Saddam Hussein Execution video - By N.L. Belardes
Warning: Graphic...
Your thoughts?
The uncut explanation of the video
* NY Times article, "Before hanging, a push for revenge and a push back" explains last hours leading up to the hanging. (A must read for anyone wanting to understand the hanging video)
Your thoughts?
The uncut explanation of the video
* NY Times article, "Before hanging, a push for revenge and a push back" explains last hours leading up to the hanging. (A must read for anyone wanting to understand the hanging video)
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Saturday, December 30, 2006.
You can leave your response.
Having a family membered murdered here in Bakersfield,and his murderer sitting on death row. I wish California was this quick to execute the guilty criminals. Saddam deserved the noose...
It's graphic but I'm glad I watched it.
well its about time.. but hes not that last one that has to die... so..what will america do next?
I too had a family member that was murdered. The case took about 4 years in court.
But the video is kind of weird...he drops, and then the camera zooms in on Saddam laying down? Or am I missing something. Just seems like at hangings they would leave them dangling for a while. I guess they got it down to a science huh?
Oh well...when we gonna bring our men and women soldiers back home?
That's a complex question DW: "when we gonna bring our men and women soldiers back home".
I think you have to dig even deeper and ask: Does America have the inherent right to re-create itself in building/establishing democracies in the world?
Remember, the American-Iraqi war started as mission Iraqi Freedom. By establishing freedom comes establishing long-term democracy.
Pulling troops out of Iraq prematurely could kill that chance at building a democracy. The sectarian violence in the region: Sunni vs. Shiite could catapult the region into civil war, thus destroying the democracy America is trying to build.
I guess pulling out troops depends, do you believe in Iraq becoming a democracy or not?
I'm speechless.
i'm not sure how i should feel about this. it's not that i'm sad about it, i mean, he was frickin' saddam hussein and everything but it's just so...chilling. it kind of makes my stomach hurt. why? i don't know.
with all the news i watch you'd think i'd be jaded enough to just shrug.
and in regards to your question
"do you believe in Iraq becoming a democracy or not?" i say:
you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink, and why the hell is it our business what they do anyway?
When I told my wife about watching the Saddam hanging, she said, "We're hanging number two. When are we going to hang number one?"
She does pose a good question. When will we get Osama? If there was no Osama, would there have been an Iraqi war?
And I do think we need to stick it out in Iraq. But I think we need more focus on getting the guy who started it all.
Any conspiracy people out there who think we already got him, and we're waiting for the upcoming 08 election?
Puck
I thought it was great... Actually, I'm going to go get some popcorn and watch it again. After that, I might watch it again, but this time I might jerk off during the viewing.
In all honesty, I think it's a hoax. Where was the black bag that was said to have been placed over his head? Did I just miss that part or something??? I believe the bastards dead, but was the footage "actual footage"?
I didn't watch it.
for the sake of the Iraqi people, I hope there is better footage than this which was released publicly. The camera bounces too much,and pulls away from the event. I have to say that while I think the video is probably credible, I am sure that most Iraqi's who view this will probably not be convinced. The man deserved to hang for the atrocities he committed (with US manufactured chemical weapons) against the Iranians during the 8 year war. He used the same weapons against Iraqi citizens more than once. Evil personified. Ultimately I don't think hanging him is going to do anything productive in getting our troops home. The study group pointedly called this a sum zero situation. Bush wants (and will probably get) more troops. If we leave, we leave behind an oil rich country whose resources could be sold to further terrorist causes, if we stay, we end up fighting a guerrilla war with conventional forces (stalemate, at best). I don't think there is a "good" way to solve the present situation.
Alan Crane
about time
-Casket Chris
Yes N.L., I agree it's complex. We live in a wiggley world. And how many other country's right now are living with brutal dictators or violent civil wars or no democracy? And how much responsiblity to democratic vision for them is ours alone?
I think alot of people are confused on the Saddam/Iraq purpose because immediately after 9/11 it was all about Osama. Dart gun target's at the dollar store with Osama's pic on it,etc. All the parody songs and games about him were everywhere. Then Saddam replaced his Billboard status, and now, where's Osama? Do we care? Who's next?
Stay tuned I guess.
Miss Meg wrote: "why the hell is it our business what they do anyway"
I think the American govt wants the Middle East redefined politically and economically.
Puck: I was just talking about you yesterday! Great to see a comment from you on here. You raise a great point. Where is Osama? Pakistan? If Saddam was found in a little hole in the ground in Iraq, how is Osama so well hidden?
