http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspxBy Robert Windrem, Investigative producer One of the most searing images of Saddam Hussein’s brutal reign was also one of the first: a purloined Ba’ath Party video of the new Iraqi president watching as his henchmen arrested party members at a 1979 partyen-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#23985Sat, 30 Dec 2006 03:55:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:23985Sandy of Exton, PAIt is their laws that he must follow. His country has spoken.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#23987Sat, 30 Dec 2006 03:55:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:23987butch azevedoright on MR.PRESIDENT BUSH!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24000Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:01:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24000CJ PHX,AZI fully agree!!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24004Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:02:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24004John Doehummm you hang a president who killed people who made attempt on his life, what do you do with one who send his innocent troops to a false and personal war and kill 3000+ of them...http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24006Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:04:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24006Mike McKennleeWeren't the people he executed trying to assasinate him and his cabinet?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24010Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:06:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24010Tim Stevens, Washougal, WaI'm not saying Saddam shouldn't have been executed - he should have. What I am saying is that if we take the argument that got us into Iraq in the first place to its logical conclusion, then we should also be invading and toppling the rule of other dictators such as Castro, and Kim Jong Il as they are bad people that have had innocent people tortured and murdered like Saddam did. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24017Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:11:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24017Annette, Scottsdale, AZExecuting Saddam is just and ethically correct. He is a vicious murderer who has caused horrific suffering and war in his land. I'm glad it's done.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24018Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:11:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24018Pete Bogsthe scenario described above - Hussein's takeover of Iraq - is one of the reasons I think it was right for him to be executed... and this is coming from a death penalty opponent... the way he calmly and casually read out the names of his enemies, real or percieved, and sent them downstairs to die... no one should enjoy that power... he needed to face death to know how all those others felt...http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24019Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:12:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24019Bob Maegerlein, Rochester, MNHow does his execution bring peace in Iraq? He exercised his might over the powerless in Iraq. We exercised our might over thousands of Iraqi citizens. When do we get hanged? Is might the answer?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24021Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:13:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24021Kevin Sitek ,Edmonton,alberta, canadaone down one to go!!!!!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24023Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:13:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24023FDR Portland, OregonOne question! When will george bush, dick chaney, donald rumsfeld be taken to court and tried?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24025Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:14:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24025Henry, Tampa, FlThe only thing better then this was if it was Bin Laden who was executed tonight.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24028Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:14:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24028AnonymousI think everyone is forgetting the atrocities that were supported by the Bush administration in getting us to this day. Yes, Saddam Hussein was an evil human being, and he deserved to be executed for his crimes. But we invaded Iraq on false pretenses; President Bush and his entire administration LIED to the entire planet Earth for months and years over the reason for going to war in Iraq. President Bush has so flagrantly abused his power that for him to still be in office is absolutely unconscionable. We as a public need to DEMAND Bush's impeachment and removal from office. What happened to Saddam Hussein was not justice; it was a farce, a spectacle, something for Bush to get on TV and gloat about. Meanwhile, we've lost nearly 3,000 troops, with many thousands more severely injured and maimed for life. Those men and women are the ones suffering for Bush to sit in the White House or at his ranch in Crawford and pretend to care about anyone but himself or the wealthy people and politicians who helped keep him in office. There will be no justice served until everyone at the highest levels of this administration are put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, not to mention the abuses of power. President Bush has become just as big a tyrant as Saddam Hussein and deserves to be brought to justice himself.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24029Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:15:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24029S. Beck Fond du Lac, WIWell I say, good riddance to bad rubbish! I found myself disgusted with this country trying to "protect" Sodom (oops-pun intended) Saddam from being humiliated and his corpse mutilated. Who cares if he gets his just desserts? He was a worthless waste of space on this planet and the world is much better without the likes of him, why shouldnt his victims families have a bit of fun disgracing his worthless piece of trash corpse? Ah, throw it to the pigs, well maybe not...pigs are too good for the likes of that scumbag. Maybe if there were more like those that convicted that sob this world would be a better place to live in. And dont think I am some flag waving patriotic dumb sheep either! I think the us is almost as bad and the government brought on 9/11 themselves. Its just too bad that innocent people had to die just because the "so called" leader of this country is a power hungry, self indulgent, arrogent, self centered, ignorant, inbred, pig farmer. I have no respect for him either and hope to be leaving this country within a few days before he locks the borders up and turns america into another communist prison! Whats with the border closings George? All you are doing is keeping those of us who dont want to be here in the first place IN with the already illegal unwanted scum! DUH! Buy a clue, it wont make this country any safer! Well, this is only my personal take on the whole scheme of things. Take it or leave it, after all until Adolf (oops another pun intended) George says otherwise, we do have freedom of speech.....http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24030Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:18:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24030Gabriel Kierran McCloskey-Ross Saddam was a vicious tyrant. His execution was victors' justice. He had hated AL Qaeda while he lived. He saw them as threat to his power. His execution makes him a martyr for Sunni Islam and the best recruiting tool Al Qaeda. The festivities around his dead body that you are reporting will cost American lives. Gabriel McCloskey-Rosshttp://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24033Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:19:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24033Joe Sullivan, Ames IowaWhich is worse? Saddam's killing of a few hundred thousand barbarians over 25 years in order to keep order. Or the world's MOST ruthless despot, George W, killing many more, plus thousands of his own, over three years in order to achieve complete chaos? Can we hope, after we are shamed in Iraq and before the rest of the world, that the World Court indicts George W as THE war criminal?http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24037Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:21:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24037mike burgsAs an American I and my compatriots have been waiting a long time for this. That is about all I have to say. Be it right or wrong.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24038Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:22:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24038James C.We have executed the trillion dollar man - the creator has destroyed its creation - the policies of the past come back to haunt us time and time again - when will the United States learn from its follies - the world does not bend to our will - it breaks under our arrogance and misteps.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24040Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:24:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24040Renny Gouche, FLLost in the rush to execute Saddam is the opportunity of the Kurdish people to learn the real facts of what happened to their loved ones at the order of Saddam. Couldn't an execution be carried out at the conclusion of another trial to allow for the closure for many thousands of Kurds and their families. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24044Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:25:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24044Rick BochenskiYes, we should take out all the bad people in the world. Only problem with that is we would never do it. If any of the people had the power we have they would have used it long ago to bury us and anybody that did not meet thier requiments. Sad but the only way to win is to get rid of all the bad people along with good people. Why do you think the bad people want to get rid of all the good people? I think they fully belive the world would be a better place what a bunch of BS. We could do it but it will never happen and when some others finally use the bomb on us all the do sayers will be saying why did we not stop them. Guess what it will then it will be Bush's fault because he didn't do enough. The guy can't win. He can only do what he thinks is right. I just wish he would do what he said your with us or your not. Then do something about all the nots.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24046Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:26:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24046Mike JonesFinally, they should have made the execution live!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24048Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:27:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24048FU BUSH, FU, WHITE HOUSECongratalutions BUSH! You kill thousands of our soldiers! Injured thousands for life! Of course, You got revenge for your dad. you are just like saddam if not worst! Your day will come!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24053Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:30:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24053DEESaddam is gone. What next? http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24054Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:30:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24054cindy m, edgerton, wi Praise the Lord, the devil is gone!!!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24055Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:30:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24055Tonya Suther, Las Cruces, NMBravo for such good commentary. It's rare that we find commentary that is not bias, especially from MSNBC. The author not only made his case, but sent it home in the final paragraph. Kudos to you, Robert Windrem.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24056Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:31:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24056whoareweDoes anybody have the power to take a life? Who are we to play God? We have behaved like Saddam by taking his life.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24061Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:33:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24061Lorrin Chicago, IIlinoisAs a Muslim, I feel it's better Saddam Hussein is dead; his execution is what he worked for in this life. Arrogant people forget they will die one day. Now...when will Bush go after leaders more cruel than S. Hussein?!! Since Bush made this a reason (a.k.a lie) for invading, he has to do the same in other countries, right???http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24063Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:34:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24063Bob, Atlanta, GaWow, we killed Saddam. It only cost us nearly 3,000 young men. So when does Bush get tried for these deaths? When will I get to rejoice at his death. Bush should have been hung right next to Saddam.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24065Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:35:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24065QEGreat. Saddam's greatest wish has come to pass: He has become in death the most potent symbol of pan-arabic pride and dignity. Having him sent to the gallows on the orders of an invading foreign army is the worst thing that the US could have done for our future interests in the Middle East.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24066Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:35:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24066Rance Pettibone, Sr. Albany, GeorgiaIt may seem right now. But our country has set a standard that all other countries will follow in the future. If you have the might to take down someone you do not like, do it. Our country may not feel the sting of this for years to come but you can bet some where down the road our childred will curse this day and us. We can try and blame President George W. Bush, but God will hold this nation accountable.