Execution of Saddam Hussein

[Aldous]

The big news of the moment must surely be Saddam being hanged.

I wonder if it has brought closure, of a type, for anyone. Maybe to the people who were taunting him as he stood on the gallows. The sorry business seemed to have an amateurish feel about it. I don't know if that makes it all better or worse.

Our mainstream TV news did show the footage right up till the moment before he was killed.

Either his faith in his god is very strong, or he is a very tough man -- probably both -- because he was composed and still defiant, as we all saw.

[Great Rao]

I think the execution did a good job of fostering more chaos.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6220833.stm

[Sword of Superman]

Either his faith in his god is very strong, or he is a very tough man -- probably both -- because he was composed and still defiant, as we all saw.

Or maybe crazy and obsessed as it was for all his life.

[Permanus]

Well, I'm a knee-jerk opponent of capital punishment, so of course I got no closure out of this - but then, there was never anything for me to close in the first place: of course I disliked Saddam Hussein as much as most people (though not as much as the people who suffered directly from his actions), but the world is full of horrible people and I don't take it personally. I don't need closure.

I don't think his execution will bring peace to Iraq - in fact, it will add a few car bombs; moreover, the hasty execution cut short the trial, so several crimes against humanity will remain untried. Even supporters of the death penalty should admit that there is no closure to be had here. This was vengeance for a few people, that's all.

[Uncle Mxy]

Just what the world needs...  another martyr.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ has interesting insights, as usual.

[TELLE]

Largely agree with Permanus, not that I have a well-defined moral sense of why "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is a commandment we should struggle to obey.  Nor do I have an opinion on why human life should be more valued than other forms of life (although I try to imagine that my own life has some dignity, I often get the feeling that I'm kidding myself).  That being said, the execution reflects badly on everyone involved and seems to have helped nobody.  I wonder if the smuggled cellular phone video will create even more problems?

[nightwing]

I wonder if the smuggled cellular phone video will create even more problems?

Apparently so...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/03/saddam.execution/index.html

I wondered the same thing about the Michael Richards video.  As soon as the furor dies down over his nasty comments, I think he should sue the guy who used a camera phone to record his act.  Surely that's verboten at a concert of any kind?  Sue him, Mike, it might be your last chance to make money this decade!

As for Saddam, it's hard to work up too much indignation over what amounts to putting down a mad dog.  But on the other hand, the way the whole thing was handled -- trial and execution alike -- had a Dark Ages feel to it that doesn't do much to legitimize the new government.  Basically Iraq was a brutish Thug-ocracy when we got there, isn't much better now and will be a smoking hole in the ground about a week after we leave.

And whoever shot that shaky video has no future as a filmmaker.