I guess that says something about the Iraqi people wanting change. Many must have seen the opportunity of democracy, and so were willing to turn in their leaders, because I don't think Saddam, et al would have been found otherwise.
But Osama... Now if he is alive, why are people close to him not turning him in? Why can't America find him in a hole in the ground, in a village, in a cave? He must represent some kind of belief/principle that people truly believe in... or is he just a ghost of ideology?
Heath: Didn't the news say Saddam refused the hood? Makes you wonder though. The video had far greater effect by keeping the hood off. Already there are lies coming out of this video. Though I think the video is real, there may have been some underhandedness for the sake of the threat of Civil War in Iraq. Who is the purposely leaked footage meant for?
If only 20 people saw Saddam's execution, surely someone so close to the event, a mere feet away was known.
Maybe the video is meant for the Iranian leader to watch himself...
Alan: I agree with you. There is no decent way to end such a conflict... We don't want to pull out and have the new Iraqi government feeling double crossed. As anon wrote, "What will America do next?"
Watching this video made my stomach turn as well, as did just reading about the fact he was hanged. Maybe it's because I know it's just not over yet, and there will be more loss of life. Or maybe it's because he had the look on his face that says, "I'm still winning!".
I'm sure I'll take a lot of flack for this, but it's okay, I'm used to it. I personally, DON'T believe we have the right to go sticking our "super power" nose into other countries business when it comes to civil war/unrest, or the restructuring of democracy, or for ANY reason for that matter.
Why the hell doesn't our gov't bring our troops home and focus on the damned problems we have HERE as opposed to sending more and more men and women over seas, out into the deserts and God only knows WHERE else, getting them killed???? I dunno what to think.
I...just...don't...know.
i'm not all for watching this kind of stuff, BUT i just couldn't help myself with this one. must be curiosity...
wow! i think i've watched this 4x already.
Chingpea: You can actually pause the video on a camera flash that shows Saddam hanging with his neck broken... Now what's worse, me pausing the film, or the people taking the flash photos as he's hanging?
Annie: What about World War One or World War Two? What about the American Revolution: ideologists poking their beliefs into changing the British politial system in America. It happens, whether we agree or not, America has been poking its nose into regional and world affairs for centuries...
Stop it at frame 2:26...
Along Came Jones has an interesting write-up on American culture and hanging...
Wow, I went to the 2:26 frame N.L., geez, now I see it! Look at the 2:00 frame too!
I watched the video , glad the bastard is dead for al the hell he put Americal through but he really deserved more physically painful type execution more along the lines of lets say having his eye-sockets bust out, and personally I would have been more eager or so to post more comments but you see that video was not enough for me, I wanna image of demons taunting his soul or atleast THE FACES OF HIS DEATH ON A MORE UPCLOSE ANGLE!!! I still wanna see what his lips did when the floor popped out from under him, like how many times he batted his eyes as well as the very last exhale of rotten air from his lungs. Maybe the bastard pissed himself tooo????? what ever happened to the pain in his exucution, I ah dont call that the way i would have done it .. Nope no way & a matter of fact i am gonna make some arrangments for my buddies down in hell to make up for what wasnt done to him on earth.Back to you Nick.
I think it's wrong and disrespectful to show this.
-Tricia
i wonder if tricia also thinks it was disrespectful of saddam to murder so many people...
Disrespectful to whom? Sadaam Hussein? The man who was responsible for claiming the lives of countless innocent people all in the name of tyrrany? The man who exacted a reign of terror over an entire nation of people and destroy their economy so that he could keep them under his thumb? I think it is assinine to suggest that showing this video is disrespectful. Maybe I'm out of line, but what a stupid thing to say!
Just like many others I am the type of person who needs to see proof of the act, ie. the carcass to believe the person is actually dead. Heck, I need that kind of proof when my husband says he killed a bug! Although it may be morbid I believe it should have been taped by the local news and televised so that the Iraqi people could have the same proof. I believe that even though it will not stop the fighting or the violence in the region, executing Sadaam was the right thing to do. He was treated the same as any other murderer who is handed the death penalty, only justice seems to be served in a more timely manner over there. I for one believe in timely justice and applaud the Iraqi leaders for doling out his punishment quickly. My heart goes out to the families of his many victims and I pray this will bring them some closure, even though it will not bring back their loved ones.
There's nothing they could have done to that monster that would equal to what he has done to so many innocent women and children.
I'm really surprised he was executed so quickly.
