Should Saddam Be Executed?

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, or if it's in the wrong place!

BBC - 19 June 2006

The prosecution in the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has called for his execution as it delivered its closing arguments.

The prosecution said Saddam Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants should be put to death for war crimes.

The trial has now adjourned and judges will consider their verdict after final defence arguments on 10 July.

The trial of Saddam Hussein is now drawing to a close. I wondered what sort of punishment would be meted out, and now it looks like the death penalty may indeed be called for.

Should Saddam be executed? I have to admit that I would be somewhat suprised if he was actually executed. Would such an act not be inflammatory? Or would it be seen as neccesary in order to remove another inspirational figurehead who could be perceived as hindering the coalition's aims?

If we were to execute Saddam, would that not be akin to acting on 'their' level?

If it were up to me, I wouldn't execute him because then that just makes me as bad as he is. I would put him in prison, so it sends a message out to his followers - they won't get the easy way out (death).

Then again, I would never execute any criminal because I feel all killing is completely wrong.

[edit on 19-6-2006 by xeroxed88]

[edit: removed unnecessary quote of Entire preceeding post]


I agree with what you say. He could quite easily become a martyr...just as powerful in death, in a way. However, some may argue that he still poses a risk while alive, and others may espouse an 'eye for an eye' stance.

Whatever the verdict, I would expect this to drag on for sometime to come.


Quoting – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 6/19/2006 by 12m8keall2c]

I don't know about this, I smell fish. The CIA put him in there, Iraq got attacked initially because of the Kuwait invasion, got carpet bombed since then and it only eased up in the last few years at most - before the 2003 war started.

One minute Saddam is an ally, next minute he's evil and must be stopped, with never an explanation for why it's ok to just suddenly shift loyalities. You know? There's plenty of info. about things like 'arms to Iraq' and 'Iran contra' and so forth - but what do the Arabs actually think? Do they see it as one minute they are allies, next minute they get the bombed, do they agree that they are being set-up?

Saddam is being tried in an Iraqi court….and the defense has July 10, 2006, to present their summation.

Whether or not the penalty of death is levied against Saddam by the Iraqi courts after conviction and during a sentencing hearing is an issue fairly far off in the distant future; one that will surely be hotly debated as the issue becomes clearer. Numerous civil rights organizations are currently still debating the ability of the Iraqi government to conduct fair trials.

Answering the question concerning ‘should’…, imo, the death penalty would not serve any real purpose other than closure in the Suddam case for just a few.

Originally posted by ed 209
One minute Saddam is an ally, next minute he's evil and must be stopped, with never an explanation for why it's ok to just suddenly shift loyalities. You know?

More than “a minute” transpired before the portrayal of “ally” to “evil” and the crimes for which he is being tried in Iraq are crimes against his own people.

mg

Saddam should be executed, but that won't happen.They were able to get Saddam from day one.
They need him alive as a 'trophy' of some success out of this whole Iraq mess.
Saddam is just another pawn in the game for America, if he was going to have been dealt with, it'd have been by now .

I believe he should be handed over to the NATO or OTAN(proof the French are Backwards - i'm just teasing ), where he should be forced to spend the rest of his days in prison for his crimes and not given the luxury of a quick death.
I'm 100% opposed the death sentence for any crime, no matter how heinous as i do not believe any one person has the right to take another life, no matter what they have done.

Yes in practice on a stopwatch you are right it would have been longer than a minute.

However the comment is legitimate and is hardly an exageration of the situation at all. Saddam was put in power by the CIA, he got weapons sold to him by various Western countries, there are many countries being invaded right now and nobody sends troops into there to help them out (re. Kuwait).

About the gas used on the people that did die - who funded it? Who sold it to him?

So it wasn't as short as 60 seconds, but it was as short as a few years tops. Iran vs Iraq war - West backed Iraq largely and openly armed them. Not long after there is the Kuwait invasion, then suddenly Iraq are the enemy.

No doubt about it, Saddam dealt with "his people" and the forces that he perceived were a threat to his regime with an iron fist. We read the stats the U.S. government, or current administration, choose to reveal to us, slanted and skewed in any direction the government decides best to present them, and we all want to take up arms and skewer Saddam in the Town Square for the world to see. At least a lot of us, anyway.

