Young Writers Society

BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 - An Iraqi tribunal today convicted Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging for the brutal repression of a Shiite town in the 1980s.

As the chief judge read aloud the verdict, a defiant Mr. Hussein shouted, "Long live the people! Long live the Arab nation! Down with the spies!" He thrust his finger emphatically into the air as he spoke, then repeatedly chanted, "God is great!"

The judge, Raouf Rasheed Abdul Rahman, tried to calm Mr. Hussein down. "There’s no point," Mr. Rahman said.

The verdict, under Iraqi law, will immediately be submitted to an appellate court, which will begin its review within a month, officials said.

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I heard that nobody is allowed outside after dark or something the day of the execution or something... I think he totally got what he deserved... I was surprised it took so long to sentence him.

*Performs dance of happiness*

I think it will be a step forward in reducing the violence in Iraq.

Really? There's already been violence over the verdict in Sunni quarters, so when they kill him expect more.

He deserves death, even though all these countries are saying our ethics are too good to put a man to death. So our ethics say we should keep a mass genocidal man alive?\

At least the UK agrees that he should be deathened (My new word, BTW)

Eep.

This is kind of strange, actually.

I agree Snoink, quite strange. I didn't really feel anything, you can't really be 'happy' that someone has been put to death.

I know alot of people believe that because the trial was in Iraq itself, that it was definatly biased. I mean, most people thought he was going to be killed when the trail started.

I know he's killed people and is generally not nice but I still don't like the thought of him beign killed. I don't like the thought of anyone begin killed really.

Indeed. I can't really celebrate someone being put to death, even if they did kill many people themselves.

I'm not going to celebrate the fact that he's going to die, but in a way I'm glad we won't have to worry about him any more. I agree with Firestarter, there's going to be more violence when he's executed, but after that I sincerely hope/think it'll die down, at least a little. Tin Fish, I agree that life is sacred, and the death penalty isn't what I'd call my favorite thing, but sometimes...I don't know. I think it would be worse to let him escape justice for what he's done than to execute him.

I thought he was dead

ah well, i think that after he dies, things will start getting better over there, but have you ever thought that this isn't all its cracked up to be? Im sorry for bringing up a conspiricy theory (im good at this) but he has 30 days or something where he could stop himself from being hung doesn't he? I think there's something fishy going on, and that he might not end up being killed. To me this is something said to the public so everyone keeps faith in the goverment.
Death is strong and it will make an impact but its not going to stop absolutely everything. But a lot of people think that it will.
And im wondering that once this 'hanging' does happen, where we'll stop with it. Aren't there 2 other people sentanced to death? I hope this doesn't become a norm in england.
If you get what im talking about

Aw man i tried lol (waits for abuse)

The trial was in Iraq, not England. Presumably he'll be hung in Iraq also.

Ah yes, how wonderful, yet another triumph for democracy and the advanced ethics of the "civilized" world! Obviously the correct way to deal with the horrific and despicable fact of a man who kills people would be... to kill him! How on earth, indeed, did we never realise that by descending to the level of the most brutal, we can promote peace and justice and healing to a broken and hurting world? Surely it should have been obvious to everyone from that start that the proper thing to do with a capital punishment law used to commit genocide on a grand scale would be to keep it in place in order to kill more people!

Do you know why the shortest and most self-explanatory passage in the Bible is "Jesus wept"? Because it requires no explanation or interpretation: it is applicable to every single moment of human history. Christ Almighty but we have fallen short of the glory of God; we truly are pathetic creations.

Lama, fixed the link since it was screwing up with the page width.

Bob, I'm against the death penalty as well, but it's hard to argue against it in the case of men like Saddam Hussein. In any case, the thing that one must realize is that this was a trial by the government in Iraq. As such, the sentence given out was under Iraqi law, not US law. Indeed, the United States has been careful to not get involved in any way other than to provide security. Cultural mores differ from society to society, it is not in our rights to speak against the laws of another nation, especially when those laws are chosen by a democratically elected government. Now, if it was a brutal military dictatorship vis a vis Burma, or a theocracy vis a vis Iran, that'd be one thing. Fortunately, Iraq is not, at this time, either of those two.

In any case, it will be interesting to see what happens from here. I doubt that it'll actually lead to anything or solve anything, but who knows. Iraq has to turn around sometime. Violence doesn't escalate forever.