Saddam's On the Clock
POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Monday, January 5, 2026 22:02
VIEWED: 13324
PAGE 1 of 16
Thirty days until the big drop is scheduled.
Should he be hanged?
Will he be hanged?
After the fact, will stand-up comics joke about Saddam being well-hung?
Discuss.
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I personally don't think there's even a remote chance of reconciliation in Iraq until he's gone, and he has certainly been responsible for enough evil to merit it. The EU will protest, but I doubt you could find any member state willing to hold him in prison for the rest of his life.
That being said, I doubt that his execution will take place any time soon. Everyone in the world, from Joe Redneck to the Archbishop of Canterbury, will have to weigh in with their opinion, and 30 days isn't enough time for that.
Comedians WILL eventually have a field day.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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'Who Wants to Hang Saddam?' would be a great mid-season reality series for Fox. Or maybe some kind of Survivor spin off.
Quote:
But hundreds of Iraqis have inquired about the hangman's job. The adviser, Bassam al-Husseiny, told the US network ABC News that he received about eight to 10 phone calls a day -- and 20 to 30 e-mails -- by Iraqis who wanted to execute Saddam. The candidates came from all three of the country's major religions and from all walks of life, he said -- from high-level government officials to "the tea boy."
Or perhaps an Iraqi version of 'American Idol' called 'Iraqi Executioner'.
There are so many ways to go: being shot
cancer
having your head chopped off
aids
poison
dysentary 
or even laughing
. But there is something poetic about this one. I gues I likes me a good 'angin I do.
If only we did them in Ohio...
H
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Yes, dead men don't tell tales. Killing Hussein before testimony about US complicity is important. And haste is necessary.
Not only that but we will see a massive drop in sectarian violence as the great healing begins. 
Hanging him will be just as effective as the toppling of his statue, his capture, trial, conviction, and every definitive turning point before.
Been so many turning points, I think we're going in circles, sir.
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It’s about time. He should have been hung a long time ago, except for the need for the Iraqi government to appear to demonstrate a fair and transparent trial. And as far as Middle Eastern courts go, this one was probably the most fair and transparent in history, outside of maybe Israel.
Certainly the EU will complain, they already are, but that’s hardly anything new. If certain politically commanding nations, like France and Russia, had stood up to Hussein to begin with, there might be no need for an execution, and possibly even the war.
Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
-- Cicero
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Quote:And there is need for an execution now? Why, exactly? What will it accomplish, in your eyes?
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
If certain politically commanding nations, like France and Russia, had stood up to Hussein to begin with, there might be no need for an execution, and possibly even the war.
And if Hussein is being justly executed for his many crimes, how was this execution avoidable in any way?
And what inactions of France and Russia precipitated the war in Iraq?
Sure, I got a feeling I'm not going to agree with your assessment of the situation, Finn, but nevertheless, I'd like a better understanding of where you stand.
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
Certainly the EU will complain, they already are, but that’s hardly anything new. If certain politically commanding nations, like France and Russia, had stood up to Hussein to begin with, there might be no need for an execution, and possibly even the war.
And yet, that would have created a whole different war as the US rose to Saddam's defense....
oh... you meant the beginning's of the US's current "kill now, think later" agenda, and not the beginning's of the troubles with Saddam ?
Hang him or not, the problems in Iraq are far removed from Saddam, and far far worse then when he was in power.
Too bad all dictators arent treated equal to Saddam, might end up with some real democracies and not the shams of "the country with the most guns and the least qualms about using them".
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Quote:It will act as a deterrant for other would-be fiends to curb their..uh, fiendishness!!!
Originally posted by HKCavalier:
And there is need for an execution now? Why, exactly?
It will prove what a great nation we, uh.. I mean Iraq is, and...
..it's cheaper than feeding him for 20 years....
Awwww...I got nuthin.
Weak Chrisisall
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It might be the first step to getting U.S. out of Iraq. Prez Bush isn't gonna do what his Daddy did- leave town and let Saddam take over AGAIN. Which is what might happen as long as he's alive, but can't once he's dead.
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And there is need for an execution now? Why, exactly? What will it accomplish, in your eyes?
It will help to affirm the Iraqi governments and in particular the courts power, and by extension the Iraqi people who elected the government, and eliminate a rallying point or motivation for Ba’ath insurgents. But perhaps most important to me, it also will help to disincentivize belligerent opposition to international opinion by other rogue nations. Kim Jung Il may not be so hasty to lobe a nuke at Japan or South Korea if he feels, he personally will meet a similar fate.
And if Hussein is being justly executed for his many crimes, how was this execution avoidable in any way?
The same way anyone avoids sentencing of a crime they are justly accused, he could have not committed his many crimes. Hussein could have not invaded Kuwait, or could have cooperated with the international community with respect to cease fires and UN resolutions, then the war would never have occurred and he would still be in power. Or perhaps, he could have just not killed or tortured so many Kurds and Shiites, so that the court might have found some reason for leniency.
And what inactions of France and Russia precipitated the war in Iraq?
