The British, and now Mubarrak from Egypt have voiced their opposition.
Does it have to happen to get the country to move past his legacy?
Will it do more harm than good?
<<<"Does it have to happen to get the country to move past his legacy? ">>>
Given that his legacy was one of brutish violence, I would think that the opposite is true.
I say don’t hang him because I don’t believe in the death penalty.
I say don’t hang him because I don’t believe in the death penalty.
I agree. I think it will do more harm than good in Iraq. He’s out of the picture, they have to get on with life.
Seems like hanging would make a good martyr out of him. Better to let him rot away in some dank prison.
OTOH, imagine if he was in said dank prison cell, the country erupts into civil war after US troops leave, and someone springs him.
Maybe better to get rid of him while we have the chance.
I say pardon him and bring him back to power so he can clean up the frikin mess we’ve created. He’ll have that place cleaned up lickity split and accomplish in one month what Bush couldn’t accomplish in three years. Hell, let’s give him a cash bonus and make him our ally again.
I say toture him for a long time then drag his body thru, the streets and let people spit on him…the slower more painful the death the better. IMHO
From a moral and ethical perspective my view is that he not be executed.
Execution of Saddam Hussein rings of doing to him exactly what he was charged with doing to his people. In this circumstance, how are we any better? Do the ends justify the means? They do not.
In my opinion our primary role in Iraq is to provide a backdrop of security and stability against which the Iraqi people can built a government of their own design through their own process. This government needs only to be in keeping with the most basic rules of human rights and conduct within the international community. Beyond that, it is up to the Iraqis.
I feel that execution falls well outside the definintion of respecting basic human rights.
Now, from a functional level, there will always be a looming sensation that Hussein could somehow return to power as long as he is alive. That notion strikes terror in the heart of the average Iraqi on the street if they decide to align themselves with the emerging government. Should Hussein return- and don’t for one second suppose that he could not in the bizarre ebb and flow of Middle Eastern politics- there would likely be a horrible purge of anyone who collaborated with the new regime. As long as even the smallest chance of that happening exists, there will be concern over it.
I suggest the best course of action is to imprison him.
Hang him. It’s the only to remove the problem. If you let him rott in prison, he will figure out a way to wreak havoc from there. Really, why bother keeping him alive, maybe he’ll change? BS. Eye for an Eye.
I am not opposed to the death penalty even thugh I think hanging is somewhat barbaric. However, I think by doing this we (or they or whomever is in charge of this) would make a bad situation worse. Remeber, part of the country is pretty excited about the death sentence but part of the country is pretty pissed. Grant him mercy, don’t hang him but screw up his brain somehow (lobotomy or drugs or something) so that if he ever was released, escaped or whatever, he couldn’t tie his shoes let alone run a country.
Lobotomy is so much more humane than hanging. It’s not how it’s done, that i could care less, it just should be done. Bullet, knife, rope, it doesn’t matter.
You are right, half are happy he will hang, the other half is not. But that won’t change anything, he hasn’t been hung yet, and violence amongst the groups over there is spilling over. So what will change when he is gone, nothing. Only merely giving him, what he deserves.
It’s like my dog. From day one, she hated squirrels, she doesn’t know why, she just does. And the squirrels, hate her (they scream little obscenities from the tree branches). Will they ever get a long, no. Never. It’s useless to try.
Does it matter that one group of Iraqi’s will upset, and the other will be happy, no. They will never get along. This has been going on for one gazillion years.
Scott
I’m torn on the question of execution in general, as I think its barbaric. However, I won’t lose much sleep over Hussein’s death, but I think hanging as the method is pointlessly barbaric and grotesque. A public hanging won’t do much for Iraq’s image as I presume it wants to move into the 20th century, if not 21st. I mean, why don’t we just guillotine him, or perhaps get a swiping longsword?
It sounds too much like bloodthirsty public spectacle, and I don’t think it really does much for their society to do it in such a way.
Let the Iraqis follow their laws and their mores. Our squeamish views are not theirs. Anything but execution will be viewed as weakness in Iraq and the Arab world. It must be done when reviewed on various levels.
LD