Saddam will be dead by Sunday

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Disappointing that they're going down this route, IMO.

It's a bit like blaming all the WW2 atrocities on Adolf Hitler and letting Adolf Eichmann go free.

Although there was precedent in ME-plus-Pak for NOT murdering (either judicially or otherwise) a preceder (Nasser didn't murder Nagib, and Musharraf didn't murder either Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto), it would be unlikely if the displaced leader was felt as threat to current one (example: Zia's judicial murder of Z.A. Bhutto due to the (civilian) latter's having overthrown a previous military government--which had been incompetent enough to start a civil war and "invite" an external enemy into it)--which is precisely the case in Iraq.

[Savanphil 3]

I hope they don't air the actual hanging.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

I hope they don't air the actual hanging.

Oh if they don't you can bet you will likely find it on You Tube. I just hope no one decides to send it to me via an email attachment with no warning.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Disappointing that they're going down this route, IMO.

It's a bit like blaming all the WW2 atrocities on Adolf Hitler and letting Adolf Eichmann go free.

I wonder what would have happened to Eichman if he would have not followed orders?

I see a pitty party coming for Saddam.

Eight foot drop and an extreme stop "PRICELESS"

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Since 1951, when the Genocide Convention came into effect, there have been 9 genocidal campaigns, including the gassing of the Kurds in Halabja. To date, no head of state has ever been held accountable for any of them -- Saddam might have been the first in history (see note about Rwanda, below).

Consider what's happened to the other heads-of-state accused of the crime:

* Pakistan's Bangladesh War, 1971: Pakistani president Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan wiped out between 300,000 and 3 million people while fighting Bengali nationalists in then East Pakistan. Tried for other crimes -- not genocide -- he was placed under house arrest for five years, and died a free man in 1980. He was buried with honors. A case against the Pakistani armed forces was filed in the Federal Court of Australia this year-- twenty-six years after Khan's death -- for genocide and war crimes.

* Burundi Genocide 1972: between 100,000 and 150,000 Burundian Hutus were massacred. Former Burundian president Michel Micombero, under whose regime the bloodshed took place, died of a heart attack in exile in Somalia in 1983.

* Cambodia, 1975-1979: Under Pol Pot, nearly a quarter of the population died in Cambodia's "killing fields." After years of exile in Thailand and a few years under house arrest, the Khmer Rouge announced in 1998 that they'd hand Pol Pot over to an international tribunal (one opposed by the U.S.). Pot died the night that the decision was announced, either from a heart attack or suicide, depending on whom you ask.

* Indonesian-occupied East Timor, 1975-1999: Under Haji Mohammad Suharto, about a quarter of the East Timorese population were killed by Indonesian security forces. Suharto, who came to power in what historian Peter Scott called "a three-phase right-wing coup -- one which had been both publicly encouraged and secretly assisted by U.S. spokesmen and officials" -- lives in seclusion today. Attempts to bring him to justice have failed due to his "poor health."

* Ethiopia, the "Red Terror" of 1977-78: under Mengistu Haile Mariam, as many as 1.5 million Ethiopian opponents killed in one of the worst acts of genocide in history. This month, after a 12-year trial, Mariam was found guilty of genocide. But he's lived in exile in Zimbabwe under the protection of Robert Mugabe since 1995, and attempts to extradite him have so far failed.

* Balkans, 1990s: several mass killings including the Srebrenica Massacre. Former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic died soon before his trial at the Hague for crimes that included genocide concluded; former Bosnian president Radovan Karadiic was indicted for genocide and is currently a wanted fugitive, whereabouts unknown.

* Rwandan genocide, 1994: 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus killed. One could argue that Jean Kambanda, who pled guilty to charges of genocide in 1998, was, technically, the first head of state to be found guilty of the ultimate crime (he later appealed, saying he wasn't aware of the charges to which he admitted guilt, but the verdict was upheld). But the Rwandan genocide started after the country's internationally-recognized president, Juvénal Habyarimana, was assassinated, and Kambanda was the "interim prime minister" of the caretaker government that perpetrated the crimes during its 100-day rule, not a legitimate national leader.

* Darfur, present: So far, the international community has been hobbled in its reaction to the genocide in Darfur by institutional limitations and tensions remaining from the Iraq war. Although it's universally recognized that the militias that have slaughtered tens of thousands in Darfur are backed by Sudan's government, they nevertheless provide a legal cut-out between the bloodshed in Darfur and the government in Khartoum that will make the future prosecution of Sudan's leaders, including president Omar al-Bashir, difficult.

After the Holocaust, the world said "never again." 55 years after that promise was codified under international law, Saddam Hussein could have been the first leader to ever pay a price for the crime. Instead, he'll hang for a far, far lesser offense -- a run-of-the-mill bit of savagery like any of a hundred others committed by dozens of other dictators. It may be something that few care about right now, but over the long run I think history will record it as a shameful abrogation of responsibility on the part of the U.S.-led coalition and the fledgling Iraqi government.

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.

[Jenn! 918]

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

EXACTLY.

[Mags 112]

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

Great.

I'm not expecting you to agree with me. Just stating my opinion, which greatly differs to yours. Still think it is wrong to revel in the death of another.

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

EXACTLY.

I luv you Jenn.

Edited December 29, 2006 by mags

[Jasman0717 9]

I heard on the news that the Iraqi government plans on videoing the execution. Wonder how long it will take to see it on the Internet!

[almaty 19]

hmmmmmmmm..... i am sure that is not a proper shittie custom...

[Savanphil 3]

I heard on the news that the Iraqi government plans on videoing the execution. Wonder how long it will take to see it on the Internet!

I was hoping they wouldn't....this wil prolly get more views than the Paris Hilton Video

[Sinergy 3]

I heard on the news that the Iraqi government plans on videoing the execution. Wonder how long it will take to see it on the Internet!

I was hoping they wouldn't....this wil prolly get more views than the Paris Hilton Video

Sure it will, its much more worth watching that the Paris Hilton tape

[Mags 112]

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

Great.

I'm not expecting you to agree with me. Just stating my opinion, which greatly differs to yours. Still think it is wrong to revel in the death of another.

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

EXACTLY.

I luv you Jenn.

I also luv Jackie......

(feel better now? )

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I heard on the news that the Iraqi government plans on videoing the execution.

Praise Jesus. That will be wonderful.

[isleta521 5]

Revelling in the death of another, regardless of what he/she has done, chills me to the bone.

EXACTLY.

My Iraqi Neighbor and good friend is definately revelling in this news since Sadam's cronies have executed about a fourth of his family - he knows what happend there more than most. Me, Im not reveling in it, Just think it is "fitting" for him since he has done his share of executions.

[Jasman0717 9]

I heard on the news that the Iraqi government plans on videoing the execution. Wonder how long it will take to see it on the Internet!

I was hoping they wouldn't....this wil prolly get more views than the Paris Hilton Video

Sure it will, its much more worth watching that the Paris Hilton tape

:lol: