Iraq’s highest appeals court upheld former President Saddam Hussein’s death sentence and said he must be hanged “within 30 days.” Good. Just don’t put Basra’s serious crimes unit in charge of the execution. That unit, like many police forces in Iraq, was infiltrated by militias and criminal elements, the New York Times reported. British and Iraqi soldiers attacked the unit’s station Monday and rescued 127 prisoners, many of whom had been tortured. “The serious crimes unit was at the center of death squad activity,” said British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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63 Comments
Good!
Iraqis STILL live in fear that he might someday come back in power.
GNutz: If he can pull off the coming back bit, he might generate a modicum of credibility. I think I’ll wait and see. It’s only three days, right?
The disturbing part of the IP was the discussion of the Iraqi Police Major Crimes Unit. Looks like the “training” has a long way to go.
Hanging of Saddam leads to massive upsurge of violence with end result of America and allies evacuation of Iraq by the end of 2007.
SVR, that potenial has not escaped me; what does anyone else think?
Very likely correct. Add to that Saudi Arabia (Wahabi, alQuada) threatening to help the Sunnis in the civil war.
Oh, yeah, Ben; it is going to be “interesting” in Iraq in 2007.
When it comes to this Iraq War, nothing would surprise me anymore. I just think Iraq is can of worms that should have never been opened. Bush went after the wrong target – he should have gotten Bin Laden like he vowed to do.
I can visualize only two possible scenarios. The first has already been described herein above. The second, seeming to be the lesser of two evils, would include a unification of all anti-Saddam factions for the short term purpose of ethnic cleansing of the pro-Saddam group. (After all these years, I still can’t remember who are the Shiias and who are the Sunnis. The only one I’m sure of is the Kurds, and all they want is to be left alone.) Anyway, assuming they wiped out the pro-Saddamists, I fear that their coalition would collapse (Mission Accomplished!) and then a civil war for power would explode ——— and the end result is the same either way. This is why we have to leave — now — and get our husbands, wives, and children out of the line of fire.
I wish justice in this country was as swift.
SVR,”Hanging of Saddam leads to massive upsurge of violence with end result of America and allies evacuation of Iraq by the end of 2007.”
Yeah, it very well may. But seeing that at least some of the insurgents will have lost their primary reason for fighting, I hope we have the wisdom by now to not give them new ones!
Saddam’s execution at hands of puppets of infidels will make him a martyr to sunni the world over. His death will unleash elemental forces of chaos with the unforseen circumstances, and the evacuation of Iraq by coalition of the willing.
I’m afraid SVR is correct on many levels with Saddam’s death. The Sunni’s are already in civil war mode and this will only serve to accelerate the bloodshed.
What a mess we created over there. Our only option left is to pull out, and that will scream reams about our non-existant foreign policy. What a major mistake voting Bush into office was; it will take decades to reverse the mess, if it ever is. Our world credability sucks right now.
My major issue with the whole thing, has been the fiasco that was this trial. I don’t know how anyone could have gotten a fair trial with this type of circus, let alone a loathsome character like Saddam. I really feel that if they wanted to try Saddam for war crimes or crimes against humanity it should have been done in front of an international tribunal, so it might at least appear to be above board.
Ultimately, I fear that SVR is right and that this act might be the proverbial straw.
Saddam is a bad guy and deserves his place in hell, but is this really the type of civilization and democracy that we are fighting/dying/spending billions for? One of the articles I read, stated that the judicial branch would enforce the death sentence, even if President Talabani (who is anti-death penalty) and two vice-Presidents do not sign off on it. How is that legal? The also refused the life sentence of one of the co-defendents and sent the file back to the courts demanding death.
I just have a really bad feeling about it…all the way around.
Can we go home then, Bush’s “mission accomplished”?
Well Goofnut, is that fear greater than the fear of congregating in the open, or fear to go to school or the local market?
Nicki, while I’ll not mourn Saddam in any fashion, I, too, have an uneasy feeling about the whole thing as well. I think rm’s earlier post expresses quite well the likely outcome, irrespective of the scenario.
Mr. Brownlee:You said: “Good. Just don’t put Basra’s serious crimes unit in charge of the execution”
May I remind you that Basra’s unit is infiltrated with Muqtada Al-Sadr’s thugs. they happen to hate Sadam, for having killed his father. Why then would you doubt the Shiites screwing up the hanging?
The problem as I see it, American domestic reporters, don’t even know the difference between shiites and sunnis. Yet American troops went thousands of miles to attempt to ‘ conquer’ these tribes.
