Saddam Hussein says Happy New Year

[Classic Finn]

I read about Saddam's hanging with mixed emotions. Saddam was a evil man. There is no doubt about that. But I can see this making all the wrong people very angry at the US. I realize this was the Iraqi people that actually carried out the sentence. But the US will be seen as being behind this. And I believe the US was pushing for this.

Here was a chance to allow the world to see the US as a country interested in a moral and just world , instead of the way the world see us now. The world sees the US as a country of warlords. And with the hanging of Saddam, I feel the US has lost a golden chance to start the healing process towards a calming effect. We need that.

A dictator is a dictator...he deserved every bit he received.. Sorry but I
have no mixed emotions about him gone...He was no different than Hitler nor any dictators of the past.. Were there mixed emotions when Hitler finally lost..?

And Germany still walks with a tail between their legs ...Healing from that will take generations if even then.. Innocent people are always the ones to suffer.. the ones that never have or had anything to do with politics..

Shooting and killing of innocent people for kicks or making them look like the enemy isnt quite right now either is it..

Did the terrorsists have mixed emotions that did the attack on 911.. They should be hung the same way... again innocent people died as we all know.

Classic Finn

[Ira]

Here was a chance to allow the world to see the US as a country interested in a moral and just world , instead of the way the world sees us now.

I've come to the realization that it doesn't matter WHAT we do--parts of the world are always going to hate us. I know this isn't a liberal position, which I profess myself to be, but it's the reality.

Have you forgotten FRANCE!?

Also, I think that it WAS pretty moral and just that he hung, don't you do too? I mean, look at what this guy has done.

And that's kind of another supporting argument for it not mattering what we do, that whatever we do, people are are going to blame us:

It was an Iraqi elected government, an Iraqi court, following Iraqi laws. And we're supposed to care if people still want to blame us? How can we have a foreign policy like this?

But to me, the most ironic part of all of this is that watching them put that rope around his neck, I kind of felt glad that we went into Iraq in the first place!

[lanego]

I agree with Ira and Heikki. Some wrongdoers are so clearly evil, not misguided, not victims of circumstance. Saddam chose to embrace evil. His evil was removed from the world by the government of the people he tormented. We cannot contain evil; we can only cut the cancer out.

And, being a conservative liberal myself, I feel you will never make all of the people love you all of the time, no matter what you do. Part of the nature of the beast.

I just pray for our kids over there to be safe and hope for as little violent reaction as possible. I think the majority of Iraqis hope for the same thing.

Safe Blessings for the New Year,
Lane in RR

[Outlaw]

Call me horrible, harsh, insane, whatever you choose. I personally feel that public execution should be brought back to this country. When you are caught red handed for murder, rape, child molestation, etc - let'em swing - Sunday morning, on the square! In todays world, our children are taught that they can get away with anything. Our justice system is a joke, and criminals fear nothing knowing that if they get caught, they'll have free room and board for years to come. Let our kids see first hand what will happen if they commit a serious crime. And please, don't hand me the line about it being a traumatic experience for them for to watch. They see it every day on TV, in their video games, and in countless other forms of media.

Whoops, I guess I just painted a target on my back fire away!

[Arne]

If he had been tried in this country, the appeal process would have lasted 15 years..... and cost the country millions in court fees. We have convicts who know every trick in the book and file all kinds of grievences that clog the court system....

In Iraq, the appeal process was over in 2 months, and the deed was done. I do not like the idea of taking a human life, but he did deserve what he got.

[lanego]

I am certainly not against execution for those crimes, in fact, I support drawing and quartering. I don't think it should be viewed by the very young although older teenagers might do with seeing a dose of real life retribution. I think a few smacks to them when they were little (oh, I'm such a criminal) would go a long way toward instilling an understanding of cause and effect, too. Oh, POOH, I've had a teen - and a little reality sandwich would have done some good! Plus, if they must go kill people in war, they'll see much, much worse. Maybe we should go back to shunning and the scarlet letter. Oops, I'm getting carried away!

[Classic Finn]

Call me horrible, harsh, insane, whatever you choose. I personally feel that public execution should be brought back to this country. When you are caught red handed for murder, rape, child molestation, etc - let'em swing - Sunday morning, on the square! In todays world, our children are taught that they can get away with anything. Our justice system is a joke, and criminals fear nothing knowing that if they get caught, they'll have free room and board for years to come. Let our kids see first hand what will happen if they commit a serious crime. And please, don't hand me the line about it being a traumatic experience for them for to watch. They see it every day on TV, in their video games, and in countless other forms of media.

Whoops, I guess I just painted a target on my back fire away!

Eric I couldnt agree with you more... On this side of the Atlantic it should be done as well.

Classic Finn

[sjptak]

I'm suprised. I would have thought some of the responses would be from the human rights side of the argument, but is seems that your responses are in alignment with my my own feelings. The only thing that has not been brought out, is that he was charged and convicted of only one incident (yes, the ended many lives) and can now only be convicted in absentia of all his other hienous acts. There is no doubt of his guilt in the slaughter of many innocent lives. I would have wished only that his sons could have had the same fate.

[Classic Finn]

The saddest part of all this...no matter how we discuss and debate the issue.. There will always be more of these dictators...One dies and there is another waiting...

Classic Finn

[bledsoe3]

I wonder if Saddam has a New Years Resolution...

