Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging earlier today by the Iraqi High Tribunal.
The charges against him were related to the ordering of the killing of 148 Shia civilians in the town of Dujail in 1982.
Saddam’s sentence will be automatically appealed and reviewed by a panel of nine appeal judges, who will decide whether or not to allow a retrial.
If the judgement stands, however, Saddam must be executed within 30 days of the appeals panel delivering its verdict, which has to be ratified by Jalal Talibani, the Iraqi president.
Saddam, 69, said that he wants to be executed by firing squad. However Iraqi law states that he will be executed by hanging.
Saddam’s reaction to the verdict was to shout: “Long live the Iraqi people, damnation for the damned. You are the servants of the colonizers, Long live the people, long live the Arab nation! Down with the agents. Down with the occupier.”
Reactions are mixed to this verdict in Iraq, the Arab countries and around the world; with some people expressing joy, others anger and some others disagreement.
US president George W. Bush calls the verdict “a major achievement for Iraq’s young democracy”.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: “The Saddam Hussein era is in the past now, as was the era of Hitler and Mussolini,” calling Hussein the worst ruler ever in Iraq. He also said he hoped that the verdict would help bring about reconciliation.
There’s also some buzz going on about how this verdict was announced just a couple of days before the US mid-term elections, and that it maybe an attempt to tip the scale towards the republicans.
Anyway, personally, I think it was very clear from the beginning that a death sentence awaited Saddam at the end of the line, and that this eleven month trial was more or less an act.
Saddam is a criminal, and many innocent lives were lost at his orders, so he deserves whatever he gets, but let’s not forget that much more innocent Iraqi people died because of George W. Bush’s orders than his.
[Sources: CNN, Al Jazeera, Chicago Tribune]
” but let’s not forget that much more innocent Iraqi people died because of George W. Bush’s orders than his.”
What world you live in my friend? Saddam killed more than 250000 of his own people. He was responsible of one million deaths during the disastrous Iran-Iraq war. He was responsible for scores of Kuwaitis killed during his miscalculated adventures.
Please stop trying to make Saddam and the other dictators look like angels.
Ben I am mot sure he is living in the same world as you are. Neither am I. He said Saddam is a criminal not an angel. I also agree that he deserves the death sentence but not in these circumstances. They should have waited until Iraq gets its “sovereignty” and then sentence him. In his speech, Bush was like justifying the tribul ruling!! (probably his own)
@Ben, Iran-Iraq war was funded and encouraged by the US government (Reagan) to weaken Iran’s islamic regime, so please check your facts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Iraq_War).
Last time I checked 600,000 is > 250,000 and for the source check NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11casualties.html?ei=5070&en=a4e1c837aa4af20a&ex=1162962000&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1162789452-WCvkuCZ/t1XJxtNLyM6w/A)
And for the record I don’t see in the post anyone making Saddam look like an angel. Again check your facts and don’t believe politicians trying to get elected, we all know that Iraq invasion was based on lies, so that should have taught us the lesson of always double checking the facts.
I don’t care about Saddam and I don’t like truth twisting nor news spinning 🙂
@Ben: just like the two comments that came after yours pointed out, I am in no way trying to make Saddam out to be an angel, I said he is a criminal, and I have dear friends who suffered and were touched by his rule and orders; I think he deserves what he gets and more.
Still, the numbers themselves clearly speaking, more Iraqis died because of the US attack on Iraq than at the hands of Saddam and his henchmen.
@Tarek: The problem is that Iraq getting full sovereignty again could take a long time still.
@Samsoum: What do you think of the idea, that some people suggest, that the announcement of this verdict at this particular time was done on purpose to boost certain people in the US Midterm elections and Bush’s ever dwindling popularity?
Ben,
I trust your knowledge of world events has been considerably enhanced by your exchange with these well-read, articulate folks. (You might want to broaden your perspective, not be totally dependent on that stuff Fox News and Rush spew out.)
MMM: Yes, amazing timing on that verdict, wasn’t it? It pains me to tell you that this morning’s polls (Monday) show the Republicans gaining strength, both in approval ratings and in the number of their Living Dead who’ll be shuffling to voting places tomorrow. Plus, as we know, they’re not above cheating. (Though it looks like the hideous Katherine Harris’s senatorial bid is going down in flames. Surprisingly, her recent remark that voters should vote only for Christian candidates has weighed against her.)
Well, stay tuned. This isn’t over.
J.
MMM, I think the timing, and Bush reaction makes me very suspicious. It won’t surprise me from this adminsitration, specialluy that all polls are putting Democrats in charge of Congress!
Welcome back to the middle Ages…
samsoun,
Did you check the margin error in that study reported in the New York Times? The number is based on a pure extrapolation not real numbers. Even
samsoun,
Did you check the margin error in that study reported in the New York Times? The number is based on a pure extrapolation not real numbers. Even
Ben, I learnerd that I can’t believe Newspapers nor Governnemt reports. But le’ts assusme your numbers are from a more acurate source 🙂 and that as you stated Saddam killed 250,000 of his own and was responsible of 1 Million deaths in Iran-Iraq war. In your mind this desererves a death sentence right? and I agree with you here totally.
Now lets divide your number by 100 and let’s say that he “only” killed 2500 of his own people and was responsible for 10,000 deaths in the Iran-Iraq war. I think that you agree with me that he still deserves that death sentence which by the way got for 148 deaths he ordred in 90’s.
So If Saddam deserves to be sentenced to death in the reduced number case, what do you think Bush deserves for being responsible of killing 4000 of his own people and many thousands (let’s avoid numbers) of civilians as a result of War that he overtook based on lies????
That is exactly what MMM’s post is about.