"It's somewhat ironic that the guards at Saddam's execution were Sadrites--supporters of arguably our greatest foe in today's Iraq."

Why is that ironic? The Sadrites effectively run the place, and that's why the problem is so intractable. I'd bet plenty of the Iraqis present were Sadrites.

Posted by: Jon H at December 31, 2006 03:29 AM | Permalink to this comment

Calling it 'irony' is a way to avoid acknowledging one of the flawed premises of the invasion - that the Iraqi population was pro-American, and would elect a pro-American (and pro-Israeli) government if Saddam were removed and free elections held.

Posted by: David Tomlin at December 31, 2006 12:55 PM | Permalink to this comment

Dear David,

the video of the execution is here: http://pandachute.com/videos/leaked_saddam_being_hung_video

It corroborates the NYT account. I couldn't make out anything about Palestine, but the quality is rather bad.

--MSK

www.aqoul.com

Posted by: MSK at December 31, 2006 01:12 PM | Permalink to this comment

If there were ever an appropriate place for this curse, it is here. Elegant. Perfect.

Posted by: john at December 31, 2006 07:32 PM | Permalink to this comment

This is a tawdry little affair, which contains no lessons and no visceral sense of justice.

Posted by: Tom at December 31, 2006 11:35 PM | Permalink to this comment

who are the sadrites?

Posted by: Said at January 1, 2007 01:00 AM | Permalink to this comment

Saddam was as threatening to America as Mayor MacCheese. He was a puppet or a nebish. When Israeli jets destroyed Iraqi nuclear installations in 1982 it was done in broad daylight and not a single shot was fired back. We could have kept him as a friend and ally of America if we didn't view the middle east as our own battle ground. And he'd still be alive today. Don't you feel bad?

Posted by: Richard at January 1, 2007 02:24 AM | Permalink to this comment

Zeyad (an Iraqi blogger at Healing Iraq) translates the words in the cell phone recording in his most recent post. He says there's no denunciation of Americans or Persians in the audio, but that may have been before the start of the recording.

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Dara at January 1, 2007 03:28 AM | Permalink to this comment

I do believe that those who carried out the execution were Americans dressed in pretence that they are Iraq’s. We should all open up our eyes and fight for a just cause. The worlds most enemies are the Persian and Americans. Americans claim that Saddam killed 147 we should all note that due to Bush more than 3,000 innocent American soldiers have lost their lives and 10's of thousands of Iraq's countrymen have lost their lives. The World look here who is a better terrorist than Bush him self?

Posted by: tommy at January 1, 2007 05:40 PM | Permalink to this comment

Yes it is ironic that guards were supporter of Moktada al-Sadr. Moktada al-Sadr is the same person, whose militant group fought and killed many American soldiers in Iraq. Execution of Saddam Hussein won’t improve anything in Iraq, but it has potential to make Iraq and Middle East more unstable. It can make the civil war between Shiite’s and Sunni’s which already has started more widespread. If Shiite’s took control over Iraq, this is exactly what Iran is hoping for, so execution of Saddam Hussein is somewhat doing a favor to Iran. Saddam Hussein was Sunni and Sunni’s in Iraq liked him as a president of Iraq. Saddam Hussein started the war with Iran which lasted 8 years during early 90’s. Since Iran is mostly Shiite population, just like Iraq which is mostly Shiite. The union between the two Shiite countries can create a huge problem for USA in future. Since Iran might develop WMD, WMD was the reason for this war. If Iran develops WMD it’ll defeat the whole purpose of this war and it’ll create danger for USA. And the whole Middle East will destabilize, since it’s divided between Shiite’s and Sunni’s.
This is my analyses, but future remain very uncertain, we just have to wait and see what direction wind will blow.
Below is a link to article on USATODAY website.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-01-01-saddam-protests_x.htm?csp=24

Posted by: KW at January 2, 2007 01:26 AM | Permalink to this comment

"Americans claim that Saddam killed 147 we should all note that due to Bush more than 3,000 innocent American soldiers have lost their lives and 10's of thousands of Iraq's countrymen have lost their lives. The World look here who is a better terrorist than Bush him self?"