France and Russia routinely vetoed or threatened vetoing action against Iraq and lobbied in sympathy for the Iraqi regime within the UNSC and possibly other more nefarious things as well, such as providing Hussein with intelligence and weapons to fight US/UK troops, and Hussein believed that he could count on France and Russia to hold off any coalition action. Why France and Russia did this probably has a lot to do with their various lucrative oil contracts with Iraq, but I suspect there is much more to it, and even still whether the actions of France and Russia were just financial or pacifist/ideological, the end result was that it affirmed Hussein’s miscalculations. And while Hussein was wrong in assuming that France and Russia had the political capital or will to stop the US/UK, nonetheless that was what he was being told by his advisors and what appeared to be coming out of the international community, and what may have been coming from France and Russia as well. And of course there is precedent for that. Arafat rose from obscurity to a position in the UNGA and a Nobel Peace Prize largely on the capitulations of France, Germany and Italy to his terrorist activities. Hussein, or certainly his advisors, knew that Iraq couldn’t defeat or defend a US/UK lead military action. If they didn’t know it before 1991, they certainly knew it afterwards, so there’s no reason to believe that Iraq would have ever pushed things as far as they had unless they believed that the West would not actually follow through with the implied threats in the Chapter 7 Resolutions. So if France and Russia had stood firmly with the US and the UK and not provided Hussein with any hope (justified or not) that he was safe from a US/UK invasion, I don’t think the war would ever have occurred.
And whatever comments are made about the US having once supported Saddam, the fact is that neither the US nor the UK supported him after the 1991 Gulf War and the inception of UN Chapter Seven Resolutions. France and Russia did.
Sure, I got a feeling I'm not going to agree with your assessment of the situation, Finn, but nevertheless, I'd like a better understanding of where you stand.
Well, agree or not, that’s my story. 
Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
-- Cicero
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Quote:
The same way anyone avoids sentencing of a crime they are justly accused, he could have not committed his many crimes.
If he wasnt the man he was, and committed the crimes he did one of two situations would have arisen... either he wouldnt have gotten the backing to the position in the first place, or someone would have ousted him at the first sign of weakness.
The vast majority of regions upon the Earth are not inherited by the meek.
Quote:
Hussein could have not invaded Kuwait, or could have cooperated with the international community with respect to cease fires and UN resolutions, then the war would never have occurred and he would still be in power.
Oddly enough, I remember he was still in power at the end of that war.... is "well, they did something a decade ago" REALLY going to be a justification for killing thousands of people... whats next ? the US decides to declare war on Japan for pearl harbor again ?
Quote:
Or perhaps, he could have just not killed or tortured so many Kurds and Shiites, so that the court might have found some reason for leniency.
While I'm a bit draconian, and do feel he should be executed... I'd like the US to acknowledge its hypocrisy and submit Bush to the same courts... but that sort of thing only happens when the power of a dictatorship is waning, not when its waxing.
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Why France and Russia did this probably has a lot to do with their various lucrative oil contracts with Iraq, but I suspect there is much more to it
and the US's choice to invade again had NOTHING to do with oil ?
France has been open in its rivalry with the US economy, and has acted openly and honestly.
The same cannot be said of the Bush administration, and I find it odd that the "big reasons" for the war... the whole "iraq was behind 9/11 and will launch nuclear weapons on Des Moines, Iowa if Saddam isnt killed" concept truly baffled me... and THAT was the reason France and Russia generally stood at arms distance from the US whenever they went off on a rant to the UN... and their caution proved true as the lies of the Bush administration proved to be just that.
Quote:
the end result was that it affirmed Hussein’s miscalculations.
Miscalculations ?
"YOU HAVE A NUCLEAR BOMB IN YOUR GARAGE !!! HAND IT OVER !!!"
"I dont have a bomb in my garage, you idiot. I dont even have a fooking garage."
"LET OUR INSPECTORS IN TO SEARCH YOUR GARAGE FOR BOMBS !!!"
"I told you... I DONT HAVE A GARAGE !"
"We gave you a chance for peace... now DIE INFIDELS !!!"
Quote:
Hussein, or certainly his advisors, knew that Iraq couldn’t defeat or defend a US/UK lead military action.
This just goes to show that you can have the knowledge and the just cause, and still lose to an idiot with a gun.
Quote:
So if France and Russia had stood firmly with the US and the UK and not provided Hussein with any hope (justified or not) that he was safe from a US/UK invasion, I don’t think the war would ever have occurred.
?
Iraq's invasion was priority one from 9/11. The reasons given have been shown to be total fabrications or falsehoods. Do you HONESTLY think there was anything Hussein could have done to prevent the US from annexing his country ?
Quote:
And whatever comments are made about the US having once supported Saddam, the fact is that neither the US nor the UK supported him after the 1991 Gulf War and the inception of UN Chapter Seven Resolutions.
Except in putting down the rebellion within Iraq... which gave him a firmer hand on his country then the current puppets have.
.....
Oh, and for the record, I think Hussein should be executed.
But I also believe that Bush and his administration should be held accountable for the lies and deaths that they have caused.
and that IF killing saddam and stabilizing the country is going to be the excuse of the day.... then there were far more... efficient... ways of doing so...
but if your goal is to conquer, subdue, and annex a region... and to subv
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