Havent’ you heard “know thy enemy” before you go on taking such impossible endeavors, in the future?
We all know the Bushites planned this Iraq invasion before coming to office. The goal was a Religious Crusade, Oil, and profit for the oil industry and the military arsenal producers which these architecs would benefit from after these engagements if they can maintain their secret plots. Victory in Iraq means the longer the engagement the more the profit. Stand by Iran,Syria,Jordan etc. How much more has the Bushites asked for to fund these wars and what has been the total cost up to now? The Bushites don’t want a time table. They want this thing to go as long as possible.They also knew that by removing Saddam that they would create this uprising and civil war that Saddam was effective keeping in check (give or take some thousands of lives) but nothing compared to the legacy of the Bushites. Yeah, kill Saddam and knowingly create more civil strife. Whatever it takes to lengthen this dam war, swindle the tax payers and fill the coffeurs of these Neocons.
It rather amazes me, from time to time, that the same liberals that accuse Dubya of being stupid, a crack head, an alcoholic, and so on and so forth, ad nauseum, can switch horses almost in mid-sentence and accuse him of masterminding this incredible plot, wasting American lives, invading a soveriegn nation, inventing the WMD lie, and so on and so forth, ad nauseum, purely to make money for Halliburton, et al. Does anyone else see a bit of a contradiction here?
rm,That’s exactly what I’ve been saying for the past year.
They call him a dolt, yet accuse him of being a mastermind.
Frankly, it’s just the liberals being critical of anything they can find.
And Kia makes 3.I’ve said the same thing here before.
Thanks. I’m not enough of an “insider” to really know whether we’re right or they’re right. But, I do know this for sure. They damned sure can’t have it both ways.
bush is what he was elected to be.
He is a cardboard cut out, empty suit, marionette. It his handlers that are the schemers.
The execution of Saddam SHOULD be carried out very secretively and quietly.
The annoncement that he is dead SHOULD be put off for at least several weeks after the fact.
Aint gonna happen though.
The circus bush will make of it will likely shatter the pathetic Iraqi government. The Sunni region will become completely untenable.
RM–
No contradiction.
Bush IS a crackhead, dry drunk, DUI convict, thrice failed “business man” and much, much more.
What Bush has is powerful players pulling his strings. After the UN had kept Iraqi oil out of US hands for a decade, Big Oil got control at last.
Bush gets his war, Big Oil gets Iraqi oil to hold or sell (in this case hold–notice how the price of gas doubled while Bush was in office?).
It’s not a conspiracy–it’s just a logical collusion of interests.
It’s free enterprise, dude.
BTW–
You and GoofNuts say that liberals call Bush a “mastermind.”
We liberals don’t call him a mastermind.
The only thing that G W ever had going for him was a folksy manner and a wealthy, politically connected family.
Anybody can grow up to be president.
However, it’s a lot easier if your father was President, if your Grandfather was Senator and your Great-grandfather had the biggest steel mill in Ohio. He actually hired a Rockefeller to work for him.
Finally! See how inefficient our justice system is? It takes 4 years to execute Saddam Hussein!
Beurocracy at it’s finest!
I would really appreciate it if you Bush dead-enders could tell us liberals ONE good thing that Bush has done since he’s been in office.
I don’t mean putting right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court.
I mean name ONE thing that is measurably better under Bush than before Bush.
I don’t mean putting right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court.
So no one who is anti-abortion can serve on the Supreme Court? When are you planning on installing your religious litmus test for SC candidates?
My greatest wish is that the Supreme Court will strike down Roe v Wade and make abortion illegal.
You and I are in 100 percent agreement on that.
Capn:
Unlike his predecessor, he has not sent tens of thousands of American jobs to Mexico and New Dehli — but I suppose that doesn’t count, since Good Ole’ Bill made sure they were already gone.
He’s kept Billary out of the White House for eight years.
He busted Enron — big oil at its biggest.
I’m sure none of those will satisfy you, but that’s just the first three that popped into my head. Is he a great President? Nope. Is he the worst President since Andrew Johnson? Nope. Has he made some mistakes? You bet. Has he batted over .500? Yep, but just barely. But, just like you, Capn, he can’t have it both ways either.
Personally, I’ve never figured out why anybody would want the job, have you? No matter what you do, it’s pretty much a given that you are going to piss 50% of the people of (give or take 3 percentage points)! Would you sign on with that stamped in big red letters on the job description?
Here’s a thought.
bush put off his speech about the future in Iraq until January.
Could this be why?
I bet it is. I bet he is gonna announce that Saddam is dead in that same speech!