Many say that Saddam should be executed if for no other reason than for gassing the Kurds in northern Iraq back in 1988. Most of us take it as “written in stone” that Saddam did, in fact, order the gassing of the Kurds, and did so as a mad tyrant committing an act of genocide. Personally, I’m not so sure this gruesome act played out exactly as our government would like for us to believe it did. The following links may help to explain my doubts here:

www.polyconomics.com...

sf.indymedia.org...

There are many similar links on the net, just Google it.

The U.S. government makes many claims against the former leader of Iraq, but my lack of confidence and trust in the current administration make it impossible for me to believe their claims at face value. Furthermore, I believe that our current VP, Dick Cheney, not only stretches the truth, but is a blatant, downright liar, and his boss, George Dubya, is just too dull minded to know better.

I wonder, if on the one side you stack the number of innocent lives lost in Iraq from 1988 thru 2003 for which Saddam Hussein is directly responsible, and on the other side the number of innocent lives lost in Iraq from 2003 to the present for which George Bush is directly responsible, who’d come out the winner? I don’t know, but I bet it would be a close competition. Whether you choose to call it murder or collateral damage, the result is the same. And at least Saddam was able to control his country and keep the terrorists out; neither of which accomplishments can the current U.S. administration take credit for.

IMHO the invasion of Iraq and capture of Saddam Hussein was done to satisfy purely personal and self serving agendas. It’s difficult for me to disagree with Saddam when he demands that he is being tried by an illegitimate and unlawful tribunal created as the result of an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation. IMO the trial of Saddam Hussein is nothing more than the macabre puppet show of George Bush, Dick Cheney & Co. I find it difficult to accept the outcome of the Saddam Hussein trial, no matter which way it turns, as I think it likely to be a forgone conclusion with absolutely no validity or justice served.

I'm of the same mind as Don Imus on this one. IMO they should just release Saddam, say, "sorry about the kids", and let him have his country back. Order would then be re-established, the terrorists would be removed from the country and peace would again reign in Baghdad.

Lastly, since the above won't happen, IMHO, immediately after the Hussein trial concludes, the Bush/Cheney trial should commence. It's just a matter of playing fair, after all ...

why waste time and money, just sentence him to death.

actually I think they should kill him early just his sons.

Originally posted by ed 209
Not long after there is the Kuwait invasion, then suddenly Iraq are the enemy.

And let's not forget, the U.S. State Department gave Hussein the green light to invade Kuwait, and then immediately turned around and attacked him. This is a fact.

It's all aboit oil, oil and more oil ...

i dont understand all this hate for saddam, for one its his country he can kill a couple thousand if he want, they obviously did somthing to make him made i mean come on ,our goverenment brought down the WTC should england start bombing us an take bush an charge him with killing people.

saddam didnt even have WMDs they have no case,
how would u feel i told people u had a gun in ur car, then some one come blows up everything you own, kills your family an forces you to go into hiding

Sure.

But only if it's LIVE ON FOX!

Originally posted by Souljah
Sure.

But only if it's LIVE ON FOX!

That's not effective. You need to put it one CNN so the liberals can whine and cry for a man they hated two years ago.

They should just give him the keys to the country back, reinstate him as president of Iraq and say "sorry we've left the country in such a mess but things didn't go according to plan, oh and by the way, the iranians are calling you a wuss, would you like some WMD's to go kick their ass, we'll bring popcorn and watch from a distance"

I don't get where the hate is from either, he's hardly even the worst of a bad bunch by any means. I think it's a mixture maybe of some historical Babylon connected stuff and oil, but I really feel like the oil issue is a distraction. It's Biblical. I'm tempted to go off about the stargates that were mentioned as being found in Iraq in those Nexus articles, but I'm not sure on the latest news on those things.

It could be some kind of vying for control over who gets to trade with the - Annunaki, and who gets to inform them as to how things are on Earth. Maybe maybe....

death is the cowards way out. They should lock him in for the rest of his live but we all know he is going to be shot even if he wasnt guilty.

Saddam's doppleganger injected and contaiminated with cancer must be executed, otherwise the broadway play taking place in an Iraqi court being carreid out by NWO secret agents would have been in complete vain..

The real Saddam clearly died on the eve of the shock & awe campaign...

They should put Saddam back in power forget execution...

At least when he was the president the country was stable and not in civil war cause he could keep his people in line.

They should say sorry and give him his country back.