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24067Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:36:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24067Bob Bogosian, Bloomfield, NJLet's see - illegitimate government propped up by US executes former leader for acts that were not illegal when he was in power - while the US war has killed 2/3 of a million innocents - this is not a recipe for democracy!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24068Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:36:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24068fountainSaddam was probably guilty of anything anyone could imagine, yet his trial was a complete frace. America has always stood for justice, truth and an impartial judiciary. Now we stand for nothing but a dismal white-wash of true war crimes by Bush, Cheny and Blair. God forgive us!!! Fountdain http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24071Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:37:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24071Tired of Bush's crapSo yeah Saddam was a monster blah blah blah......killed a bunch of people by the thousands. Bush .......he's another kind of ignorant monster......what about the soldiers that have died over there for his "noble war" ?????? what's the difference between Hussein and Bush??? I don't see one. I cannot wait until we get rid of this monkey running our country. I never wanted him in 01 I sobbed in 04 after he was reelected and I will cry tears of Joy in 08 when he finally leaves. It will take a long time for this country to get back to where we were. I rather have a promiscuous president then the moron that we have now. God Bless America and please bring the troops back!!!!!!!!http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24075Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:41:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24075Brenda Tighe, Marietta, GeorgiaTo those of you who are whining about Bush's war being "illegal", and how he should be tried for "war crimes": Get a grip! This war is NOT illegal! It is supported by the 1998 resolution, signed by President CLINTON, which officially made regime change in Iraq a part of U.S. Foreign policy. It is further supported by U.N. Security Council resolutions 678, 687, and 1441. Look 'em up. In addition, Bush did NOT lie about WMD. If he did, then so did Clinton, Kerry, and various other DEMOCRAT political leaders, as well as various foreign intelligence agencies, who ALL said that Saddam had WMD (psssst... check Syria). Also, Bush had the support of CONGRESS for this action. But then, I won't try to confuse you with FACTS, even though you could google them and find them on reputable sources (like the UN web site, which has the resolutions, for example). But you won't, because you prefer to believe that Bush lied. Thank you, President Bush, for your perseverence in the presence of traitors and fools who are dogging you every step of the way.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24078Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:42:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24078A Disciple for Jesus, who is the ChristI pray for you all (Americans and Iragis) Let peace prevail over all lands and in the end God will judge. PLEASE LORD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL.http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#24080Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:45:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:24080Frank DiGiovanniThe difference between Bush and Sadaam is that Sadaam willingly and knowingly targeted and sentenced his thousands to death. (Probably enjoyed it) None of Sadaam's victims were volenteers. Any deaths that you blame Bush for are purley inadvertant. With the acception of targeted terrorists. We have a volenteer army. Many troop, yes, have died nobley. As a volenteer force. To blame Bush for indirect deaths is no different than blaming him for not closing our highways where its assured thousands will die every year in car wrecks. Or blaming him for not outlawing swiming pools due to the fact tham several hundered children will drown each year. Someone asked, "Does anyone have the power to take a life?" My answer is that you should have proposed that question to Sadaam decades ago. http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/12/29/23798.aspx#25726Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:35:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:25726David PelfreyThe execution of Saddam Hussein marks a continuation of the unilateral approach taken by the United States in its intervention in the Middle East. In stark contrast to the practice of the Allied powers at Nuremburg and Tokyo, where the surviving Axis leaders were handed over to an international tribuneral, tried, and condemned, Saddam Hussein was tried by a regime in Iraq whose mandate to rule rest solidly on the basis of American military support. But what could have induced the Americans to cooperate with the Shia dominated government in a manner that appears at first glance to be a sure-fire way to inflame Sunni elements of the Iraqi population? As can be seen and heard in the execution images, the last minutes of Saddam Hussein were highly charged with sectarian hatred. These images, recording such a scene and such behavior, serve at least two immediate purposes: one, the images underscore the biased and sectarian process that impelled the Iraqi government to execute Hussein at this time, and two, this same sectarian process that was designed to give closure and catharsis to the non-Sunni victims of the Hussein regime actually records an event where Saddam the Genocidal Dictator becomes Saddam the Sunni martyr at the hands of the Shia. In important ways, the last images of Saddam Hussein cement his legacy in Iraq as something of a Sunni hero. Is this really what U.S. policy desires or intends? It has been recognized in most political and scholarly circles that the Sunni triangle represents a faction that ruled and controlled Iraq since the Ottoman period. The United States desperately requires some means to reach out to this historic Sunni power base in order to co-opt elements friendly to U.S. antebellum policy and might pose as a useful counterbalance to Iran-leaning Shia political factions. In order to rehabilitate the Bathist Sunnis tainted by Saddam Hussein, Saddam Hussein must be done away with. With Saddam dead, the way is now clear to rehabilitate the so-called good Bathists who supported the regime prior to the American invasion. The situation is in some ways eerily analogous to that of American policy in post-war Germany where elements of the Nazi regime were cultivated and rehabilitated by allied intelligence agencies in order to build cadres that would prevent the spread of Communist influence into post-war West Germany. What is different in the current Iraqi situation is that the Americans have allowed the body of Saddam to be placed in a specific place which may now serve as a memorial to Saddam the Martyr, something the Americans never allowed to occur with Nazis convicted and executed for crimes against humanity. It is indeed a curious circumstance that deserves study and comment. Does the unilateral and rushed execution of Saddam Hussein represent the first step of the United States’ attempt to rehabilitate former Bathists who once served the Saddam Hussein regime?