Saddam Hussein executed

[henk4]

What do you admire about him?

finishing off a rather corrupted government run by US croonie Batista perhaps?

[Wouter Melissen]

finishing off a rather corrupted government run by US croonie Batista perhaps?

Ah yeah the forty years of surpression is quite an improvement.

[nota]

For your consideration are POV from regular people expressed via today's 'letters to the editor' column in The Canberra Times, our city's politically middle-of-the-road newspaper ..

US is just as guilty as Saddam for crimes against humanity

The soon-to-be executed Saddam Hussein has urged all Iraqis to embrace "brotherly coexistence" and not to hate US-led foreign troops in his goodbye letter ("Saddam calls on Iraqis not to hate", December 29, p9).

This should come as an unwelcome surprise to those ardent apologists of his impending execution, especially those who conveniently ignore the situation prior to the March 2003 United States invasion of Iraq.

The secular Ba'ath party's coming to power in 1961 was orchestrated by a CIA-led coup, initiating what was a long, complex and at times paradoxical association between the US and Iraq.

This later culminated in Donald Rumsfeld, who was then presidential envoy to the Middle East in the Reagan administration, negotiating with Saddam Hussein back in 1979-80 for Iraq to attack Iran as a Cold War proxy of the US.

The US went on to provide Iraq with military assistance by directly attacking Iranian ships and oil platforms; it arranged massive loans to Iraq from US client states such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; it supported Iraq's chemical attacks on Iranians and Kurds by providing "crop spraying" helicopters, and blocking condemnation of those attacks in the United Nations Security Council; and it provided satellite data and information about Iranian military units together with detailed battle planning for Iraqi military forces.

Naturally, the Bush Administration would now want to laud Saddam's impending execution as a vindication of its huge military effort in Iraq.

But more importantly, Saddam is apparently receiving his own reward for betraying a superpower that is itself guilty of holding humanity in equal contempt.

Reverend Dr Vincent Zankin, Rivett

Acting on a false assumption (that al-Qaeda was hiding Russian nerve gas under Saddam Hussein's bed), how's the coalition's "shock and awe" campaign to unseat terrorism progressing in Iraq?

Let's begin the countdown to victory on the day Bush, Blair and Howard decided to pull a pin named Saddam from a hand grenade named Iraq.

Pre-invasion body count: 0.

Latest corpse tally: 650,000 plus one when they hang Saddam for unapproved war crimes.

His war crimes in Iran were not only approved, the US sent nerve gas and Ronald Rumsfeld to explain how it works.

So will Bush, Blair and Howard leave Iraq soon, at 850,000 corpses, or when Pol Pot's tally is within grasp?

Do drunks leave parties early?

Graham Macafee, Latham

And via the same newspaper, these professionally written pieces ..

The fall of the regime, the trial of a tyrant, the imposition of a new order were all part of a vision that was never grounded in the facts of Iraq, because the facts on the ground were secondary to the purpose. Had it been otherwise, there would have been a proper post-invasion plan.

Instead, we have the results of the latest opinion polls, so beloved of those who cheered on the invasion. According to a survey by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies in November, 89.9 per cent of respondents felt that Iraq was worse today than when Saddam Hussein was in power. Just over 50 per cent wanted the multinational forces to leave immediately, with a further 20 per cent declaring that they wanted them to start to leave now on a set timetable.

To those who still claim that the invasion was right, because it removed a tyrant, one has this simple question: "Did we do it to make ourselves feel better or to make things better for the Iraqis?"

For, if we ever thought they were one and the same thing, then we have been cruelly deceiving ourselves and even more cruelly deceiving them.

^ extract from
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/det...on&m=12&y=2006

and ..
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/det...on&m=12&y=2006

[dydzi]

I, on the other hand, am really glad we got rid of another psychopatic murdering dictator. The current situation in Iraq is far from being ideal, but that doesn't change the fact that Saddam was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. As some Iraqi politician recently said, its a pity that they can hang him only once.

i couldn't agree more. i think it was the worst moment to hang him though - too late either too early - he could reveal much useful information about the other committed crimes.

But don't worry Drakkie, Hussain may be dead, but you still have others like Kim Dzong-Il, Robert Mugabe or Fidel Castro to worship. Though the latter won't last long.

which won't help the situation much, as after his death cuba will turn to hell - lots of riots and wars i presume

[drakkie]

Wicked, Drakkie has just approved genocide!!

Reading seems to be hard for some In need of coffee ?

But offcourse killing thousands isnt right,

So far Bush killed way too many too,so... It is up to you to decide which is worse ? Holding a match next to a bomb called terrorism, or killing people with the approval of the "super"-power ...

it supported Iraq's chemical attacks on Iranians and Kurds by providing "crop spraying" helicopters, and blocking condemnation of those attacks in the United Nations Security Council

You decide for yourself. Have fun thinking about it. I'd love to have a good political debate/talk about it in real-life. Mind if I invite the Iraqi people i know that fled for the US-war criminals ?

PS:
Also think back to our own Dutch foreign policy in the past. We have done similar things too.

[taz_rocks_miami]

which won't help the situation much, as after his death cuba will turn to hell - lots of riots and wars i presume

I don't think so, when Castro dies, his brother will just take his place. I don't think anything will change.