It sounds like some of you people are still confused about Saddam having links to Ossama... like this hanging has ANYTHING to do with 9/11 except in the deceptive line of propaganda you were fed by people who were looking to start this war BEFORE 9/11.
From what I understand our beloved government knew about what he was doing to the Kurds and did nothing to dissuade him... and didn't start to demonize him until he invaded Kuwait.
The same as Noriega was our good buddy until he ratted out the CIA for doing their dirty Iran/Contra business in his backyard... then suddenly he was a drug peddling demon!
This hanging was a circus for the mob... nothing more... it doesn't address the causes or motivations for the evils it claims to avenge.
The U.S. had a mighty big hand in all the bad stuff that went down in Iraq and Afghanistan and yet we continue to fantasize some 'line in the sand' where there is a 'them' and an 'us'.
The truth is not nearly so simple-minded as that, and we are much more guilty than we'd ever allow ourselves to admit. We are just too damn comfortable in our 'way of life' to ever wake up to how we really look to the rest of the world.
Ken: Great points. Although I do think Saddam is a tyrant, I have to think that a lot of propaganda surrounds his execution. Personally, I would think the world better served with him in exile, or in prison. The man had information, and that has value. Was he that double-crossed and exposed that he had nothing left of value to reveal?
Why I think the word proganda suits:
1. I doubt if Saddam would have worn a hood at his execution if he'd even requested one. His opposition wanted to show off his death.
2. Why execute a man still on trial? Yes folks, Saddam is still on trial.
3. His opposition party taunted him at his execution. Whether people wanted to pry his eyes out of his head or not, it was supposed to be a respectful hanging (as if any hanging is respectful).
4. Only a handful were convicted and executed. Scapegoats? Was Saddam's gov't filled with double-crossers and blamers, who, as opportunists, saw a way to fulfill their own aims to run the country of Iraq? Where are the thousands in his regime who helped carry out questionable acts.
5. A leaked video of his execution. Progaganda more like it. I believe this as a purposeful act...
I could go on, but I agree with Ken in that this is a complex situation, not just one of us vs. them... I think it has to do with building a democracy, a new order in the Middle East, which has to do with capitalism as well. That means, wealth, opportunity, and control of resources.
What are your thoughts on our own democracy? Where is our own country going? Is it changing? Is it out of control? Schools? Gangs? Politics? Laws?
I'm glad,I guess, that our country wants to be a big "helper" to others worldwide, but does "helping", if truly in a positive manner, always have to be so layered, as Shrek would say, like an onion?
Is the apple pie dead?...long live onion soup...
our troops will never be home. we have troops in every country we have ever been involved with still. we have been in korea for 50 years...
Immanuel Kant is mostly famous amongst college students forced to take intro to philosophy as the guy who formulated the categorical imperative : roughly, never treat others as means to an end--they are ends in themselves. In his time however, he was known as a cutting edge political thinker. He named and gave shape to the Enlightenment. He was also an early advocate of free thought and free speech. He advised progressive rulers to say to their people "Argue as much as you like
and about whatever you like, but obey!" So, argue as much as you like, but keep paying your taxes to fund a murderous war. Oppose the death penalty as much as you want in words, but don't try to actually stop it--to throw yourself into the gears of the State's torture machine. But whatever you do, don't mistake democracy and free speech for freedom.
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It won't change anything anyway.
I wonder what sort of punishment they will give the guy responsible for the video leak?
You don't actually believe they're going to do anything to that guy? Unless they need a scapegoat.
Double crossing the guy they probably asked to film it with his camera phone.
guy with the camera phone...come to think of it...just where was N.L. that day...
Two guards and an official who supervised the execution were arrested. They are still looking for a possible fourth suspect who was last seen wearing white shoes and riding a bike heading towards a river.
When Puck's wife asked "We're hanging number two. When are we going to hang number one?" I would answer ASAP. Oh, by the way, number one is Bush, not Osama.
I was thinking Bush, too.
I figure if I can't feel right about Hussein or Timothy McVeigh being sentenced to death, I'm probably not much for capital punishment.
I owe you an email, n.l. I'll write you after the kids are in bed.
My opinion: Hussein should have been exiled.
And McVeigh would have suffered far more living a life knowing he killed innocent people.
John Grisham's book The Innocent Man is enough to convince me that innocent people (not McVeigh) get put to death.
* NY Times article, "Before hanging, a push for revenge and a push back" explains last hours leading up to the hanging. (A must read for anyone wanting to understand the hanging video)
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