Some news stories from Baghdad, Iraq and London, England regarding Saddam Hussein’s execution.
Executioners and Saddam Exchange Insults before Hanging
Then they danced a victory jig around the dangling corpse.
Saddam’s Daughter When Told Father was about to Hang while at Beauty Salon, Stayed to Get Nails Buffed
Don’t judge her too harshly here folks. Her dad did, after all, have her husband shot for treason in 1997, so she probably still had issues with him.
Hussein Hung at Prison Where He had Thousands of Enemies Tortured and Killed While in Power
And upon the same gallows, too. This is both ironic and fittingly just, eh?
And of course there is this predictable reaction from the American mainstream media.
Rush to Hang Hussein Was Questioned
Questioned by the American occupation forces, that is. “One participant described the meeting [between the puppet government and the puppet masters] this way: “The Iraqis seemed quite frustrated, saying, ‘Who is going to execute him, anyway, you or us?’ The Americans replied by saying that obviously, it was the Iraqis who would carry out the hanging. So the Iraqis said, ‘This is our problem and we will handle the consequences. If there is any damage done, it is we who will be damaged, not you.’ ” (NY Times) [my emphasis]
What point would a lengthy and drawn out appeals process serve? Is exculpatory evidence or extenuating circumstances regarding Saddam’s crimes likely to emerge that would merit further consideration or delay? These issues being raised by the NYT reporter in the above cited news article are the product of the overly process-oriented American legal system and have no relevance or interest to the Iraqis. But it is very predictable on the America media’s part though. Sheesh.
And finally, why the need to document the hanging so extensively with photographic and video evidence? Again, this is a matter of culture and history. There haven’t been, (until very recently, anyhow) any free and independent new sources in the Middle East. What free and independent media reportage that did exist was all done by exiles based in America and Europe.
The people in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East would never really believe or accept that Saddam was actually dead unless they saw him die with their own eyes, and the evidence for such was brought to them by sources they trust and believe. That is why the need for photo and video evidence, although I don’t rule out a certain degree of morbid curiosity or the desire to witness vicariously the death of this loathsome tyrant who oppressed and slaughtered them for two and half decades. Still not satisfied? Ask your self this: Would you watch a Bush impeachment trial or a Rumsfeld hanging? I would.
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We're finally rid of that tyrant permanently!
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