Saddam Hussein Sentenced To Death by Hanging

Flamers' Ward Forum

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Celebratory gunfire rings out in Baghdad.

I am glad its over, I was beginning to wonder. I would have preferred long ago he was handed over to a crowd of his own citizens who knew the horror.

I've included these 2 quotes. The first speaks for itself and the second is from the Huffington hard Left blog.

See long and short term killing him does nothing to solve the real problems in Iraq. Bush maybe happy that Sadamm will be executed but I can guarntee that the majority of Islamic terror groups will hardly be shedding tears for Sadamm, lets face it, it was because of Sadamm that they never really had any push or power in Iraq. That said there are a lot of Sadamm loyalists in Iraq mainly ex Batth party members and politicians and more worryingly ex Republican guard who may decide to rise up against those who execute him ( government and Americans) so in essence all you are doing is creating another obstacle to peace in Iraq. Kill Ssdamm you make him a martyr for a cause and that laet thing we need is more martyrs and causes in Iraq.

Saddam sentenced to death by hanging
By NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Special Tribunal sentenced former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and two of his co-defendants to death in a case charging that they ordered the execution of 148 innocent people in a botched 1982 assassination attempt.

In their verdict, the court made a clear distinction between high-ranking government officials who ordered the attacks and lower-level officials forced to carry them out.

As his sentence was read, Saddam aggressively yelled "God is greater!" to Judge Raouf Abdul. Rahman read the sentence: death for murder, 10 years for forcible deportation, 10 years for torture.

"Long live the Iraqi people, damnation for the damned," Saddam told the panel of judges. "You are the servants of the colonizers."

His half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the former head of intelligence, and Awad Hamad al-Bandir, former head of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court, also were sentenced to death by hanging.

Bandir kept shouting "God is Great" repeatedly over the reading of the verdict.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's vice president at the time the regime fell, was sentenced to life. Abdullah Kathim Ruwaid, his son, Mizhar Abdullah Kathim Ruwaid and Ali Dayih Ali - all local Baath Party officials in 1982 when someone shot at Saddam’s convoy during his visit to the mostly Shiite city of Dujail - received a 15-year sentence.

One defendant, a lower-ranking Baath official in the city of Dujail, where the case centered upon, was released immediately.

Seven guards surrounded Saddam, who wore a suit and carried a Koran, as he entered the courtroom. He initially refused to stand up as the verdict was being read, only doing so after two guards forced him up.

Some of those in the visitor gallery were reprimanded by the judge for cheering too loudly. In Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods, there was rapid gunfire more than a half-hour after the verdict was read. In Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, protestors immediately took to the streets.

In a statement, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said: "Although the Iraqis may face difficult days in the coming weeks, closing the book on Saddam and his regime is an opportunity to unite and build a better future. As the Iraqi people move forward, the United States will support them in their efforts to build a just and democratic society."

The court adjourned immediately after reading the verdicts without elaborating on how it reached them.

The nation braced itself for what some feared would be a new round of violence by Saddam's supporters in an already turbulent nation.

Indeed, all of the nation's security forces were ordered to work, and the government issued a curfew. Others hoped it would rejuvenate hopes in the country's national government and judicial system.

The verdicts were decided by a five-judge panel who read their written statements to each defendant, beginning with Mohammed Azawi Ali, who was immediately cleared of all charges. Many had agreed that prosecution had presented the weakest case against Ali.

The trial, which began in October 2005, charged that Saddam and his cohorts rounded up innocent residents of Dujail, took them off to camps and killed and tortured - all in response to an apparent assassination attempt against Saddam. And they said large parts of the orchards in the city were razed in the search for attempted assassins, in some cases ruining their farming livelihood. Saddam was visiting the town in 1982 when someone fired on his convoy.

In all, Saddam faced seven charges, including murder and crimes against humanity.

While Iraqis were glued to their television sets during the beginning of the trial, they lost almost all interest by the end. Some complained it was a long, drawn-out soap opera, not a swift legal proceeding. Others said the death of 148 people two decades ago now seems insignificant in today’s Iraq, where on average 100 people are killed a day nationwide.

In all, 27 residents testified about their ordeal, sometimes retelling their stories verbatim. Some testified while facing the former dictator directly; others from behind a curtain. Another 32 gave their testimony in statements read in court.

In between, the head judge stepped down and three defense attorneys were assassinated. The remaining defense attorneys walked out of the proceedings toward the end of the hearings.

During the trial Saddam and Bazran al-Tikriti often delivered long diatribes, questioning the legitimacy of the court, while sitting in a cage placed in the middle of the courtroom that faced the five-judge panel. The prosecutors sat one side; the defense team on the other.

In one session, Saddam told the judge to "go to hell."

U.S. officials concede the process did not always proceed smoothly, but said overall, it was monumental - the first trial that brought a former dictator to trial in front of his countrymen.

And residents were again glued to their television sets Sunday to see watch the verdict being read, many locked in their homes because of the curfew.

U.S. officials said Saddam's most self-incriminating statements occurred March 1 when he admitted ordering the executions, saying as the leader of Iraq, he was ultimately responsible.

"I demolished the orchards," the former dictator said to stunned courtroom. "That was a Revolutionary Council decision to modernize the orchard, and I signed that order."

