Hanging Saddam "barbaric" - top EU official

[maddezmom]

BRUSSELS, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Hanging former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was "barbaric" and may turn him into a martyr, the European Union's aid and development Commissioner told Reuters on Saturday.

Saddam, who had been convicted of crimes against humanity, was hanged at dawn in the Iraqi capital.

"You don't fight barbarism with acts that I deem as barbaric. The death penalty is not compatible with democracy," Louis Michel told Reuters.

"Unfortunately Saddam Hussein risks to appear as a martyr, and he does not deserve that. He is not a martyr, he committed the worse things," Michel said in a phone interview.

"The death penalty is against the values of the European Union ... we are against by principle, whatever the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein - and he committed horrible ones," Michel said.
more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30630950.htm

Russia says Saddam's death can breed more violence
MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it regretted the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and expressed concerns that his death could trigger a new spiral of violence in Iraq.

"Regrettably, repeated calls by representatives of various nations and international organisations to the Iraqi authorities to refrain from capital punishment were not heard," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.

"Saddam Hussein's execution can lead to further aggravation of the military and political situation and the growth of ethnic and confessional tensions."


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30741228.htm

Vatican says Saddam execution "tragic"
VATICAN CITY, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The Vatican on Saturday condemned the execution of Saddam Hussein as a "tragic" event and warned that it risked fomenting a spirit of vendetta and sowing fresh violence in Iraq.

"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes," said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

"The position of the Church (against capital punishment) has been restated often," he said.

The Catholic Church teaches that capital punishment today is unjustifiable because modern society has developed ways of protecting society from further crimes by the guilty party and that because only God can end a life.
more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30848769.htm

US war allies raise doubts over Saddam hanging
PARIS (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said that Saddam Hussein had received the kind of justice he denied his victims but some key US allies expressed discomfort at the execution of the former Iraqi dictator.

Bush, who ordered the March 20, 2003 invasion to oust the dictator, was asleep at his Texas ranch when the hanging of Saddam was carried out in Baghdad, the White House said.

~snip~

Britain, the main US ally in Iraq, said Saddam Hussein had been "held to account" but reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty, as did Australia another key supporter of the US invasion.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061230/ts_alt_afp/iraqjusticesaddamexecutionworld_061230061738

World leaders welcome, condemn Saddam's execution
~snip~
India said it also feared the execution could trigger more sectarian violence.

"We had already expressed the hope that the execution would not be carried out. We are disappointed that it has been," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement.

~snip~

In Pakistan, an Islamic ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, a leader of a coalition of six religious parties said Saddam had not received justice.

"We have no sympathy with Saddam Hussein, but we will also say that he did not get justice," Liaquat Baluch, a leader of the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, also known as the United Action Forum, told The Associated Press by phone.

more:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-12-30-saddam-reaction_x.htm?csp=34

[uppityperson]

1. K&R and thank you for this article.

[OneBlueSky]

2. he's right . . . n/t

.

[Erika]

3. Violence only begets violence

I'm reminded of that song "When will they ever learn".

[krispos42]

28. Well, that is the point

If you are violent, and you get a boatload of violence for your trouble, you'll probably stop being violent. It is the promise of overpowering defensive violence that should make offensive violence ineffective.

The problem is that it only works on the micro scale, not the macro. Kicking the crap out of the schoolyard bully may indeed make him not be violent towards you ever again. But there are more than enough people out there who, as a whole, will not get the message.

During the "Black Hawk Down" mission in Somolia, the ratio of Somolians killed to Americans killed was about 50:1. That ratio didn't deter them from attacking, although it affected their tactics during the engagement. When a person is part of a larger organism, like an army, the loss of an individual is not as important as long as the organism (army unit) performs its assigned mission. And that is what we are facing in Iraq.

