Monthly Archives: December 2006

Saddam Hussein is Dead

He’s dead:

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been executed, according to two Arabic language media outlets. Earlier, an Iraqi judge told CNN Hussein would be hanged before dawn on Saturday in Iraq, (10 p.m. Friday ET). The former president was convicted of crimes against humanity in connection with the killings of 148 people in Dujail.

It was filmed:

It was witnessed by a doctor, lawyer and officials. It was also filmed.

It’s an important step but probably not the transformative one that many of us hoped for years ago. Still, few tears will be shed for this monster. Well a few folks may mourn, the Baathists in Iraq and the people at Time Magazine possibly, but hopefully the rest will take this opportunity to look forward and continue working towards a peaceful democratic Iraq.

They’re chearing in Michigan:

A crowd of Iraqi-Americans cheered and cried late Friday outside a mosque as some Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein was executed.

The crowd of more than 150 had gathered earlier in anticipation of Saddam’s execution, praying for the death of the former Iraqi dictator as people honked car horns, sang and danced in celebration.

Chants of “Now there’s peace, Saddam is dead” in English and Arabic rang into the night in this Detroit suburb.

U.S. networks are struggling, are at least pretending to struggle, with the ethical questions raised by the videotaped execution:

“We’re very aware that we’re coming into people’s living rooms and that there could be children watching,” CBS News senior vp Linda Mason said.

Mason and her network counterparts have broadcast standards and procedures they follow in these cases. Phil Alongi, special-events executive producer at NBC News, said there are ways the network can approach the video or photographs that will get the point across without having to be graphic.

The operative word: taste.

“We have very, very strict guidelines with how to deal with that,” said Bob Murphy, senior vp at ABC News. “If there were pictures made available of the execution, they would have to be viewed by senior management before we would put them on the air, and we would make a judgment of taste and propriety of what we would show.”

The operative word is taste? This is American television we’re talking about right? Anyway, it doesn’t matter – there’s always YouTube. And South Park.

Stuffleufagus: I have no problem with executing Saddam. He was evil. Truth is, I wish we would have bombed him to oblivion early in the war, along with his sons. Nobody deserves my sympathy if they systematically kill defenseless women and children. But now Saddam is dead. What changes? Is Iraq suddenly safer today? Will our troops be coming home tomorrow? Will Iraqi’s be safer tomorrow?

TV Squad: I never thought I’d see the day when the words “Saddam” and “tasteful” were in the same sentence, but that day has arrived. Word is coming from the Iraqi government that Saddam Hussein will be executed by hanging by Saturday at the latest, and they will tape the entire thing. If that happens, the networks are saying that the coverage of the execution will be tasteful, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Now, they’re not doing it out of respect to Saddam, of course; they’re doing it out of respect for their audience. They won’t air the full video if the Iraqi government makes it available for broadcast. “We’re very aware that we’re coming into people’s living rooms and that there could be children watching,” Linda Mason, a senior VP for CBS News, told THR. Since the war started, network news executives have considered using graphic video footage on a case-by-case basis, often editing it down to make it more palatable to audiences.

The Life and Times of Me: And I didn’t pray because I was afraid that I would feel guilty – like I was the one who made Ben die. And every day since, I have lived with guilt that I could have prayed one last time for comfort, and peace, acceptance, and a peaceful passing. For that very reason, while laying on my bed watching the news that Saddam was to be hanged in a few minutes, when I felt prompted to pray for strength and peace for Saddam and his family, I did. The news coverage was going in the background, and I prayed for peace for Israel. And then I thanked God for his righteousness and justice, and prayed that when Saddam stood in judgement, that God would prove himself faithful, and judge him justly. And as I prayed it, I lifted my head, and the newsman said “I have just recieved confirmation: Saddam Hussein is dead.”

Michelle Malkin: Lots of talking-head heat over the fairness and integrity of the Iraqi war tribunal. The Case Western Reserve University Law School has a blog and website with tons of key original docs related to the trial. Go here and judge for yourselves.

Obsidian Wings: I have nothing to say about this. I can’t possibly regret his death, but there’s something ghoulish about the reporting today, which was like a death watch. Or maybe I just happened to tune into the news at all the wrong times. I hope everyone who predicts violence in the aftermath of his death is wrong.

Global Conservative: Saddam is dead. Mission accomplished.

The Jawa Report: Saddam Meet Satan, Satan, This Is Saddam

Saddam Hussein’s Execution: Iraqi Bloggers React

A few thoughts collected here as the time approaches. I’ll add more as I find them. And more still after the execution has been carried out.