[Matt]

I think executing Saddam, right now anyway, was a huge mistake. This is the most symbolically anti-Arabic act that can be directly attributed to US action. We killed the leader of an Islamic country. I think this is just going to strengthen the anti-US sentiment.

I don't believe that any insurgency is based on pro-Saddam feelings. So, it isn't going to directly affect the organization or missioni of the fighters. However, I think the execution of Saddam is going to lead other Muslims, world-wide, to take up arms against the US.

[go.pawel]

I think executing Saddam, right now anyway, was a huge mistake. This is the most symbolically anti-Arabic act that can be directly attributed to US action. We killed the leader of an Islamic country. I think this is just going to strengthen the anti-US sentiment.

I can't agree with you.
Firstly, Saddam was hated by most of his Arabian neighbours (namely: Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) beacuse of wars he fought with them. There have already been huge manifestations of joy in those countries since his exexution in the morning.
Secondly, Saddam's Iraq was for Arabian standards a secular country, which wasn't keenly seen by the Muslims.When I say secular I mean that religion during his ruling was accepted as long as it wasn't interfering with his power and his ideas. That's not the way it usually works in islamic countries, which tend to be based on religious rather than purely administrative power. In Iraq it worked pretty much like with russian orthodox church in Soviet Union or with roman catholic church in 3rd Reich, which were tollerated and endorsed as the only legal religious congregations.
Furthermore, Saddam was a Sunni and his administration persecuted Shi'as, who comprise of most of inhabitants of Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and minorities in almost all other Middle East countries. That didn't make the Shi'as particularly fond of Saddam.
All of the above means there won't necessarily be many tears shed over Saddam's death. The only Arabian country that issued an official statement regarding Saddam's execution was Libia, which can hardly be considered a credible one. All the other muslim rulers haven't made any comments.
The only thing that should've been changed IMO is the date of execution. Today's the first day of Id al-Adha, the most important holiday in islam. If I were a muslim I would probably take it as a sign of disrespect.

[Piacki_117]

Pity... To be totally honest i found him a less violent leader then Bush.

I haven't heard such a basic anti-americanism for a long time... You could have chosen a better reason to hate the Bush.

[Matt]

I can't agree with you.
Firstly, Saddam was hated by most of his Arabian neighbours (namely: Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) beacuse of wars he fought with them. There have already been huge manifestations of joy in those countries since his exexution in the morning.
Secondly, Saddam's Iraq was for Arabian standards a secular country, which wasn't keenly seen by the Muslims.When I say secular I mean that religion during his ruling was accepted as long as it wasn't interfering with his power and his ideas. That's not the way it usually works in islamic countries, which tend to be based on religious rather than purely administrative power. In Iraq it worked pretty much like with russian orthodox church in Soviet Union or with roman catholic church in 3rd Reich, which were tollerated and endorsed as the only legal religious congregations.
Furthermore, Saddam was a Sunni and his administration persecuted Shi'as, who comprise of most of inhabitants of Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and minorities in almost all other Middle East countries. That didn't make the Shi'as particularly fond of Saddam.
All of the above means there won't necessarily be many tears shed over Saddam's death. The only Arabian country that issued an official statement regarding Saddam's execution was Libia, which can hardly be considered a credible one. All the other muslim rulers haven't made any comments.
The only thing that should've been changed IMO is the date of execution. Today's the first day of Id al-Adha, the most important holiday in islam. If I were a muslim I would probably take it as a sign of disrespect.

I don't mean people will be angered by the death of Saddam, more the symbol of the US killing the leader of an Islamic country.

[Vaigra]

I think executing Saddam, right now anyway, was a huge mistake. This is the most symbolically anti-Arabic act that can be directly attributed to US action. We killed the leader of an Islamic country. I think this is just going to strengthen the anti-US sentiment.

I don't believe that any insurgency is based on pro-Saddam feelings. So, it isn't going to directly affect the organization or missioni of the fighters. However, I think the execution of Saddam is going to lead other Muslims, world-wide, to take up arms against the US.

I promise not to take up arms.

[DesmoRob]

What do you admire about him?

I think the fact that he came to power virtually out of nowhere by overthrowing batista with such a meagre group of followers is worth mentioning. What's also interesting is that he's been able to evade so many assassination attempts from the CIA. From what a history professor told me, they've gone as far as trying to get him with an explosive cigar. Whether that was just an idea of theirs or actually something that they went through with, I don't know. But what I do know is that they (CIA) have tried and failed many times at doing him in.

[Drift Illusion]

These guys are all sadistic.

[dydzi]

The only thing that should've been changed IMO is the date of execution. Today's the first day of Id al-Adha, the most important holiday in islam. If I were a muslim I would probably take it as a sign of disrespect.

i think that's not a matter of accident. he was executed today because there's bigger probability people would be focused on other issues - in muslim countries - Id al-Adha and in western countries - new year celebrations. thus, the execution could be lead without bigger response

[go.pawel]

i think that's not a matter of accident. he was executed today because there's bigger probability people would be focused on other issues - in muslim countries - Id al-Adha and in western countries - new year celebrations. thus, the execution could be lead without bigger response

Without bigger response? The response was as big as expected methinks. The only way to execute Saddam without a big response would be to do it on the Armageddon's Day.