I expect...

[Jenny_Jackson]

The shit to hit the fan in Bagdad over the weekend, for sure.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16384738/?GT1=8816


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.

The hanging could take place as early as Friday, NBC’s Richard Engel reported.

The U.S. military received a formal request from the Iraqi government to transfer Saddam to Iraqi authorities, NBC reported on Thursday, which is one of the final steps required before his execution. His sentence, handed down last month, ordered that he be hanged within 30 days.

Earlier Thursday, Saddam’s chief lawyer implored world leaders to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying the former dictator should enjoy protection from his enemies as a “prisoner of war.”

“According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary,” Saddam’s lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said in Amman, Jordan.

“I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities,” he told The Associated Press.

Meets with half-brothers
Saddam met with two of his half-brothers on Thursday and passed on personal messages to his family, a lawyer said.

Badie Aref, one of Saddam's lawyers, said the rare meeting with maternal half-brothers Sabawi and Watban Ibrahim Hassanal-Tikriti, who are in U.S. custody, was at the request of the ousted Iraqi leader and took place inside his heavily guarded prison cell in Baghdad.

Aref said Saddam was in very high spirits and had sensed “something was happening relating to the sentence” when prison guards took away a small radio he had been given several months ago.

“He met Sabawi and Watban and gave them letters to his family in anticipation.... He is clearly unaware of the details of what is happening around him and prepared to give his life as a martyr to his country,” Aref told Reuters by telephone.

Aref said prison sources who told him of the family meeting said Saddam was aware of an appeals court decision to uphold his death sentence for crimes against humanity during his 24-year rule.

“He was in very high spirits and clearly readying himself,” Aref said during a visit to Dubai.

“He told them that he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr and not just languish in prison in oblivion.”

Aref said he was unsure if Saddam's third half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, who was sentenced to death along with the ousted leader, saw Saddam.

Fears that handover may spark violence
An official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that Saddam would remain in a U.S. military prison until he is handed over to Iraqi authorities on the day of his execution. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to address the media.

A top government official disputed the court’s ruling that Saddam must be hanged within 30 days, saying the execution should be held after that time period. The comment comes amid debate over other legal procedures such as whether the presidency is required to approve the execution.

Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI’s top prelate for justice issues and a former Vatican envoy to the U.N., condemned the death sentence in a newspaper interview published Thursday, saying capital punishment goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

After his sentence was given, Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged Iraq to ensure a fair appeals process and to refrain from executing Saddam even if the sentence is upheld.

Some international legal observers and human rights groups have also called Saddam’s trial unfair because of alleged interference by the Shiite-dominated government.

NBC News’ Richard Engel, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[SeaCat]

The scary part is, if this news has been released in Iraq then there will almost assuredly be violence.

On the one hand his supporters will cause violence if he is turned over, and on the other hand his enemies will start shit if he isn't turned over.

It's a lose lose situation.

Cat

 

[Liar]

The scary part is, if this news has been released in Iraq then there will almost assuredly be violence.

On the one hand his supporters will cause violence if he is turned over, and on the other hand his enemies will start shit if he isn't turned over.

It's a lose lose situation.

Cat

And many of his enemies will start rioting anyway, because they want him alive to stand trial for the rest of the crap he did too.

 

[SeaCat]

And many of his enemies will start rioting anyway, because they want him alive to stand trial for the rest of the crap he did too.

Well come on, let's be reasonable. How many times can you kill the same person?

I recently heard one commentator say that he should be killed in the manner that he demanded his enemies be killed. That raised the uestion in my mind, in which way?

Personaly I would wish on him much the same treatment as was given some of the Nazi War Criminals. Lock them in solitary for life, with a rotating guard. But in his case televise his actions 24/7 to the populace so they can watch as he slowly comes apart mentaly.

Hey it could be the new Reality TV Show. Solitary.

Cat

 

[TE999]

So Saddam is going to do an air dance.

Boo-f'n-Hoo.

He ought to be glad he's gettin' a clean death.

Not put through a plastics shredder like his enemies.

Or gassed like the Kurds.

But the feces'll hit the Westinghouse either way, that's for sure.

Just as long as they kill each other.

And our people don't get caught in the cross fire.

Maybe things will calm down for a while after this.

Yeah, right.

Let's train the army and the cops and get our asses home.

And stop puttin' our meat in the grinder.

Peace(in 2007).

 

[3113]

The shit to hit the fan in Bagdad over the weekend, for sure.

At this point, I'm not so sure it's going to make that much of a difference. It's just one more excuse for violence to break out.