Iraq the Model: Friends and relatives are calling me asking me whether he’s been already executed, some are claiming he already has. Meanwhile lots of updates are coming through news TV here; al-Arabiya reporter said the noose is already set in a yard in the IZ. Al-Hurra reported that preparations for the execution are underway and no delay is expected. It’s going to be a long night but it looks like the morning will bring the news Iraqis have long waited for….

Baghdad Burning: Why make things worse by insisting on Saddam’s execution now? Who gains if they hang Saddam? Iran, naturally, but who else? There is a real fear that this execution will be the final blow that will shatter Iraq. Some Sunni and Shia tribes have threatened to arm their members against the Americans if Saddam is executed. Iraqis in general are watching closely to see what happens next, and quietly preparing for the worst. This is because now, Saddam no longer represents himself or his regime. Through the constant insistence of American war propaganda, Saddam is now representative of all Sunni Arabs (never mind most of his government were Shia). The Americans, through their speeches and news articles and Iraqi Puppets, have made it very clear that they consider him to personify Sunni Arab resistance to the occupation. Basically, with this execution, what the Americans are saying is “Look- Sunni Arabs- this is your man, we all know this. We’re hanging him- he symbolizes you.” And make no mistake about it, this trial and verdict and execution are 100% American. Some of the actors were Iraqi enough, but the production, direction and montage was pure Hollywood (though low-budget, if you ask me).

In the Middle: Saddam’s life or death is irrelevant to the current Iraqi situation. Iraqis are fighting to hold their country together and get it back from the foreign occupiers. Saddam’s recent trial and imminent execution are nothing more than evidence of how foreign interventions to change political regimes will destroy entire countries and split entire nations. The current situation in Iraq is a good indicator for how Iran and Syria, or other countries, would look if the U.S. administration went ahead and interfered and changed their political regimes.

Iraq Pundit: Want to hear an unlikely take on the impending execution of Saddam Hussein? No problem. It says right here that Saddam “will go to the gallows with his head held high, because he built a strong united Iraq without sectarianism. He was considered as a strategic regional power. And as he goes to the gallows, those who imprisoned him will stand with their heads bent with shame and embarrassment because they cannot hide their own crimes against the country and its people.” Says who? An unrepentant Iraqi Baathist? Saddam’s uncle? No. It’s Abdel Bari Atwan, the Palestinian journalist who writes for the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Al Quds Al Arabi. Atwan and Al Quds have come up on this blog before. In November, I noted that Atwan’s new book about Al Qaeda had been celebrated in the pages of The Washington Post by intelligence analyst Michael Scheuer. Scheuer thought that Atwan’s take on terror was just “excellent,” and called Atwan’s paper “the best Arabic-language daily newspaper.”

Iraqi Mojo: This is a nice British documentary (each part is ten minutes long) that shows how Iraq was making great progress in the 1950s, without the aid of a tyrant. People like to talk about how much better life was before Saddam’s fall. This documentary shows how great life was before the rise of Saddam and his Baath party.

Sooni: The verdict came at the right time when few sick minds started to promote a rumor that he will come back to save Iraq from the mess! Most of the whiners say that the verdict came out under American influence and to those I would like to say: what did you expect? That he would go out free clear from all charges. Can anyone deny that about 80% of the Iraqi people are happy with this verdict? One may see the rate high somehow but it represents the Shiite and the Kurds and I am fully confident that they are dancing of happiness now. The Sunni Iraqis reaction came disappointing since the leaders remained silent and we heard news about people demonstrated against the verdict in Sunni areas and provinces, anyway I will leave this subject to another post but now excuse me, because I want to celebrate the day!

The Mesopotamian: Personally I have mixed feelings about this execution. To start with, if the punishment for murder is to be death, according to the Law in many lands, including that of the U.S.A., and in accordance with the writ of the Great religions; then Saddam deserves at least a million or so executions. His guilt is as clear as sunlight. The Trial was frustrating for most people around here. Perhaps there should have been an international trial so that the world can see and hear the full story of some of the most horrendous crimes in the history of humanity. But do you think that his friends would have been at a loss for things to say if that had happened? Well, when there is a culture that has lost respect for truth, reality, logic, decency; and become complete slave to prejudice and bias; anything can be said and any argument goes. It is a sure sign of decline, decay and fall when a civilization starts to lose its respect for veracity and when words can be twisted to suite any purpose and present any argument regardless of the truth. For the “Word” is sacred. Remember the first sentence in the bible: “At first was the Word, then was the World”.

