Check Out Time Nears
By streiff Posted in War — Comments (30) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
NBC News is reporting that Saddam will be hanged before Sunday and "[t]he hanging could take place as early as Friday, NBC’s Richard Engel reported." (As today is Thursday, Friday in Iraq, thanks for that expedition into the realm of the blindingly obvious, Richard.)
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, sentenced to death for his role in 148 killings in 1982, will have his sentence carried out by Sunday, NBC News reported Thursday. According to a U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, Saddam will be hanged before the start of the Eid religious holiday, which begins this Sunday.
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
Some things are too dangerous to leave lying around, dictators being one of them.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
- Will it be a stumblefest to see who can say they are the most glad?
- Will it be a series of concerned warning from the wiser-than-thou crowd about how Saddam may be a martyr blah blah a thousand Saddams blah blah?
- Will Tim Russert take credit?
It should be a riot. Figuratively speaking, that is.
The 
Academy is open.
I'm opposed to the death penalty when society has the capability to permanently remove a threat through life imprisonment without parole.
In the U.S.A, I can believe this can occur. In Iraq, I have no confidence that Saddam, once imprisoned, would stay that way for the rest of his life. A simple flawed election and he could be pardoned by the next Iraqi government.
His followers would continually have a motive for their existance and to try and spring him. Eventually, he could/would develop the means to begin leading resistance movements from jail (notice how his internet message made it to the outside world just fine).
He needs to go, but I hope his execution is quick and painless.
What lies beyond the noose will be more agonizing than anything his innocent victims ever suffered through.
There is still time for his soul to be saved, but it is doubtful that there is anyone in proximity who is able or willing to bring Christ's gospel to this man before he dies.
Feet first in one of his son's industrial shredders. And video tape it so the families of people he and his progeny butchered can get some closure.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
He loved those tapes so much, it wouldn't be fair to make one and not stop the machine 5 or 6 times to give him a chance to watch his progress on tape.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
I will not mind that he is gone and believe it is necessary. I am not compassionate enough to grieve his death, but neither do I take satisfaction from it.
Jesus died even for Saddam. He took every one of his murders, tortures and every starvation on his back when he was on the cross. If Saddam would repent and believe in Jesus' salvation, even he would be saved.
That should fill all with hope who have done wrong.
On the other hand, all who sin, even if it is nowhere near Saddam's evils, face the same fate after death as he, unless they too repent and believe.
and that is conditional. The condition being that we receive Christ as our Savior. (I'm doing short form, I'm not entertaining theological arguments so don't go there.)
His death says nothing about paying for transgressions in this life. Saddam's crimes against God can be forgiven and wiped out. Saddam's crimes against the people of Iraq should never be forgiven and he should forfeit his life. In any way the Iraqi's deem fit.
And since I haven't heard anything about any "death bed conversion", I expect that Saddam will be enjoying his 72 virgins in a very, very hot place.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
"There is still time for his soul to be saved, but it is doubtful that there is anyone in proximity who is able or willing to bring Christ's gospel to this man before he dies."
So you admit to being a Christian, yet are perfectly fine with someone more sinful than yourself dying without having time to be saved. You and every other "christian" who would rather kill a bunch of towelheads
[Excuse me.]
[(Sound effect of head being grabbed by hair and slammed into wall. A safety is thumbed off in the sudden silence.)]
[Hi. I'm Moe Lane, and I'm going to tell you this once. RACIAL, ETHNIC AND/OR RELIGIOUS SLURS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS WEBLOG. If you cannot express yourself without them, then you will go somewhere that they are. Either under your own power, or via the application of my boot to your backside. I don't care if you're just a dolt or an agent provocateur; either way, you will mind your language.]
[Now apologize. And don't make the n00b mistake of trying the 'sorry if you were offended' gambit. I get grumpy when people try to insult my intelligence.]
rather than die bringing them the Gospel. You are fooling yourselves.
Justice would demand that _everyone_ who has caused innocent Iraqis to die (for whatever great political aim they might have had in mind) would be hanging there with him. Mercy would demand that we would treat such people better than they treated others (as God treats us better than we deserve to be treated). Christianity would demand that we love them as our enemies and pray that they would have the time (and the change of heart) to truly repent of their sins.
The yeast of the Pharisees has almost worked its way through the whole dough...
Please spare me your sermon. Saddam is a monster and has his hangin' coming to him. What happens next is between him and God and nothing we do is going to change that. I assume your reference to "everyone_that has caused innocent Iraqis to die would be hanging there with him" is a not so subtle way of equating him with President Bush and us warmongers. It is true that innocent Iraqis have died and this is regrettable. But this is outweighed by the saving of future lives; which will not be thrown into plastic shredders feet first. And of course, millions are now free and have the opportunity to make something of their lives and their children's lives. They didn't have this under Saddam. Now they do.