Firstly, it is not a claim. It is fact. Saddam was a murderer and a despot.
Without this reality, the Americans would have never overthrown his rule. So in actuality he (Saddam) is responsible for the deaths of the 3,000 American soldiers and the 10's of thousands of Iraqi lives that were lost in the conflict.
Any reasonable being would agree that for every effect there is a cause. The effect of the war in Iraq was, and is still being, caused by the late Saddam Hussein and his acts of terror that he wrought upon his own countrymen.

"Execution of Saddam Hussein won’t improve anything in Iraq, but it has potential to make Iraq and Middle East more unstable."

This may be true, however it is not a just reason to allow a man to live and continue to terrorize innocent lives in the name of potential. It wasn't done to improve Iraq, it was done to bring an evil man to justice.

Lastly,

"And he'd still be alive today. Don't you feel bad?"

....No...

Posted by: Chris at January 2, 2007 01:55 AM | Permalink to this comment

Chris,

Saddam had never killed anyone just like that.Those who came in his way or who try's to destabilise his Govt ..they were the only ones who got sentences in his rule.

Do you think any Govt will leave the people who try's destabilise.For that reason do you think someone try's to destabilise a nation..does the Govt will leave them.

You can try studying Iraqi history and find a single leader who bought all the people from different sects and ruled peacefully with equality.

Why the taxpayer money has to be used to dethrow or bomb a Govt/Nation.Tommorow Iran is going to become a Nuclear power & the Iraq will have a Shite Govt ..think how things will be....for the rest of the world.

See,the main mistake is handing over saddam to Shites or so called Iraqi Govt..and seeing the taunting video i am sure one can realise & understand the standards of these executioners.Is it fair to taunt a person who is going for execution..and moreover taking a video of that..I am sure you didn't liked it.

Posted by: kum at January 2, 2007 07:10 AM | Permalink to this comment

Saddam Hossien Was A Great Sacrifice Of Dear Islam Who Fought agains invadors of 36 country

Posted by: Ahang at January 2, 2007 07:25 AM | Permalink to this comment

Okay Chris. There is an endless amount of knowledge that i could stomp your little rebutel with. But this wont be required. Dont be a fool. There is no holy country. There is no holy person. There is no holy Race. There is no holy group. We are all equally disgusting and sinful. Im really fucking tired of hearing people on eaither side of the argument speewing out garbage like, "Oh! this person is evil(saddam, bush, whoever), because he KILLS people! They should die!" Second graders should be able to sift through the bullshit in these kind of dispicably ignorent speeches. YOU CANT SOLVE VIOLENCE WITH VIOLENCE. It just doesnt work. IT CAN NOT BE DONE. If you can give me an example of where it has worked show me. Until then shut the fuck up about this crap where we sit around claiming to have obtained the knowledge of whom is good or evil, and who should die or not. IF you are a christian, and you feel that saddam "deserved it", you are a lier. I've never heard of any religous icons of any religion, including christianity, Islam, Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Tao, Confusism, Paganism.... ANY OF THEM, say that we are here to judge and persacute others. It is SO very simple. When you point your fingers and accuse and persacute others. You are the perpetrator. what the fuck is wrong with you people. Hate, fear, sarrow. Those Are your ONLY enemies. All others are but victims of these. Its pretty simple. You act out violence because of fear or hate. In reality this only ensures that your fears become reality and your hate perpetuats itself. Coming back to you and your family. Our golden american country is Founded on lies. And it is soon to be dead. You are an infected blood cell. You carry aids. You are a plague. The people of this country and a huge part of the world, are diseased. Why do you think the violent and sadistic are called sick?

Posted by: William at January 2, 2007 07:41 AM | Permalink to this comment

I mourn the loss of any human life. True, violence cannot be solved with violence.

Another human life was snuffed out when Saddam was executed, hundreds more meet a similar end every week in Iraq, thousands more across the globe in violence more disturbing than can be spoken.

Violence begets violence.

We can only solve this with compassion. Compassion alone can ease such suffering. Saddam's suffering is over yet sadly it continues for countless scores of people in EVERY COUNTRY.

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama wrote,

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Without them, humanity cannot survive."

Posted by: Another American at January 2, 2007 10:54 AM | Permalink to this comment

My God people, would you just sit back and listen to yourselves. People are dying only because they will not throw down their weapons. Either side could end the conflict, both sides could end the conflict,,,, but neither side will until the end of time. The war is the fault of everyone who places blame. All of you who say "The Persians, and Americans" and all of you who say "arabs". Everyone who can not see this is keeping the violence going.