The bigger problem is the reprecussions. Allow me to make a prediction, what I'm seeing and what I hope won't come true...but sadly, probably will. They shouldn't hang him because if they do, he's likely to become a martyr and cause célebre. There's no one in the middle east that's going to think that Iraq is hanging him. They're going to think it's the West that's done it--with their puppet government.

This is one of the major problems with trying to take down a dictator FOR a country and install a democracy in its place. If the people of that country, on their own (or with underhanded help from another country) take out the dictator, and put their government in, then he doesn't stand for anything other than a failed and hated dictator. But if outside powers do it, then the dictator starts to stand for a lot more. Even if no one really liked him. In particular, he starts to stand for the East's defiance of the West's attempt to dictate how Eastern countries will be run.

It doesn't matter what the reality is--that's the perception. Revolutions are created around such perceptions.

This is not a good idea. Better to keep him alive and just keep putting him on trail, etc. Until he's old news and people get bored with him. THEN you can hang him.

Just my humble opinion there.

 

[JRaven]

I keep thinking that maybe the reason for the 30 day deadline for his death is to prevent him from being tried for gassing the Kurds. That way, they can keep denying they ever had WMDs.

 

[TE999]

At this point, I'm not so sure it's going to make that much of a difference. It's just one more excuse for violence to break out.

The bigger problem is the reprecussions. Allow me to make a prediction, what I'm seeing and what I hope won't come true...but sadly, probably will. They shouldn't hang him because if they do, he's likely to become a martyr and cause célebre. There's no one in the middle east that's going to think that Iraq is hanging him. They're going to think it's the West that's done it--with their puppet government.

This is one of the major problems with trying to take down a dictator FOR a country and install a democracy in its place. If the people of that country, on their own (or with underhanded help from another country) take out the dictator, and put their government in, then he doesn't stand for anything other than a failed and hated dictator. But if outside powers do it, then the dictator starts to stand for a lot more. Even if no one really liked him. In particular, he starts to stand for the East's defiance of the West's attempt to dictate how Eastern countries will be run.

It doesn't matter what the reality is--that's the perception. Revolutions are created around such perceptions.

This is not a good idea. Better to keep him alive and just keep putting him on trail, etc. Until he's old news and people get bored with him. THEN you can hang him.

Just my humble opinion there.

Good point 3113.

The revolution needs martyrs, that's for sure.

One small problem, tho.

There's a lot of Sadaam loyalists scattered through the government, army, police and civil service just looking for a chance to free him.

Once the world's attention is taken off him, bingo, he's out of jail and leading the counter-revolution.

Then we're back to go.

No Spandau for this guy.

I'm afraid the free Iraqi's have no other choice.

I hear there was a line around the block when they asked for applicants to be his executioner.

Maybe the counter-revolution wouldn't work.

But why take a chance.

Peace (in 2007).

 

[only_more_so]

At this point, I'm not so sure it's going to make that much of a difference. It's just one more excuse for violence to break out.

The bigger problem is the reprecussions. Allow me to make a prediction, what I'm seeing and what I hope won't come true...but sadly, probably will. They shouldn't hang him because if they do, he's likely to become a martyr and cause célebre. There's no one in the middle east that's going to think that Iraq is hanging him. They're going to think it's the West that's done it--with their puppet government.

This is one of the major problems with trying to take down a dictator FOR a country and install a democracy in its place. If the people of that country, on their own (or with underhanded help from another country) take out the dictator, and put their government in, then he doesn't stand for anything other than a failed and hated dictator. But if outside powers do it, then the dictator starts to stand for a lot more. Even if no one really liked him. In particular, he starts to stand for the East's defiance of the West's attempt to dictate how Eastern countries will be run.

It doesn't matter what the reality is--that's the perception. Revolutions are created around such perceptions.

This is not a good idea. Better to keep him alive and just keep putting him on trail, etc. Until he's old news and people get bored with him. THEN you can hang him.

Just my humble opinion there.

3113, that's one of the reasons the US didn't try him, and why we didn't turn him over to the Hague for trial. In order for the Iraqi's to feel they are in control of their own country, they have to remove their former dictator themselves, even if in this case it is more symbolic than actual (since they are only trying him and didn't depose him themselves).

I think the bigger repercussions are going to occur outside of Iraq. Rulers in the Middle East have ruled with impunity for a long time. Now they have to face the reality that their people might someday come to claim their heads. Worse yet, it is teaching the people in the middle east that their leaders are these untouchable people, they are humans.

But we won't have to worry for long, because in a few years Iran will have a nuke and use it. So the entire middle east will be glowing. Oh, or Israel will attack Iran for trying to make nukes (or Iran will attack Israel pre-emptively for the same reason)...