That is just plain crazy!
Nice thought JR but you think there is anyway that can be kept a secret?Our troops can’t pull off a bunch of high school or college hijinx without it winding up all over CNN.
JR: Neither you nor I know whether your idea has any merit right now, but just for the sake of conversation, let’s assume it is true.
Why is it good or bad? Why is it crazy? It’s sort of a “And, so…?” He’s either dead or he’s not. It’s not going to change my day one way or the other. Will it change yours? Personally, I wish they had shot him in the “spider hole”.
Kia: Yeah, but think of all the money our enemies are saving on spy networks! Instant espionage — just flip on CNN! Amen, friend! We can’t keep a secret with guns to our heads.
If bush IS planning to make an event of Saddams execution, he would be stoking a Sunni uprising.
Better idea.
Declare him convicted by his own people and then hand him over to the world court. Let them take the responsibility.
RM–
Hehe, not even a nice try, dude.
“He kept Hillary out of the White House . . . ”
Unprovable, doesn’t count.
“He busted Enron.” Unbelievable that you reich-wingers would take credit for this one. “Kenny Boy” Lay was one of the Bush family’s personal friends. GW’s baseball team played on ENRON Field.
According to Wikipedia, “the long-term trials and implications of Enron’s collapse are somewhat unclear, but there is considerable political fallout both in the U.S. and in the UK relating to the money Enron gave to political figures (around US$7 million since 1990). Approximately three-fourths of American contributions went to the Republican Party, including heavy contributions to George W. Bush’s presidential campaign.”
“He didn’t send jobs overseas.” Under Clinton, the average job growth in the US was 250,000 A MONTH.
After the first four years of Bush, the net job growth was ZERO.
And that was only because Bush had grown GOVERNMENT jobs by some 800,000 . . .
The first round was a clear loser for your side, but I invite you to try again.
G’nite, friends. Got 100 miles in the morning before breakfast. Got freezing rain coming Thursday and snow Friday. They are predicting snow in Denver on Thursday, and saying it is shaping up to be even bigger than last week. My nephew and family were to fly in from SeaTac to Denver a week ago tomorrow and they finally got in at 6:30 last night.
You’re also wrong about the Presidency. “50 percent of the people give or take a few percentage points” didn’t hate Clinton.
His approval ratings were in the high 60’s, higher than Reagan’s, when he left office, despite the reich-wing smear machine operating in overdrive . . .
So many reich-wingers love to shoot their mouths off . . . and yet not one can step forward and give a single specific, provable instance of something that Bush did right.
I guess that’s why we’re part of the ‘reality-based community’ and you’re not.
Right, Capn. And where are GW’s?
Somebody?
Anybody?
I thought RM was referring to the electorate (which Clinton never gained 50% of). If you want to throw around approval ratings when they left office (and it was one-percent-most likely rounding up) on Reagan, which with margin of error is even, you have to look at Billy boy’s election results as well.
GW’s baseball team played on ENRON Field.-You’re wrong on that one.He owned the Texas Rangers (the Ballpark in Arlington).
I could use this as fodder for how blinded by your own hate you are, but I will digress.
No sense in providing anything that CapnAmerica would gleefully shoot down in his obvious bias.
I’m not feeding that political alligator.
So, I guess you just have to applaud your own writings and listen to the silence.
People do tire of political ranker and rhetoric afterwhile and just press on.
KIA–
I stand corrected–Bush was part owner of the Rangers, not the Astros.
The Astros played on ENRON field in Houston, my bad.
But let’s not lose sight of the main point–by this time in Clinton’s Presidency, millions and millions of new jobs had been created, the stock market had doubled, the budget was balanced and the national debt was getting paid down, economists warned about the dangers of “eliminating” the national debt, gas prices were low.
Since then, the Dow is only up small percentage from where it stood in 1999. Gas prices have doubled. Balance of trade is historically bad. National debt, ditto.
And then there’s Iraq.
Face it, you don’t have anything good to say about Bush because . . . there’s nothing good to say about him.
He prays a lot. He apparently doesn’t drink or have affairs. Oh, goody.
But WHAT HAS HE DONE?
“We’re gonna smoke him outta his hole . . . we’re gonna get him dead or alive.”
Or not.
Sadaam’s hanging will be public to try to bring up Bush’s approval ratings BUT it won’t happen.
Bush is the WORST president EVER
Hoover is a saint compaired to jr.