Posted by: Concerned American at January 2, 2007 02:54 PM | Permalink to this comment

The way they executed him is a shame, we're all human beings and no one would want to go from this world like this. We should treat each other like human beings not like animals. Supporter of Moktada al-Sadr were insulting him, while he was praying to God during his last moments. And releasing the video tape is an insult to his soul. BTW God will decide who's good or evil; this is not something we have to decide. People get emotional on these forums. We shouldn't take things personally. We all have emotions and we want similar things from life. True justice doesn't exist in the world. But we can hope for peace. History is filled with leaders of countries getting assassinated or overthrown. This is quite common; if you open the history books. They say history repeats itself. Human beings never change; we all associate over selves with some groups or religion. And then we get emotional defending that group or religions. And start to take aggressive action against each other. So my friends have peace, don’t get emotional.

Posted by: A Citizen of Earth at January 2, 2007 05:09 PM | Permalink to this comment

-"People get emotional on these forums."
I agree, I don't take kindly to being cursed at William. Your hate is clouding your reason.

-"There is no holy country."
I never claimed that anyone was "holy".

-"I've never heard of any religous icons of any religion, including christianity, Islam, Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Tao, Confusism, Paganism.... ANY OF THEM, say that we are here to judge and persacute others."
Then YOU my friend are the fool. What were the crusades? What is Jihad? What has been the cause of every war in human history? Religion is the answer. Please don't attack me personally, as a fool would, attack my ideas if you wish...but not me. Have compassion. Your statment is full of contradictions....Moving on

I did not state that violence could be solved with violence. I wasn't justifying the war in iraq. I think that some of you may have read into my statements. I was not using Christianity as a base for my argument. I was simply stating that Saddam was responsible for the loss of life in Iraq. This cannot be refuted. Stomp away my friend. George Bush is not a terrorist.
My argument is not based in Christian law, or any religions law. It is simply truth based on the OBJECTIVE good. The Objective good is what is good for ALL men and does not depend on their knowledge of it OR their feelings about it, or for that matter their acceptance of rejection of it. In other words: what ought be is reality... even if it's not. What ought not be, is not, even if it is.

Oh by the way, bring on the "knowledge", you can't form a rebuttal by simply stating that you have knowledge without presenting it.

Posted by: Chris at January 2, 2007 09:47 PM | Permalink to this comment

I agree with Citizen. God is our ultimate judge, and if Saddam was not meant to die, he would not have. The time to die is appointed by God and God only. Food for thought...

Posted by: Jess of USA at January 2, 2007 10:36 PM | Permalink to this comment

I disagree with you Jess. Why do you think that God decides who to kill and who not to kill? I am a firm believer in free will. It is my opinion that we choose our own destiny and that my God has let me and everyone else do what they please without divine intervention.

Posted by: Chris at January 2, 2007 11:53 PM | Permalink to this comment

Chris, I am sorry you disagree. Maybe you also feel life is accidental with no definite purpose. If the will is free, who decides right from wrong? Santa Claus?

Posted by: Jess of USA at January 3, 2007 12:09 AM | Permalink to this comment

Right and wrong is not a decision to be made, right is right, wrong is wrong. So if you think that someone is making your decisions for you then it might as well be Santa Claus. Free will has nothing to do with whether something is wrong or right, it is the ability and the act of choosing the wrong or the right. With the choice having no bearing on the "rightness or wrongness" of said choice. Having free will does not imply atheism, it says that my God made me a thinking reasoning being capable of making my own decisions. Even decisions such as whether to believe in Him or not. Whether to choose right from wrong, good from evil, and the ability to distinguish between the two.

....And no I don't feel that life has no purpose, so your assumption is incorrect.

Posted by: Chris at January 3, 2007 01:24 AM | Permalink to this comment

Sorry Jess, I forgot to add in my previous post that you did not answer my question.