 

[3113]

There's a lot of Sadaam loyalists scattered through the government, army, police and civil service just looking for a chance to free him.

Once the world's attention is taken off him, bingo, he's out of jail and leading the counter-revolution.

LOL! Dude, which one of our senarios do you REALLY think is more likely? They're going to break him out? And he's going to hide...where? And if he leads people, so what? You think that's going to be any different from the current civil war? It'll just be one more side--with the other sides all trying to kill him.

Please. I'm sorry, but mine is more likely. Or haven't you been reading the articles about how people who HATED HIM in the middle east, who even lost families because of him, defend him because they think that the U.S., in knocking out Saddam, might knock out anyone? I've been reading these articles in the newspaper. Have you? These are people who wanted him to die while he was in charge of Iraq, and now don't.

But we'll see. So far, every prediction I've seen as happening in this senario has happened. One after another like dominos. Very depressing. *Shrug* He'll die by the end of next month, and we'll see what happens from there. I sure hope I'm wrong.

 

[Huckleman2000]

I keep thinking that maybe the reason for the 30 day deadline for his death is to prevent him from being tried for gassing the Kurds. That way, they can keep denying they ever had WMDs.

Not exactly - that way the US avoids nasty revelations about how Rumsfeld negotiated a deal during the Reagan Admin. to sell Saddam the WMD he used on Iran and the Kurds.

We knew he had WMD at one time because we had the receipt.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

What I really see in this whole Iraq mess is what I think of "Manufactured History." Terrorists, insurgents or whatever you call them bomb a muslem holy shrine and somehow or other it is the fault of the American Invaders. A market in a Shiite district is bombed by a Sunni group - it is the fault of the American Invaders. And the U.S. Army hands Saddam over to the Iraqi government who hangs him, it will be done by the American Invaders.

It's a no win situation for us.

 

[slyc_willie]

"History is written by the victors."

It's hard to tell who will 'come out on top' in all this. Hussein's execution will procede, and will fuel terrorist activities for months or even years. the US, as the 'Great Satan' in the eyes of radical Islam, will be seen as the instigator, the antagonist, for such acts, giving the terrorists the necessary reason for doing what they do.

But if not Hussein, then it would be someone else. There are a thousand ways to kill a man, figuratively if not literally. Hussein will become a martyr. So have a thousand others before him. Martyrs can be just as easily forgotten as anyone else.

The threat is not that of a few cells of radical Jihadists. It is a clash of idealogies, of belief systems. Christians cannot understand Muslims any more than they can understand us. Certainly, we can grasp the concepts, the basic differences, but to understand requires immersion and belief.

The majority of Muslims are not terrorists, neither are the majority of Christians. But as the world of Islam has Al Qaeda and Hamas, the world of Christianity has the IRA. Argue the politics and reasons all you want.

World War Three is upon us. It is not a conventional war, nor is it a new one. It is a storm that has been forming for centuries, and is now erupting. It will change the world in more devastating ways than anything in the previous century, but it will not happen with a bang.

At least, not one that everyone will notice.

 

[Aurora Black]

Fun times all around.

 

[only_more_so]

Just read he should be dead in like 2 hours, that's by 10PM eastern.

 

[Lee Chambers]

Well come on, let's be reasonable. How many times can you kill the same person?

Three times, if you do it right.

 

[TE999]

He's toast, people.

Let the fun begin!

Peace (in Baghdad).

 

[rgraham666]

http://www.oinc.net/B5/Enc/images/kosh.jpg

(Odd electronic sound)

So it begins.

 

[Huckleman2000]

Yup. The CNN Sadaam Execution Watch seems to have peaked with lots of unconfirmed rumors and speculation, but I just saw that they're dancing in Dearborn, MI. Baghdad is just waking up, I think. It's a religious holiday there.

 

[Lee Chambers]

God's justice be done.

 

[TE999]

Happened at 0600 local (0300 GMT).

It was filmed.

YouTube, anyone?

Peace (in 2007).

 

[rgraham666]

I'll pass. I take no joy in death. Even a piece of scum like him.

 

[starrkers]

And now the fun really begins. Batten down the hatches folks, one of the loony groups is bound to use this as an excuse.

 

[TE999]

And now the fun really begins. Batten down the hatches folks, one of the loony groups is bound to use this as an excuse.

You got that right!

Cue The Slaughter of the Innocents.

Lots'a scores gonna get settled by nightfall.

What an f'in mess.

Peace (hopefully).

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Just about now the Iraqi's are waking up to the news. It is a holiday for the Sunni's. The holiday begins for the Shiites tomorrow (they're tomorrow).

For the next 48 hours we will have to watch and see. Who knows what will happen.