Regardless of how many insurgents we kill, we will not kill all of them, or even most of them. We may not even kill a significant portion of them. As long as the insurgency is keeping the political process moving towards a solution the insurgency finds acceptable, and as long as there are enough death Americans and destroyed Humvees and Bradleys, the insurgency will continue. The members of the insurgency always have the thought in the back of their head that SOMEONE ELSE will die, but they are the central character in a war story that never dies.

Having said this, I am glad he is dead. Aside from the fact that the egotistical sociopathic murderer deserved it, he is also too dangerous to be left alive. Now that the insurgency is so strong, can we really think he will spend the rest of his years in jail? I think it much more likely he'd be rescued by the Sunnis and become part of Iraq's ethnic and religious civil war.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Hear, Hear!

But America loves the company it keeps...Iran...China...Saudi Arabia...

Even for many "liberals" it's fuck fair trials, just hang em high.

[Desertrose]

5. I agree...

...pandoras box of more trouble....

[beam me up scottie]

6. "and may turn him into a martyr"

What have we done?

Meanwhile "Bush...was asleep at his Texas ranch when the hanging of Saddam was carried out in Baghdad, the White House said."

[Briar]

7. Only uncivilised countries have the death penalty

"You don't fight barbarism with acts that I deem as barbaric. The death penalty is not compatible with democracy," Louis Michel told Reuters.

Bravo for the EU (so hated by the rightwing in my country, which wants to celebrate Anglo Saxon values instead).


This morning Bush's comments included the extraordinary remark that this would help Iraqi democracy. So to Bush, execution is a democratic value - just as telling lies to launch an illegal invasion and occupation of another country are democratic values. Apparently also, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ with a hanging. I think this barbaric act tells us what western values amount to.

[maddezmom]

8. Military Families Weigh Saddam Execution

Dec 30, 2006 (AP)— As word of Saddam Hussein's execution flashed around the world, Stephanie Dostie watched the news from her home on a military base and thought of her husband, who was killed in Iraq a year ago.

With her two children at her side, Dostie monitored the television reports while she prepared for the anniversary of her husband's death. She called Saddam's execution "a very generous death."

~snip~
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2760257&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[saigon68]

14. She needs some counseling

[acmavm]

18. What is wrong with this woman? Chimpy killed her husband.

Hussein didn't have anything to do with it.

He told them he didn't have WMDs. George and the neos were the ones that lied.

[Usrename]

9. He surrendered to US troops. He was our prisoner of war.

How come we let some other folks kill him?

It would have been much more honerable to shoot him on sight, and never accept his surrender.

Who are these people?

Where do we go to get our honor back?

[cassiepriam]

13. Execution of a prisoner of war is going to back fire on us.

Our troops will never be safe again.

[ckramer]

16. Bush pretended this execution of Saddam was from a normal court of law

Nothing is further from truth.

Executing Saddam finally made daddy proud, didn't it?

[Supersedeas]

24. Dubyah's Big Day -- Don't ya know that the boy king is proud.

[xchrom]

10. here's the whole point:

''The death penalty is not compatible with democracy," Louis Michel told Reuters.


in america -- there is very little resonance with m. michel's statement.

our president and a majority of people still believe in the myth of capital punishment as a force for good.

pixie dust. might as well believe in pixie dust.

and it was EASY in this case to get the shiite led government to act in a manner that suited us -- or rather bushco.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OETKB]

11. It is more than barbarity

This violent act gives the state further permission to kill. It also gives forces who oppose government the same right. Haven't we yet evolved from the notion that revenge is a non starter for solving our problems. I expect the greatest surge of violence yet in that poor country. It has also been shown that the same happens here after well publicized executions. For me it is not this act but that people in charge have no other notion of justice and what enhances human survival.

[Eurobabe]

12. Asshat just made us all safer

I feel safer, don't you?

:puke:

[cal04]

15. Arab haj pilgrims outraged at Saddam execution

Arab pilgrims in Mecca expressed outrage on Saturday that Iraqi authorities had chosen to execute former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on a major religious holiday, saying it was an insult to Muslims.

Sunni Arabs at the haj were shocked at Saddam's hanging which followed his conviction for crimes against humanity against Iraqi Shi'ites.