Posted by: Chris at January 3, 2007 01:27 AM | Permalink to this comment

Chris,

Thanks for the insight and clarifying what your OPINION is. I am not interested in opinion, however, since a rapist or murderer thinks that they have a CORRECT OPINION too. This proves your theory about CHOOSING what is RIGHT or WRONG, in OUR EYES. I give you points for that. I think that those who hold the SAME opinion as you... that we have freewill, do more WRONG freely because they think thier "god" won't need a detailed enough answer when the day comes to reckon and weigh out the pluses and minuses. After all, isn't it EASIER to view a 'god' with a long, grey beard who reminds us more of GRANDPA then an all knowing and much more POWERFUL GOD who DOESNT need a little created being to carry out his work by killing thousands of people aka, strapping a BOMB to thier bodies and leaving loved ones behind, without a care for the victims' loved ones either??? Is that Holiness??? Religion aside, with all due respect, is IT? It is always the ones who say "TO ME, god is this" or, "TO ME, god is that.." , who have the MOST weakened view of what God REALLY is, and he MUST BE considering the proof we HAVE so far! You keep YOUR god in that shallow end of the pool, Chris, and I will continiue to trust a much MORE powerful God (logically, but..)beyond words or comparison. If you want to call RIGHT or WRONG, tell me WHERE it comes FROM! Forgive me, Chris. To YOU, what GOD IS....
I MUST DISAGREE WITH.

Posted by: Jess of USA at January 3, 2007 05:53 AM | Permalink to this comment

which is all....your OPINION. Anytime any being says anything...it is their opinion. It is your opinion of what YOUR God is that drives your debate. Everyone has a God that is personal to them and no one else. If you simply believe what others have told you then you have no free will and effectively you have ceased to exist. You have become the extension of another persons soul. Which by the way is impossible which leaves behind the only conclusion: you are ignorant. I don't mean that to offend you, I'm just saying that if you believe what someone else has spoon fed you and you have never studied God for yourself than you lack the knowledge that you ought to have...which is the definition of ignorance...literally.

...GTG to work write more on this later.

Posted by: Chris at January 3, 2007 11:27 AM | Permalink to this comment

Chris,

If you and I do not agree, it does not make anyone ignorant. Ignorance is to say you are right and another is wrong without truly knowing that with certainty. I was just disagreeing with your view of God. I have searched and studied all of my life and i am satisfied with my faith in God, and who He is. I do not need to be told when I should or should not be. God is more powerful than us , that is a basic concept.

Posted by: Jess of USA at January 3, 2007 04:30 PM | Permalink to this comment

We westerners who think of ourselves as christians are actually uncivilized people prentending to make others live by our rules. We believe that muslims, buddhists or other people with different religious or ethnical background are lesser than us... we still believe that America is the guardian of the world...no one told Mr.Bush to invade Iraq...Iraq under Mr.Saddam was not worse than Iran under the shiite theocratical government which is looking for a way to create atomic bombs under the lies that this is for progress in their country...they are fanatics ready to wipe out not only Israel but all the rest of the western world along with the Americas just to set up the Kingdom of Allah...but it is their kingdom they want to set up, and now they got the Power in Iraq and are ready to negotiate with Iran to create shiite governments in the rest of the arab countries... Mr.Bush goofed up alright, he saw Saddam as a menace to America, now the real menace will be that of the shiites who will impose on the rest of the population of Iraq their private interpretation of muslim life... they just dont care about democracy....we must understand that democracy is alien to arab's mentality and that the United States cant be imposing their personal view of what is a good government to the rest of the world. American hipocrasy is on, the USA dont trade with Cuba....because it is a communist country...but they trade with Communist China and Vietnam... it seems that American governments have lost their minds somewhere in his search of world dominion. Please let the World be what it is: a World of variation in politics, ethnicity, religion and so on. Stop feeding your faces with more and more wars. Killing Mr. Saddam is not the ultimate solution to social or political problems in the arab countries...why we dont leave them alone? They deserve better than that stupid democracy that has been imposed on these people by America... that is the reason they hate us... because we believe that America is the one to set the rules to the rest of the nations in the planet... We must understand that by letting Mr.Saddam being executed does not makes us any better than the shiites or any fanatical religious group. The Shiites will show America in the long run...that they have no friends in the infidel America.

Posted by: Roger at January 5, 2007 05:22 AM | Permalink to this comment

Ha'v locke O Qua Omsa Tangin Wann

Posted by: O Nee Sayer Wann at January 6, 2007 11:38 PM | Permalink to this comment