Saddam a martyr?

[14 Yrs Of Silence]

Saddam death disappoints Egypt's leader By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jan 5, 4:25 PM ET
 

JERUSALEM - Egyptian President        Hosni Mubarak condemned the conduct of        Saddam Hussein's execution and its timing at the start of a Muslim religious festival, saying in an interview published Friday that the hanging made the deposed leader "a martyr."

 
Mubarak told Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot that when it became clear that the hanging was imminent, he sent a message to        President Bush, asking that it not be carried out during the Eid al-Adha holiday.

"Don't do it at this time," Mubarak said he told Bush. "Why is it necessary to hang (him) just at the time when people are saying the holiday prayers?"

The insensitive timing, he said, was followed by clandestine video showing "shocking pictures, primitive pictures" of Saddam being taunted by his Iraqi guards and then dangling from a rope. The footage appeared on Al-Jazeera television and Web sites just hours after the hanging Saturday, the first day of the festival.

"It was disgraceful and very painful," Mubarak said during the interview Thursday at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik, a few hours before his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"I'm not going to say whether Saddam deserved the death penalty or not," Mubarak said. "I'm also not going to go into the question of whether that court is legal under the occupation."

"When all's said and done, nobody will ever forget the circumstances and the manner in which Saddam was executed," he added. "They have made him into a martyr, while the problems within        Iraq remain."


So let me get this straight.  Killing Saddam for crimes against humanity is disgraceful.  But sawing off innocent journalists heads is ok?  Where's the outcry when innocent people are brutally killed?

[Bill 213]

Well it goes far deeper than that. This isn't just so much about the video being broadcast...it goes beyond that.

All those others who were beheaded were kidnapped by terrorist organizations and executed.? No one had any control over that...it happened and was vicious and got plastered on the internet.

Saddam's execution on the other hand was a very very touchy subject.? His imprisonment, trial and punishment were to be controlled by the US/Iraqi coalition and to show a new side of democracy in Iraq.? However from the trial and beyond, things were ran in a complete mess.? If his trial was conducted in a United States court room it would have been thrown out because of the errors during it.? But beyond that.....they chose to execute him on the day before a holiday.? Now I'm not sure if you know how devoted to their religion Muslims are...but anything to flame the current situation in Iraq should be curtailed out of common sense...would it have mattered if he were executed a week later?

Now lastly...the video.? Once again...they're trying to explain to the world how this new government is ready to run Iraq and how the US has trained them and got them ready to have a great democratic nation.? The execution was a farce....he was taunted like a freak in a sideshow and made a public spectacle.? I'm not saying I'm for or against his execution, but for a government trying to show that it's stable enough to rule...this was a bad move.? In the US executions aren't spectacles...other than the executioners, immediate family of the inmate and immediate family of the victim and maybe one or two members of the press (who aren't allowed to film it or photograph anything).?

The main point being......why incite any more problems than need be?? If you're going to promote a stable, firm government....don't make your first major decision a three ring circus.

As far as martyrdom....he'll be a martyr in the eyes of the people that were loyal to him before and their children who he will be preached about to.? Just as Hitler is a martyr to the remaining white supremicists and General Mao to the Chinese and Ho Chi Min to the Vietnamese.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Did the US have any real authority in stopping the hanging?  The US had him in physical custody ( since Iraq has shit security) and legal custody belonged to Iraq. I remember reading Bush suggested holding off the execution, but the Iraq Govt did not want to wait.

Saddam was going to have to face up to the crimes he committed sooner or later though. Killing 750,000 of your own people can do that.

[Dead N' Bloated]

Anyone got a link to a video of his hanging?


 

[Danny Top Hat]

Why would you wanna watch that??


No I don't.  Please can nobody post that link here.

[Sakib]

its on youtube. anyway saddam wasnt a martyr if he was a murderer. In saying that its sad because he was such a powerful man and he could have made iraq glorious state but instead he ended up killing a lot of innocents. Like Hitler who was a powerful man that really could've made germany glorious but failed due to arrogance saddam is same but he didnt kill anywhere near as many.
he shouldnt have been killed on Eid al adha. It supposed to be 3 days of remember the story of sacrfice and instead people are thinking about saddam