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Mixed reaction to Saddam's failed death sentence appeal

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Published Date: 27 December 2006
THE rejection of Saddam Hussein's appeal against his death sentence is evoking a mixed response around the world.
While the White House has declared it a milestone in Iraq's transition to a democracy, human rights groups are opposing his execution, which could happen as early as today.

Tony Blair insists Britain is opposed to the death penalty, but added that Saddam's trial had given a "very clear reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime".

India is expressing concern over any delay to the restoration of peace in Iraq, but the country's prime minister Nouri Maliki believes Saddam's death could undermine the militant violence in the country.

The EU has called on Iraq not to carry out the death sentence.

Iraq's highest appeals court yesterday rejected Saddam's appeal against his death sentence and said he should be executed within 30 days.

He was convicted last month of killing 148 people from a Shiah Muslim town.



The full article contains 187 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 27 December 2006 11:23 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Saddam Hussein
 
1

akiezamg,

u.s. 27/12/2006 13:07:40

there were less people killed when he was in power than are being killed today.maybe it was slaughter,but the country was in check.

2

JOEL ASANTE BAAFI,

27/12/2006 13:16:55

I PERSSONARY THINK THAT INSPITE OF WHAT SADDAM MAY HAVE DONE IN HIS REGIME THE LAW REGARDING HUMAN RIGHT AND MUST BE APPLY TO THIS TRIAL.
DEATH PENALTY AS WE ALL KNOW HAS BEEN BANNES SO I REALLY DO SEE WHY USA MUST SUPPORT IT NOW.
SADDAM SHOULD BE JAIL FOR LIFE TO FACE THE KIND OF HUMILIATION HE SUBJECT HIS OWN PEOPLE TO, HE MUST BE MADE TO SUFFER ADN RUTTON IN JAIL FOR WHAT HE DID.
THANK YOU
JOEL ASANTE BAAFI
GHANA

3

Big Willie,

Annapolis, MD, USA 27/12/2006 14:02:14

I apologize on behalf of my people (those & agreed close to me) that have paid tax dollars to allow the United States to stand in hypocrisies and murder thousands of Iraqis and their own while our own so-called president flouts his stature above the law. He wasn't even duly elected so we (the American People) still have someone to blame.

It's time for some other country to carry the torch of righteousness. Who can lift it? It does not require the force of the world's strongest military. It doesn't require a military at all. It requires dignity, compassion, and belief in the power of human spirit to forgive and rise above the travestys of today.

Saddam was just America's man, he killed those people to keep his power for America, and we should forgive him and let him live a small old life as a normal citizen. Bush should take his place at the firing squad.

4

the_chairman_of_the_board,

Guam, USA 27/12/2006 14:40:10

i seriously doubt, the comments of the others, as a 15 year old, i believe that justice always prevails, and i believe this is the true hammer of justice, execution, going way back to the beginning of humanity when man killed man, no better judgement today when one man kills innocence, i hope they execute Saddam, idk why these pacifist here in this country dont feel the same why, first of akiezamg, do u know actually not watch TV?, ok heres the latest 22,000 - 50,000 people have died since the iraq war, and thats civilians, now check this saddam gasses a kurdish town 182,000 civilians massacred in that day, and u tell me, that? come on, im 15 years old and i learn the truth...

5

the_chairman_of_the_board,

Guam, USA 27/12/2006 14:45:11

oh yeah sorry for the double post, but what HUMAN RIGHTS ARE THERE ACTUALLY? WHATS THE LAW THAT WE HAVE TODAY THAT WE DIDNT GIVE SADDAM WHEN HE WAS DOING THAT? AND WE EXECUTE PRISONERS IN OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM EVEN THE ONES THAT ARE INNOCENT,BIG WILLIE, SADDAM WAS NOT AMERICAS MAN, HE WAS A TYRANNICAL LEADER, U HEARD OF POL POT AND SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC? THESE GUYS WERENT COMPARED TO SADDAM HUSSEIN, AND DONT ALWAYS BELIEVE THE MEDIA, THE MEDIA INFLUENCES WHAT EVERYONE SAYS HERE, AND NOT TO BE INFALLIBLE BUT ALSO MYSELF

6

Kiser,

Tennessee 27/12/2006 15:03:51

Hey Big Willie, if you don't like paying taxes to help support the lifestyle you enjoy in this country, I urge you to move to Iraq and enjoy their life style. I'm sure you will find a soap box in that country to stand on and preach all day, and I'm sure there will be many who will listen.

As for me, I'll tolerate your BS because that's what America is all about, and that's what I pay taxes for. It would behoove us all to BS a little less and do a little more.

7

Molly Mac,

Georgia USA 27/12/2006 15:31:16

I also apologize on behalf of my government. As usual, our country stands (almost) on its own when it comes to global policy.

As for the death penalty - I think its barbaric - but at this point, I am not going to get worked up about this particluar case. That would just give people like Kiser, more fodder. (I can just hear it now, "If you love Sadaam so much, why don't you marry him?")

However, I am sorry that the US so boldly stands for the death penalty despite most of the developed world being against it.

I am sorry that US policy is based on revenge, fear and circular logic not on concensus and compassion.

And I am sorry that everytime one of us do-gooder liberals says anything disparaging about our country, we are graciously shown the door and told to move to Iraq or fill-in-the-blank other country.

But I guess I should be thankful that there are people like Kiser who so generously "tolerate" us and perhaps I should never say anything negative about our awesome president. (Yeah - right)

8

Kelsie Jackson,

Texas, the United States 27/12/2006 15:57:12

I want to say that I support the penalty Saddam Hussein has incurred. He deprived thousands of civilians--prominent among them the Kurds--of their liberties and most of all their lives. Such a man has, through the unmitigated destructiveness of his actions, forfeited his position in civilized society.