Classic Finn

Not to kill any more innocent people. This is one resolution I'm sure will be kept.

[GHOSTSSX]

The saddest part of all this...no matter how we discuss and debate the issue.. There will always be more of these dictators...One dies and there is another waiting...

Classic Finn

Looks like I need to find me a rope factory to invest in!!!!

CHUCK

[Miriam C.]

---If we call the Iragi government sovereign, do we have the right to intervene in a court decission? Why didn't Sadams buddies in France, Russia and China give him sanctuary? We would have honored it. How does overriding a court decision show the world we are just or moral? If I did what he did the world would cry out for my immediate death. Especially the muslim world.

Just and moral are social values and different cultures see them differently. The people who hate us will not change because we bully a sovereign court. Saying we wanted this wouldn't have made it so if the Iragi people in charge didn't want it.

How does letting Sadam live have a healing, calming effect? If the US had intervened in his death the Shi'ites and Kurds would have turned on us more than they are now. It would have been the perfect excuse for the Shi'ia to rise up and they would be all over us and the mass killings would start in earnest. Imagine millions of Suni and Kurd slaughtered in the streets. A civil war with Iran backing the winning side.

How to win friends and influence people

[Ira]

I'm gonna bring this in two dangerous directions here, so if Eric is worried about being a target, wait until you get an earful of this:

First, what the hell is with this European Union? All I've heard from their leaders is, "The EU does not believe in Capital Punishment." "The EU does believe he was a horrible human being but..." "The EU rejects that he was executed because..."

FOR GOD'S SAKE! I EVEN HEARD THIS SAME CRAP FROM BLAIR!

What kind of a world are some of you guys living in that all of a sudden, you all believe the same thing? All of a sudden England and France don't believe in capital punishment? And a host of other European countries?

It's hysterical to listen too, expecially based on history.

Second firing point for my back:

It's amazing how all of a sudden, THIS country is supposed to be so sensitive about the religious sensibilities over there, that he has to be buried within 24 hours, blah blah, blah blah. (As if this country has anything to do with how Iraq proceeds with the body anyway.)

But I bring this up because this is how religious fanatics can twist and corrupt anything to suit their agenda. REGARDLES of the religion.

Jews TOO have to be buried within 24 hours--under NORMAL circumstances. And I would bet my last dollar that it's the same for Islam. It's just total bullshit they're spewing to placate the religious fanatics and whimp out.

When my dad died, he was buried 3 days later because my sister had to get to New York from California, and his siblings also had difficulty with travel arrangements. And while some of you may believe he went to hell because of other things, he DIDN'T go to hell because of this.

And Hussein was a mass murderer, executed by the state, and this 24-hour burial requirement is supposed to actually mean something and we're suppose to give a crap so we don't offend anyone?

[Miriam C.]

Oh dear!!!! Someone has stolen our Ira. Whatever will we do? There won't be anyone for Joseph to argue with. It must be a plot.

Ira

[Classic Finn]

Let me give you an opinion of what I think of the European Union.

Number 1 the European Union is what us Scandinavians Call Political Chess Game...The so called European Union itself is a Modern Day Dictatorship...

Do you think that the Capital is Stockholm, Helsinki or Oslo anymore?
Its just a fancy name is all...The Capital is Brussels not the previous..

Each of our countries had our own laws, ways of living and doing...

All of a sudden people voted for the EU without even fully understanding the full meaning and consequences of it...I didnt and I will never be for it..

The EU is no more than Germany, France and England receiving the benefits of the entire system.. They dictate how we are to live and how we are to do this and that... Make laws and rules that make no sense and cannot be translated when needed to be put in use..

Our own monetary unit was taken away, Our own Passports were taken away... The way we farm was changed, the way we are in our culture was and will be more changed.

The Passports must be this and must be that... Now our passports are red in color instead of our blue and white..with an emblem of the European Union. We have a book that is only missing the letters CCCP.. which I think you all know what it means..

So take away our identity and so on.. is the plan, its started..
So what is the benefits of being in the Eu? Not for the common folk but for the politicians to cover there own ass.. and for the big corporations..thats all.. Free movement of crime and corruption without borders..

Now they cry that it was wrong to put a dictator to death... ???

And another thing France, Germany, nor England has never done anything to help Finland nor Sweden.. So now they want to dictate how we are to live.. This false propaganda.. These countries have put a lot of people to death...themselves..

The EU takes on members that will never add anything to the benefit of this modern day so called empire..

Ask anyone from the Scandianvian countries how it really is.. Im sure they will tell you.. Its the young that wanted to ride the EU train not realizing its effects...The elderly didnt want this..it was already predone but let the people in each country vote on it...It was decided before anything was even given to us for decisions making..

The small countries pay into the EU Funds that the Bigger Countries take the biggest benefits from for themselves...

So tell me the EU Leaders are any better than Saddam was?? Hogwash..

So thats enough from my side of this ... Im going to build my teardrop instead of talk Saddam and its aftermath..And politics.

The EU wil also fall, as did the Roman Empire... I hope its soon..They are false prophets nothing more. And they do all to pull the wool over peoples eyes, and there are people who believe it,,, How sad.

We here in Finland dont have the Death Penalty however.. but the politicans are just as crooked and dishonest as in any other wether in the EU or elsewhere..

However Finland does deport criminals that are immigrants in this country back to where they are originally from. which is in my opinion darn good.
And no matter where they are from..

Classic Finn