1,070,000 dead in all.

1983-1988: Documented chemical attacks by Iraqi regime caused some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.

1988: Chemical attack on Kurdish village of Halabja killed approximately 5,000 people.

1987-1988: Iraqi regime used chemical agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages.

1990-91: 1,000 Kuwaitis were killed in Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

1991: bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a uprisings in northern and southern Iraq killed at least 30,000 to 60,000. At least 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.

2001 Amnesty International report: "Victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."

Human Rights Watch: Hussein's 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.

Refugees International: "Oppressive government policies have led to the internal displacement of 900,000 Iraqis"

[miss_silver]

Hey

I noticed that I was an easy prey since i'm not a US citizen...

I am still to my knowledge free to express my opinions. Drak, want to talk about state terrorism? Saddam was there for a while, thanks to your CIA services.

About state terrorism, it's nothing new, it is how your recent ADM country thrive... http://www.intellnet.org/resources/a...yofTerror.html

Violence begets violence

Listening to french CBC news, they even keep mentionning that it is a civil war right now in Iraq.

[gazdet]

well, here's the lead up to the big drop.. by the thickness of the rope, they were making sure it wasn't going to break