Anything that was created under Clinton was lost on 9/11. You can’t blame 9/11 on Bush anymore than it can be on Clinton. And it is really unfair to blame anyone other than the people who committed the acts so let’s just get beyond that.Bush made decisions that have got the country back on its feet. The stock market has broken how many records this year?The fundamental difference those who support the war in Iraq and those who don’t is our belief in what it is.The anti side want to see it as a war for oil and finishing off dad’s business.The pro side realizes it is part of the war on terror that has been declared on us.
The biggest difference between Bush and Clinton Leave?Clinton was a politician who ran his presidency on approval ratings and polls.Bush is a leader who makes tough decisions he believes are best for our country and the world.
I never can understand exactly what the stock market has to do with middle America. Most common people either don’t own stock (unless it’s a perk of their company/employer) or don’t make enough to even count themselves among the upper tier.
Of course the stock market is gaining ground. Aren’t the conservatives always telling us that business is run for the benefit of stock holders? So just who is it that’s making out with stocks climbing? Huge corporate stock holders or the little guy?
RD
“most common people don’t own stock”
Yes, they do, even if they don’t know it. Mutual insurance companies. Retirement funds. Mutual funds. 401k’s. etc. Over 50% of Americans own stock, either directly or indirectly.
You probably do as well, RD.
I’m so happy that you are of the investor class and making out well mr kia.
It is too bad that that status blinds you to the suffering and misery that YOUR pResident has caused. Truly, conservatives are conservative also with their compassion.
MrK,Excellent synopsis. It’s easy to be a popular leader if you just follow the polls.
Any CEO would be LOVED by his employees if he gave them all a 10% annual raise. “He’s the best president this company has ever seen!!!”
…right up until the company goes bankrupt.
Clinton had nothing to do with 9/11 but you can bet your ass if he had been handed a memo that said Bin Laden determined to strike USA he would have moved Heaven and EArth to stop it. HE would NOT have gone on vacation
“Bush is a leader who makes tough decisions he believes are best for our country and the world.”
Your faith in your daddy figure Bush is touching, KIA, but it’s just a bunch of adjectives like the daily horoscope.
There’s nothing specific and provable.
The question was, and I repeat, give one specific instance of something that Bush has done right.
For instance, he said in a recent SOTU address that he was increasing Pell Grants. That’s good, IMHO. But he only increased them by a token 100 dollars while he greatly REDUCED the number of students eligible for Pell Grants.
In other words, he f***ing lied.
Worst. President. Ever.
golfnuts,
“MrK,Excellent synopsis. ”
Only for people like golfnuts and kia, who ignore all of the inconvenient truths, facts, and reality.
The fact that GW has been in office six full YEARS and his most vehement supporters can’t point to a single accomplishment speaks volumes.
It’s not what you do, it’s not even what you say, to you people . . . it’s what you BELIEVE that matters.
Never mind that Iraq is an effing quagmire by any rational measure, if we just BELIEVE in Bush enough, our faith will turn this predicatable disaster into a success, apparently.
Hey, I got an idea–why don’t you folks call in to Rush and ask him for something specific that Bush has done that actually worked as planned?
But Rush wouldn’t take your call, would he? For any questioning of the man behind the curtain is an implicit criticism.
“Facts?! Evidence?! We don’ need no steenkin’ facts. We BELIEVE.”
Saddam writes a farewell letter, and related news:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/27/iraq.ap/index.html
Send the Carr brothers over there. They should have been dead the weekend after their trial and yet we still have to feed these parasites.
Tiller can kill innocent babies, but the libs are always ready o protect scum like Hussein and the Carr brothers.
no name is deserving of no nic.
Just what is the instance of anyone on this thread liberal or otherwise “defending Hussien and the Carr brothers”?
?
Heh, JR, don’t you love it when a hit-and-run reich-wing troll comes on and tells us what we think.
How about if we tell you what we think.
Kill Saddam Hussein and the Carr Bros. They both deserve it.
However, it’s not going to end the war or stop crime, and unlike you, we don’t delude ourselves into thinking that it will.
As for the “innocent babies” line, the SOTUS and a majority of Americans disagree with you on that one.
You might consider moving to Saudi Arabia. Abortion is illegal there.
Of course, that would involve putting action where mouth is . . .
Correction, SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)
Good try, GMC, but I have none of those. No insurance of any kind (thank you, Dubya), no 401K or retirement (I’m self-employed), no mutual bonds. Nothing. Oh, wait, I do have a Social Security fund, if there’s anything left of it when the time comes to collect, but that isn’t stock, is it?
As conflicted as I am about CP I have no problems here. I hope they hang him high and he swings a long time. I just hope my son doesn’t get hurt because of whatever craziness happens as a result of his death.