Christianity is not a suicide pact. It is stupid, and quite frankly immoral, to allow fanatics to take us into an era of death and darkness because of the moral sophistry of pacifists that live in a fantasy world. This fantasy world no doubt concocted in a comfy living room with cable and a big screen TV. Here they safely preach their feel good nonsense with the knowledge in the back of their heads that men who are willing to kill stand between them and the very fanatics they want to forgive and understand.
In fact, we have treated Saddam far better than he ever treated his victims. They had no trials, no lawyers, no health care, no decent food. They were beaten, tortured, raped, starved, burned, stabbed, gassed, shot..use your imagination. Oh, and did I mention that many of them didn't even do anything wrong? We have shown Saddam charity (which is really a better translation than love). But now it's time for him to die.
In commercial announcer's voice:
"We've replaced the hangman's rope with Folger's brand piano wire. Let's see if Saddam can tell the difference!"
I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. - Alan Greenspan
If they gave him a side of mustard gas with his final meal.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
and as a rule, I find it a bit unseemly to be gleeful about executing a fellow human being, but I can't help but feel happy that this monster will no longer walk among us. There is no doubt about the crimes he commited and no doubt that he did it with no remorse.
that he doesn't get to die the way the people he slaughtered died.
The death penalty doesn't prevent crime, but it prevents the convicted ghoulish murderers from murdering again.
Don
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Democratic is a process.
Democrat is what they are.
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You guys are rather crass. Have you forgotten our side is trying to protect LIFE? I won't be shedding any tears for Saddam, but we certainly do not have to rejoice in any mans end.
Liberals, having only caring and image as their tenets, can have no sense of humor, for to laugh at themselves would be to deny the tenets.
Beside all of that, it's an easy math problem. Saddam lives, and many, many more people will die when (not if) he regains power. Saddam dies, and all that remains is his remains.
Me, I'm happy about that.
The Academy is open.
count as rejoicing? If it does then I could substitute the Electric Slide because that does require some concentration.
count as celebration? How about a gentle chuckle at the thought of him coming to a quick stop at the end of the rope?
Oh well.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
SWING!
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
...to react to the news by pausing for a moment, then go back to eating my dinner. Or whatever meal I'll be eating at the time.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
Will describe this as an 'assasination', like he did when we turned Saddam's horrid sons into swiss cheese?
Cheers,
Scott in Indy
Larry, Moe and Curley all together. Maybe they could dig up the sons and hang them anyway.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
with the idea that civilized people shouldn't celebrate even the necessary death of a tyrant, I have a feeling that I will raise my beer mug this weekend and toast the death of Saddam.
I just won't be able to help myself.
Is that a shot of the actual gallows he'll schwing from? The executioner should "airball" the handle a couple of times if Hussein isn't wearing a hood of course...we all hope he isn't. But those people over there won't believe it anyway even with a closeup. They'll say it's "Hollywood".
"Don't forgot what we did"
Ozzie Guillen
the gallows is the dual gallows at Abu Ghraib, we don't know where Saddam will meet his fate yet but the odds are it won't be there.
As an aside it looks like the Iraqis have adopted US military methods for hanging. In this photo, taken last week, you'll note the hangman's knot we all recognize. The Iraqis used the British method, close up here.
And that's my trivial pursuit contribution for the day.
Any idea on why the two methods? I've also heard stories that indicate that the positioning of the knot on the neck can cause strangulation as opposed to neck snapping. The latter is surely too good for Saddam.
I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. - Alan Greenspan
Piano wire. Hangee is not dropped but raise slowly.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
oddly enough the method of legal execution in Germany until its abolition in 1951 was beheading. The last one carried out in 1949.
to lay off the trivia...
The Brits used a brass ring woven into the rope instead of a knot. The Iraqi noose in the photo has a loop woven into the rope, so same principle at work. This prevents the rope from binding when the condemned's weight hits it and ensure it slides smoothly.
You'll also note the canvas sheath on the noose. This increase the diameter of the rope so it is better able to break the neck.
When one looks at the records of executions one is struck by the fact that it takes about the same amount of time for death to be pronounced in all cases, something on the order of 15 minutes. The difference the knot makes is how much of that 15 minutes the condemned spends fully conscious and strangling versus spending it unconscious with a broken neck.
Allow me to say "good".
All of my problems with the death penalty are problems with the limits of our knowledge and a dislike for how the death penalty exists in practice.
Neither issue really comes up with Saddam.
Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire