There is of course still the whole appeal procedure so the guy won't be swinging around for a little while yet. I doubt it'll do much good for the stability though as certain groups will just use this as another excuse to cause mayhem. Mainly of course because there was a Western influence etc.

Sounds really bad but in this case it might have just been "better" if they had shot the guy on sight and be done with it as this is just going to end badly.

unfortunately, theres going to be a bloodbath whatever happens - if the sentence is carried out, his suppoorters are going to launch wave after wave of terrorist attacks, if the appeal succeeds then they will see this as a sign that they are in the right and launch a wave of atacks to celebrate.
hell, if he gets the death sentence commuted, its entirely possible that some people will call for his release and return to power.
either way, its going to be bad.

I think ultimately getting rid of Saddam is a good thing. I reckon whether he is killed or not, things will get worse one way or the other.

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by Chambler
Sounds really bad but in this case it might have just been "better" if they had shot the guy on sight and be done with it as this is just going to end badly.

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Churchill wanted to do the same with captured Nazi war-criminals: have them "outlawed" (in the legal sense, not the men in tights sense, though I hear a couple of em did like tights) and shot on sight. As with Saddam, it would have been better than the travesty of justice that awaited them at their "trial".

My moral scruples about capital punishment have melted away these days, and my only remaining objection -- doubt of guilt -- hardly applies in this case. But I don't like the idea of validating the court's verdict with a death sentence. Not because I give a toss about the murdering old Bathist -- I don't -- but because the precedent brings justice into disrepute and puts ordinary Iraqis at even more risk than our disgraceful invasion has already done.

Still, as you say, Saddam is condemned, so I do at least hope they perform a proper long-drop hanging and give him a quick death. Prolonged barbarity helps no one.

(Edited by Byron 06/11/2006 02:26)

If Saddam was spared, he'd be a rallying point. Dead, he'd be a martyr. There's no way of avoiding a bloodbath in this case.

I can't say that I don't feel that he's the scum of the Earth, but I always get a little uneasy about capital punishment; or rather, not so much the process itself but the degree of triumphalism involved around it. I just can't help feeling uncomfortable when I see people celebrating about the fact that - nasty piece of work or not - another human being is going to die.

No doubt that when this sovereign Iraqi justice system that Bush claims is "working" and it's "a great day" decides to try to hng a Westerner for whtever reason, those same governments who're either championing it or else maintaining a tactful silence on the subject (*coughMargaretBeckettcough*) will be falling over themselves to condemn it as barbarity.

What're everyone else's thoughts on the timing relative to the US mid-terms? I don't know what to think either way - I just find it highly symptomatic of the situation we're in that people's initial reaction really is wondering what Bush had to do with it.

Not that the professional cynic in me thinks that they aren't probably right, but still...

(Edited by Samanfur 06/11/2006 15:08)

(Edited by Samanfur 07/11/2006 13:07)

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by Samanfur
I can't say that I don't feel that he's the scum of the Earth, but I always get a little uneasy about capital punishment; or rather, not so much the process itself but the degree of triumphalism involved around it. I just can't help feeling uncomfortable when I see people celebrating about the fact that - nasty piece of work or not - another human being is going to die.

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The collective hangman's grin deterred my support also, but having looked at the history some more, I've come to believe that it's an expression of frustration at inadequate punishment. You can release the darker human emotions in a civilized way, or try to suppress them altogether and watch them grow worse. It seems you can't eliminate them.

A dignified attitude to execution -- Albert Pierrerpoint, the 20th century's most prolific hangman, saw it as the ultimate act of atonement -- not only rises above the clamour of the mob, it could well close the tap on their blood-thirst.

Saddam 'executed by end of year' according to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

I must confess I'm not sure that's certain to happen as predicted.