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Iraq
If convicted, Saddam to be hung, not shot
2006-11-05
Saddam Hussein is to be denied his final wish of an "honourable" death by military firing squad after court officials ruled he should face the gallows as a common criminal if found guilty.

The former Iraqi dictator, who is expected to be given the death sentence today when a verdict is delivered in his first war crimes trial, has been demanding execution by the gun rather than the rope, on the basis that he was head of the country's armed forces.

But the Iraqi war crimes court in Baghdad has dismissed his request, noting that Saddam failed the entry exam for the Iraqi military academy and only became field marshal by appointing himself when president.

Its ruling is in line with legal conventions from Saddam's own time in power: Iraqi courts allowed a quick death by firing squad for those who showed remorse, but required the rope for those who they felt deserved to suffer.
They could always hang him and then shoot him: everybody plays, everybody wins.
Posted by:Steve White

#26  He had his chance to be shot instead of hanged but he surrendered instead.
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-11-05 16:49  

#25  SpyderEdge!!!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-11-05 15:29  

#24  Pointie end very sharp, long serrated edge very dull and ragged.

Nasty!

Posted by: Mick Dundee   2006-11-05 15:24  

#23  Pointie end very sharp, long serrated edge very dull and ragged.
Posted by: Procopius2K   2006-11-05 13:35  

#22  ...a very sharp but somewhat dull steak knife...

Could you explain how something can be "very sharp" and "somewhat dull" at the same time?
Posted by: Mick Dundee   2006-11-05 12:14  

#21  Proco, jsut get Koranic. Bind him up, and put a big pile of paving stones hearby. Raise him slowly from a construction crane to 8 feet off the ground, and then let in the relatives of those who lost husbands/wives/children.

Don't even give him the dignity of a proper funeral - burn the body with a big ol Danish Ham.


Posted by: OldSpook   2006-11-05 10:50  

#20  Personally,

IÂ’d bind his hands behind his back, strip him down to his skivvies, and tie him to a post. Then IÂ’d give every burrka wearing widow, mother, and grandmother who lost a son, brother, husband, or father a very sharp but somewhat dull steak knife and let them loose on the sacrifice. Televise it to the neighboring states, so their leadership can see justice in action. That aught to curl a mullahÂ’s socks.
Posted by: Procopius2K   2006-11-05 10:20  

#19  Hanging n. Re: Law, Grammar. A criminal sentence with a dangling participant.
Posted by: WTF   2006-11-05 09:34  

#18  #7: The appeal (of all death and life sentances) is automatic - Saddam doesn't have to do anything. The appeal must start within 10 days. The appelate court does not have to re-hear the case, but merely review the record of the original trial. If the appelate court upholds the sentence, the verdict must be carried out within 30 days.

I noted a Loophole, there's no time limit on how long the Appelate Court can take for their "Review", only on when the execution must take place after the review is completed.

That means the appelate court can stall giving any verdict as long as they wish. They can "Review" for years, if they want to.

Bad, very Bad. Saddam needs to hang as quickly and as publicly as possible.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-11-05 09:08  

#17  They gonna use a construction crane?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2006-11-05 09:01  

#16  Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Not impressed.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-11-05 08:43  

#15  I really don't care how he dies, hanging, shooting, or herbal tea. He has a black soul and will get his reward in the end. The door will open and there he will join the other tortured souls of hell all welcoming him to his new eternal home.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-11-05 08:33  

#14  Got ROPe?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-11-05 08:30  

#13  Drudge

At this point they have links to BBC, AP, Reuters and SkyNews stories.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-11-05 06:51  

#12  Also,

Now the security detail needs to be examined to ensure that there is no way he is going to be slipped any means to defeat the justice of the court. You wouldn't want him to evade justice with an 'herbal tea'.
Posted by: DanNY   2006-11-05 06:23  

#11  A Mod needs to post this as the headline today.
Posted by: DanNY   2006-11-05 06:20  

#10  gentle.
Posted by: anon   2006-11-05 05:57  

#9  I don't care if they give him a gental lethal injection and have school children sing him soothing lullabys. None of it will compare to the eternity he is facing. Even if you don't believe in hell - you can understand that his own soul is a dark hell beyond our imaginations.

I will pray for him and forgive him. His eternity is his own.
Posted by: anon   2006-11-05 05:56  

#8  FOX
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein and two other men were convicted and sentenced Sunday to death by hanging for war crimes in the 1982 killings of 148 people in the town of Dujail, as the former leader, trembling, shouted "God is great!"

After the verdict was read, Saddam yelled out, "Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!"

Clashes immediately broke out in north Baghdad's heavily Sunni Azamiyah district.

Saddam initially refused the chief judge's order to rise; two bailiffs lifted the ousted ruler to his feet and he remained standing through the sentencing.

Before the hearing began, one of Saddam's lawyers, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, was ejected from the courtroom after handing the judge a memorandum in which he called the trial a travesty.

Chief Judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman pointed to Clark and said in English, "Get out."

In addition to the former Iraqi dictator and Barzan Ibrahim (Tikriti), his former intelligence chief and half brother, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted and sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging. Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Three other co-defendants were convicted of murder and torture and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

One defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-11-05 04:46  

#7  The appeal (of all death and life sentances) is automatic - Saddam doesn't have to do anything. The appeal must start within 10 days. The appelate court does not have to re-hear the case, but merely review the record of the original trial. If the appelate court upholds the sentence, the verdict must be carried out within 30 days.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-11-05 04:37  

#6  Posted a note, but since it may wait till it's queued in here it is:

Saddam -- is sentenced to death by hanging.
Other death sentences: Al Tikriti and
Chief judge of the former Revolutionary Court.

If the sentences are upheld after appeal, they will be carried out in 30 days.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-11-05 04:18  

#5  Lower him at one foot per minute feet first into an industrial shredder. Paybacks are such a twitch.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-05 02:21  

#4  I can't say that I would disagree with Koranic type punishments. God forgive me.
Posted by: Oldspook   2006-11-05 02:15  

#3  It would be more entertaining if they did a reverse hanging. Gently lift him off the ground and let a crowd beat on him with steel pipes until he's nothing more than a mass of quivering gelatin.
Posted by: SpecOp35   2006-11-05 01:50  

#2  Short rope. Let him dance.
Posted by: mojo   2006-11-05 01:11  

#1  Bonus Points: Hanging is considered a way to dishonor the person being executed. Hence its widespread use in Iran by the Mullahs there.
Posted by: OldSpook   2006-11-05 00:26  

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