He went on to say "nobody forced me to sign that decision" and concluded by asking the court: "Where is the crime?"

Saddam has faced the death sentence before in his life. As an early member of the Baath Party, he was part of a failed attempted assassination attempt of then-Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim. Saddam fled to Egypt and was sentenced to death in absentia in 1963. When he returned to Iraq a year later, he was jailed, only to escape in 1967. The following year, he was part of a bloodless coup that brought down the government and named him vice president.

Like all things in this country now, the reaction to the verdict fell largely along sectarian lines, only breaking for those who were directly harmed by the former dictator during his three-decade reign.

In Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, residents promised a rise of retaliatory attacks if the former president is killed. And they said that Saddam's crimes pale compared to what is happening now.

"A death sentence is unfair," said Qusai Abdullah, a 30-year-old taxi driver, from Tikrit. "What happened in Dujail in 1982 is happening now, maybe worse. And neither the government nor the Americans are taking responsibility of what's going on."

In the mostly southern Shiite cities of Basra and Najaf, there was not much enthusiasm for the verdict either, namely because residents said Saddam would likely never be executed.

Others charged that the verdict would primarily serve America's political interests, not the Iraqis' need for justice, noting that it came two days before the U.S. elections.

"It will be only an attempt for an electoral gain for the U.S. and they don't care about the price the Iraqis will pay for it," referring to fears of increased violence, said Sumaiya Abdul Wahab, 33, a university lecturer.

In one hearing, Saddam asked that he be killed by a firing squad, saying he is entitled to that as head of the armed forces. But Iraqi law says that, if executed, he should be hung. Minister Nouri al Maliki, said Saturday that Saddam would be hung, already presuming the former dictator would be found guilty in what some took as another sign of his sectarian slant.

But first, there is an automatic appeals process for anyone convicted to life imprisonment or death. And Saddam still is being tried for allegedly gassing thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s. So it could be months before he faces his court-ordered execution.

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Personally, the bastard deserves to die... but, it won't "scare" the terrorists! They don't care.

At the end of the day Sadamm has probably won and Bush has probably lost. Sadamm will die but only after another trial that he will use as a PR opportunity and he will die and become a martyr and I can gurnatee you will get the murmers that Iraq was better with Sadamm. Meanwhile while Sadamm is being buried terrorists will be tearing up the place, nobody will be safe the country will slip further into civil war, the US will be bankrupting itself trying to pay for Iraq and as a result you might even see a political shift from voters.

Yes, we will all get justice... not just you right wing, extremists!!! Don't assume because someone isn't like you (thankfully) that we are tree hugging liberals. But, then again, you're good at that, aren't you... assuming!

You're a blind fool, who thinks that he knows what other people "believe" and I certainly don't blame America for what that man did to innocent people. But, I don't blindly follow my President, and believe that he can do no wrong.

that made my day

Hi Joe you don't even know who you are. Patriot no you are not a patriot you are a nationalist theres a big difference, the real pathetic thing is that you are nationalist of a country that you were not even born in.

We supplied this man with guns and poisons and support. Now we in the West are supposed to celebrate his death? Our behaviour is a cowardly fraud. The trial of Saddam Hussein conveniently focused on one crime, one that had nothing to do with us. Now we hope the others will be forgotten about.

It seems we're not prepared to learn anything from our disastrous association with Hussein, but we've learnt plenty from our attack and occupation of Iraq - Iraqis are not as quick as we are to forget the past.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I'm glad Saddam will face justice.

-HECK!

So Saddam is killed and those who were done injustices by him will get what they wanted. Personally, I don’t feel one iota of pity for the man. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy but in the grand scheme of things what has it achieved?

“Global Terrorism” has been cited for going into Iraq no? This citation was preceded and predicated on the events of 9/11 and Bush’s dogmatic pose on invading Iraq in the name of it. Knowing what we know, what measure of relief does this provide as to security in the West?

Some argue that Saddam was a threat to the future of our security but that line of reason is argumentative. What we know for certain is that Saddam wasn’t much of a threat to anyone outside his borders and while some argue he supported terrorism in the likes of Hamas, anyone can counter with Iran & Syria’s support of Hezbollah was even a bigger threat.

So in the end, after Saddam is hanged, what has been accomplished in the name of security? Every examination of current events supports just the opposite while Bush and republicans here dogmatically cite another argumentative point, that “we either fight them there or fight them here at home” while, the culprit of 9/11 is still at large and making videos, taunting the U.S. and plotting the next attack.

It simply makes no utter sense whatsoever.

Intrestingly Tony Blair is against Sadamm getting the death sentence, apparently it is partly political as no British party is for the death penalty but also partly personal as Blair has long been an opponent of the death penalty in other countries.

Well once again a thread needed to be moved because some people are unable to grasp simple rules like "no flaming". Apparently making uninformed medical diagnosis is easier than following the rules.

And are we surprised by this? No, I didn't think so!

Not at all.

Mind you there is an advantage of putting this thread in the flamers ward, it means that Joe can have a look around the flamers ward and see the threads that people have made dedicated to him.

Curley, you are not a Patriot. Patriot was derived from the latin word for 'father-land', meaning Country of original. You weren't born in America, so you can't be a patriot, no matter how much you whine and complain about it. You're just a dink with access to a computer.

Funniest post all week, nay, month.

Com-o-dee

-HECK!