"His execution on the day of Eid ... is an insult to all Muslims," said Jordanian pilgrim Nidal Mohammad Salah. "What happened is not good because as a head of state, he should not be executed."

The Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, marks biblical patriarch Abraham's willingness to kill his son for God. Muslim countries often pardon criminals to mark the feast, and prisoners are rarely executed at that time.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30864357.htm

[Kagemusha]

19. It's worse than I thought. (Citing Juan Cole)

Apparently the Shiites celebrate Eid on Sunday and the Sunnis celebrate it on Saturday. So by executing Saddam on Saturday, it respects Shiite religious sensibilities, while giving a stiff middle finger to Sunni religious sensibilities worldwide.

What a petty, vengeful thing to do.

[ckramer]

17. Also, the Iraqi Shiites government just set itself up with image of 1) barbaric

2) Extremists
3) unfit for governing


I expect that Sunni rebels will use this to fight even harder.

It won't be a good day for Shiites from this day on I predict.

[leesa]

20. Well, duh. America is such a backwards country.

[Eugene]

22. Reuters: Saudi Arabia criticises Iraq over Saddam execution

Saudi Arabia criticises Iraq over Saddam execution
30 Dec 2006 15:31:35 GMT
Source: Reuters

RIYADH, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Leading Sunni Arab power Saudi Arabia on Saturday
criticised Iraq's Shi'ite leaders for executing former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
during the Eid al-Adha religious feast, saying his trial had been politicised.

"There is a feeling of surprise and disapproval that the verdict has been
applied during the holy months and the first days of Eid al-Adha," a presenter
on the official al-Ikhbariya TV said after programming was broken to read a
statement.

"Leaders of Islamic countries should show respect for this blessed occasion ...
not demean it," said the statement, which was attributed to official news agency
SPA's political analyst.

"It had been expected that the trial of a former president, who ruled for a
considerable length of time, would last longer, ... demonstrate more precision,
and not be politicised."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30868171.htm

Bush & Co. got Saddam and likely further undermined the political mission
in the Middle East by killing him on a Muslim holiday.

(See also Reply #15: Arab haj pilgrims outraged at Saddam execution)

[earlybelle]

23. Kind of makes a mockery of the democracy we say we are bringing to the ME.

[StrictlyRockers]

25. AGREE!!!

[Jcrowley]

26. K&R n/t

[BrightKnight]

27. Hanging is not that barbaric if done properly.

The actual death by hanging is not that barbaric if done properly. The force of this drop and stop breaks the bones in the executee's neck and severs his spinal cord causing him to go into medical shock and be rendered unconscious. At this point the executee strangles to death.

In a proper hanging the executee is unconscious almost instantly. The problem with hanging is that too many of them are botched. Saddam's execution does not appear to have been botched.

----
This is not intended as an argument for or against the death penalty.

[Erika]

29. Spare me your definition of compassion n/t

[MnFats]

31. your source for this information? or, how do you know?

no one who's been hanged came around to describe it.
same with lethal injection....since the first drug injected is a paralytic that renders the condemned incapable of moving at all.....the condemned may be experiencing excrutiating pain but be unable to communicate that fact....hence the dubious claim that lethal injection is somehow "more humane."

[Norrin Radd]

30. Took the words out of my mouth. n/t

[Stargazer99]

32. There is noting like a taste of one's own medicine to cure

violence and abuse of power. Although I resent Mr. Bush's smirking about this Saddam had it coming in spades! Do unto others as you would have them do to you. So simple even a moron can understand it but when people get excessive power they think they are gods and somehow that simple understanding becomes too complicated to comprehend.

[killbotfactory]

33. It looked like a terrorist beheading video

[goddess40]

34. If only the US would rejoin the civilized world

I hope with the Dem's in charge of Congress we can redeem our country

[Zhade]

35. Michel is correct. I am disgusted by this madness.

We're supposed to be better than the fucking DARK AGES.