Saddam Hussein was found guilty of mass murder by an Iraqi court. That verdict was upheld by an Iraqi appeals court. It is now time for justice to run its course. I am a supporter of the death penalty, and think it is very justified in this case.
Saddam Hussein is guilty of untold numbers of murders, rapes, and tortures. His rise to power started with the videotaped executions of 22 of his political rivals. He ruled by force, torture, fear, and brutality. Iraqi’s lived in fear for the 24 years of his reign. If ever there was someone who deserves to face the repercussions of their actions, it is him. He was not brought back to the US and tried; he did not face a war crimes tribunal led by the United Nations. He faced a judicial system made by a democratically elected Iraqi government. Iraqi’s heard his defense in court. Iraqi’s witnessed his trial. Some Iraqi’s died trying to ensure justice was brought to Saddam. And Iraqi’s found him guilty and have sentenced him to death. Those Iraqi’s now deserve to see their government enforce the ruling of their judicial system. It would be an insult to those who risked their lives and the lives of their families to ensure he had his day in court.
There are many in Iraq who still fight because they believe Saddam will one day return to power. There are also those who won’t join in the new Iraqi government until they know there is no way for Saddam to take control of the Iraqi government. If Saddam was simply confined to life imprisonment, there would always be the fear that he could become president again. In Iraq, there are those who believe Saddam has magical abilities. The only way to convince them that he can’t return to power is to execute Saddam. I believe that he should pay for the crimes he has committed. The Iraqi judicial system has ruled they believe he should be executed. The appeals court has ordered it to be televised. Saddam deserves the punishment that he should meet in the next 30 days. Iraq (and the world) will be a better and safer place without him.
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6 comments:
He was a bad man, no doubt of that.
But the death penalty is wrong.
Let him live out his life in jail.
I feel the death penalty is more than deserved in this case. Life in jail for Saddam gives hope to those fighting in Iraq against the US. Some of them fight hoping he will return to power. If he is dead, he can't return to power.
Could the US and Iraq gov't have screwed up Saddam's death any more than they did? Saddam now looks like a blasted martyr...
It was a lynching, not an execution.
I think that might be a little bit of an overreaction. It is too bad that people taunted him at his execution. I hope that if we had executed him, it would have gone different. However, I think the amount of weight put on the taunting has gone a little overboard. Saddam was probably more worried about the rope around his neck than the words. And Saddam put himself in that position. If he hadn't committed the crimes he did, he wouldn't have been executed. And finally, imagine it was your brother, sister, wife, mother, or son that Saddam had executed and you were sent the bill for the bullets used to kill your family member. How would you have acted at his execution?
I'm with the doctor on this one. Obviously Saddam will go down as one of the most despicable men in history. But if we as civilized people ever want to speak of the sanctity of life with any authority, we can't be selective about who's life that applies to. We have to take the high road on this issue.
This comes down to your feelings on Capital Punishment. In my case, I believe there are things a human can do so evil, that the only acceptable punishment is to kill that person. I believe Saddam is a perfect example of this.
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