Post-execution thoughts can be found here.

Saddam Hussein to Hang Before 10 p.m. EST Tonight

This isn’t surprising even with all the conflicting news we’ve seen in the past 48 hours.

An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, or 10 p.m. Friday EST. The time was agreed upon during a meeting between U.S. and Iraqi officials, said the adviser, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

“The time has been agreed upon. It will be done by six o’clock in the morning,” the adviser said. “The agreement was reached during a meeting between Iraqi and American officials. Saddam will be handed over shortly before the execution.”

Now would be a good time to review Saddam’s many accomplishments:

Saddam Hussein’s regime has carried out frequent summary executions, including:

* 4,000 prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in 1984;
* 3,000 prisoners at the Mahjar prison from 1993-1998;
* 2,500 prisoners were executed between 1997-1999 in a “prison cleansing campaign;”
* 122 political prisoners were executed at Abu Ghraib prison in February/March 2000;
* 23 political prisoners were executed at Abu Ghraib prison in October 2001; and
* At least 130 Iraqi women were beheaded between June 2000 and April 2001.

There’s more. Much more:

Saddam has had approximately 40 of his own relatives murdered. Allegations of prostitution are used to intimidate opponents of the regime and have been used by the regime to justify the barbaric beheading of women. There have been documented chemical attacks by the regime, from 1983 to 1988, resulting in some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.

Human Rights Watch estimates that Saddam’s 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds. The Iraqi regime used chemical agents to include mustard gas and nerve agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages between 1987-1988. The largest was the attack on Halabja which resulted in approximately 5,000 deaths. o 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.

But facts won’t convince Romesh Ratnesar at Time magazine who believes that Americans and Iraqis should feel ashamed in the face of Saddam Hussein’s nobility:

Ultimately, the U.S. may be right to allow the Iraqis to decide Saddam’s fate for themselves. But this is no time for triumphalism. It should shame both Americans and Iraqis to hear a man as repugnant as Saddam presenting himself as a uniter and imploring Iraqis “not to hate.” Executing Saddam won’t extinguish those fires of hatred any more than it will relieve the pain of his victims. Only when Iraqis build a decent, humane society at peace with itself will they be able to erase the memory of the crimes for which Saddam died.

It takes an odd combination of naivete and guts to elevate a transparent propaganda attempt like Saddam’s last letter to that level. Why is the left always so eager to cede the moral high ground to these monsters? Some of us know better:

In his Friday sermon, a mosque preacher in the Shiite holy city of Najaf called Saddam’s execution “God’s gift to Iraqis.”

“Oh, God, you know what Saddam has done! He killed millions of Iraqis in prisons, in wars with neighboring countries and he is responsible for mass graves,” said Sheik Sadralddin al-Qubanji, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as SCIRI, a dominant party in al-Maliki’s coalition. “Oh God, we ask you to take revenge on Saddam.”

I prefer to think of it as justice rather than revenge but whatever you call it Iraq’s Path to Democracy is about to get another key date.

Related:
Halabja: Bloody Friday
Michelle Malkin: Saddam goes court-shopping; the clock ticks

Saddam Hussein in Iraqi Custody

This has to be it. I expect he’ll be executed within hours.

U.S. officials have transferred former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to Iraqi custody, the chief defense lawyer told Reuters on Friday.

“The American side has notified us that they have handed over the president to the Iraqi authorities,” said Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam’s defense team.

“They told us the president is no longer under the authority of the American forces and they requested us not to go to Baghdad,” he said

Iraqi Security Forces on High Alert as Saddam Hussein Execution Nears

I don’t expect this event to have a negative impact worthy of all the hand-wringing. Saddam’s fate was sealed the day we found him in his spider hole – if not before. And while I’d like to think that his death will help Iraq move forward it seems that there are too many other forces working overtime to push the country into chaos.

The head of Iraq’s interior ministry command centre, Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf, said the beleaguered security forces were on high alert ahead of a hanging expected to exacerbate sky-high sectarian tensions.

“Certainly, this is a big event, putting into effect the execution of this serial killer,” he said. “We will take measures proportionate to this event. We will put all our forces on the streets so that no lives are jeopardised.”

On November 5, when Saddam was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death, protests erupted in some parts of Iraq and authorities declared a three day curfew to prevent attacks by Sunni insurgents.

Khalaf said that such a measure could only be decreed by the prime minister, but that Iraqi forces stood ready to act once informed of the date of the execution, which has yet to be announced.