I don't believe the issue here is the death penalty. Whether or not the United States supports the death penalty (which it does, and so do I) is immaterial so far as Iraqi law is concerned. We have been greatly desirous for so long of the Iraqi people taking charge of their own nation and allowing the U.S.A.'s presence to scale back--let's not now second guess those efforts simply because we have disagreements over their exercise of justice.

The "developed world's" opposition to the death penalty is again a nonissue and irrelevant. Each nation has a right to determine within its own societies the most appropriate methodology for the exercise of justice. If certain nations oppose the death penalty, so be it. If the United States supports the death penalty, so be it. However, I would point out that for centuries the death penalty WAS the standard in the "developed world" of Europe, and the U.S.A.'s exercise of capital punishment is not a European issue in the first place.

Moving beyond the death penalty, Saddam Hussein's trial and punishment is not about the death penalty or "human rights." Mr. Hussein's actions show his blatant and callous disregard for those vaunted human rights. Some have decried the U.S.A.'s actions in Iraq as those of "murderers."

Let questions be submitted to a candid and knowledgable audience: have those who committed crimes, such as Haditha, been punished? Have the coalition's forces utilized chemical weapons against a defenseless population? Are the coalition forces not attempting actively to promote self-government by the Iraqi people?

The world is weary of the Iraqi fi

9

the_chairman_of_the_board,

Guam, USA 27/12/2006 16:12:49

i agree with Kelsie, i want our men and woman home, just down the street a lady who once taught me in elementary lost her son in iraq, she told the congregation in the funeral her son died with a rosary bead still in his hands, he died for the faith and democracy and for the greater good of people

remember this quote?

"Evil prevails if good men do nothing"

i believe it was this guy named Edmund Burke, but please keep that in mind

10

Bill Baggins,

Alabama, USA 27/12/2006 16:41:18

Molly Mac: "However, I am sorry that the US so boldly stands for the death penalty despite most of the developed world being against it."

Pick a developed country, Molly, that is against the death penalty. Then, Molly, compare the freedoms and advantages enjoyed by those countries and compare them to what the citizens of the United States enjoy.

What other country contributes as much financial and humanitarian aid to countries throughout the world as the USA? Even countries who vote against us in the UN receive aid from us, then join in with others in condemning the "Great Satan."

Don't presume to apologize for my government or me on our policy. You may approve of those countries whose leaders climb into bed with those who advocate terrorism, and who only look to the US when their chestnuts need to pulled from the coals, but most see them for what they are.

You and Big Willie deserve each other.

11

Kelsie Jackson,

Texas, the United States 27/12/2006 16:55:56

Right on, Bill.

12

bill, england,

27/12/2006 22:33:35

He has to hang, as his capture was the only achievement of the illegal invasion of Iraq, and his 'trial' was the only achievement of the illegal occupation of Iraq.

Hundreds of millions of Iraqis have died so that Bush and Blair and their gangsters could change the regime to what it is now.

No doubt Condoleeza Rice and her fellow criminals think the expenditure of Iraqi lives and money was worth it, just as the sacrifice made by the USA was worth it.

When are we going to see them on the end of a rope?

13

Bill Baggins,

Alabama, USA 28/12/2006 04:49:34

Bill from England said: "Hundreds of millions of Iraqis have died so that Bush and Blair and their gangsters could change the regime to what it is now."

Hundreds of millions? You must be hallucinating, Bill. Statements like that can cause you to lose all credibility.

14

Kelsie Jackson,

Texas, the United States 28/12/2006 05:02:27

Bill [English]:

Much must be risked in war. I say that not to demean a single innocent loss, but as a truism, a harsh reality. Our two nations bear witness to the cost incurred when governments turn to force of arms as a legitimate means of vying for power or preservation of a tyranny. Name-calling serves absolutely no purpose in the court of foreign policy, and deriding U.S. leaders as "murderers" and "gangsters" is markedly immature.

The Iraqi government is no more "illegal" as a sovereign authority over that nation than your government was "illegal" as the sovereign authority for its far-flung colonies. Stop and ask yourself: is mocking the Iraqi government as "illegal" solving anyone's problems? What good are you doing, exactly, in doing so? Are you prepared to propose a viable, legitimate solution to the issues in Iraq's government? (Sorry, but "unilateral withdrawal" isn't viable).

Our nations can agree that Iraqi stability will be a major key in the Middle Eastern order. A stable Iraq governed by popular sovereignty will place pressure on radical Islamists such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to quell their religious warmongering. Debasing the present Iraqi government as "illegal" does nothing to advance either of our views on Iraq's future course, yours (Western non-involvement, apparently), or mine (popular sovereignty for the Iraqi people).

15

bill, england,

28/12/2006 08:32:28

13. Bill Baggins

Sorry, a typo.

Of course I only meant that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died.

16

bill, england,

28/12/2006 08:50:38

14. Kelsie Jackson

The point I am making is that the invasion of Iraq was illegal, and that makes Blair and Bush murderers.

Because of the way in which these two leaders and their fellow conspirators planned and pursued their invasion and occupation, I feel quite justified in calling them gangsters.

Foreign policy and war are concepts which have been abused by these people for their own ends.

At the time when the the UN mandate in occupied Iraq came into force, the current Iraqi government became legal de facto and de jure. I have not said it is illegal.

At this time, it relies on the coalition to keep in power, and I agree that we cannot withdraw until such time as it becomes popular and Iraq becomes stable. That will take quite some time.

17

Cristo,

USA 28/12/2006 22:55:02

Let him live to fight the Shi'as.


 

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